[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 171 (Wednesday, November 1, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2083-E2084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       PRESIDENT CLINTON AGREES WITH REPUBLICANS ON CRACK COCAINE

                                 ______


                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, November 1, 1995

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, after 3 years President Clinton finally did 
something right in the war on drugs. Yesterday he signed into law 
legislation denying the Sentencing Commission's recommendation on crack 
cocaine. President Clinton reaffirmed that offenses involving crack 
cocaine deserve more severe punishment than those involving powder 
cocaine.
  Failure to reject the Sentencing Commission's proposal would have led 
to an increase in the use of crack and an increase in the number of 
people addicted to crack cocaine. Today in the United States, according 
to the Partnership for a Drug Free America, one out of every 10 babies 
born in the United States is born addicted to drugs, and most are 
addicted to crack cocaine.
  I agree with some of what has been said about the equal treatment of 
crack and powder cocaine, but instead of lowering the penalties for 
crack offenses, as the Sentencing Commission proposes, we should simply 
increase the punishment for powder offenses to the same level as crack 
cocaine.
  In the 1980's, the crack epidemic devastated American cities, causing 
the twin problems of addiction and drug-dealing crime. Crime 
skyrocketed between 1985 and 1990, 

[[Page E 2084]]
the years crack was introduced. In fact, violent crime went up 37 
percent in 1990 and aggravated assaults increased 43 percent. Because 
of crack cocaine, more teens in this country now die of gunshot wounds 
than all natural causes combined.
  The Congress, in the 1980's, reacted properly to the crack epidemic 
gripping vulnerable inner-city communities. We saw the destruction 
wrought on entire communities by this cheap and highly addictive form 
of cocaine. This time President Clinton did the right thing and decided 
that crack offenses ought to be punished more severely than powder 
offenses because of the increased violence and crime associated with 
crack.

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