[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 51 (Friday, April 19, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3702-S3703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 PRISON CONSTRUCTION AND CRIME IN TEXAS

  Mr. GRAMM. Mr. President, I want to thank our colleague from Georgia

[[Page S3703]]

for leading this effort. We are always looking for good news in our war 
on violent crime and the threat that it poses to our families. This 
morning I want to share some good news. This good news is based on hard 
facts presented in a major study done by the National Center for Policy 
Analysis, which is located in my State. I think that when you listen to 
the numbers, they speak as loudly and as clearly as a clap of thunder.
  Five years ago, Texans finally had enough of violent crime, so we 
launched the largest prison building program in the history of the 
United States of America. Over a 4-year period, we expanded the size of 
the Texas prison system from a 49,000 criminal capacity to a 150,000 
criminal capacity.
  In terms of our population, Texas started out having a per capita 
violent criminal incarceration rate that was roughly equal to the 
national average. Four years later, we have the highest criminal 
incarceration rate of any State in the Union. I believe that this is a 
direct result of building new prisons, putting people in jail, and 
beginning to approach what we call ``truth in sentencing,'' so that 
when somebody is sentenced to prison for 10 years, they actually, 
honest to God, serve 10 years in prison.
  We have seen the following things happen in Texas in terms of 
expected punishment for committing major crimes. Over the 6-year period 
between 1988 and 1994, the expected punishment in Texas for murder rose 
by 360 percent. For rape, the expected punishment rose by 266 percent; 
for larceny, 167 percent; for aggravated assault, the expected 
punishment rose by 360 percent. For burglary, the expected punishment 
rose by 299 percent; for robbery, 220 percent; and for motor vehicle 
theft, 222 percent.
  In other words, we built prisons, we got tough, we sent people to 
prisons, and we extended the amount of time criminals actually spend in 
prison. What happened? Well, what happened is that the overall crime 
rate in Texas has fallen by 30-percent since 1988. Let me repeat that. 
We increased the number of prison beds. We more than doubled the 
expected punishment for crimes ranging from murder to car theft, we 
increased the number of people in prison, and the crime rate fell by 30 
percent.
  Let me put that in more meaningful terms: As compared to 5 years ago 
when we started building prisons and putting violent criminals in 
prison in Texas--as compared to 1991--the 30-percent lower crime rate 
we have today means that in this year alone, 1,140 people in Texas who, 
at the crime rate of 5 years ago would have been murdered in my State, 
will not be murdered. It means that in 1996, 450,000 less serious 
crimes will be committed than would have been committed had we not 
tripled the capacity of our prisons.
  The lesson is very clear. We have a small number of violent predator 
criminals who commit a huge percentage of our violent crimes. When you 
are willing to put them in jail and keep them there, the crime rate 
falls.
  The time has come for us to get serious at the Federal level. We have 
three major statutes that criminalize prison labor. We are one of the 
few countries in the world which cannot make people in prison work to 
produce something that can be sold in order to help pay for the cost of 
incarceration. Three depression-years laws make it a crime to require 
prisoners work, make it a crime to sell what they produce, and make it 
a crime to transport what is produced. In other words, we can require 
taxpayers to work in order to pay for building and maintaining prisons, 
but we cannot make prisoners work in order to do the same. We should 
repeal those three statutes. We should turn our Federal prisons into 
industrial parks. We should cut the cost of prison construction by 
stopping the building of prisons like Holiday Inns. We need to put 
people in jail for violent crimes. We need to have sentences of 10 
years in prison without parole for possessing a firearm during the 
commission of a violent crime or drug felony, 20 years for discharging 
it, and the death penalty for killing one of our neighbors.

  If we do those things, we can end this wave of violence. We are 
allowing our fellow citizens to be brutalized by violent criminals 
because we will not do something about it. In Texas, we have shown that 
you can do something about it and I would like us to follow that lead 
at the Federal level. I commend the National Center for Policy Analysis 
for conducting this study which was released in January of this year. 
Every Member of Congress should read this study and I would be happy to 
supply it to anyone who is interested in doing so.
  Mr. President, I thank you for listening.
  Let me now yield 10 minutes to the Senator from Michigan [Mr. 
Abraham].
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the Senator from 
Michigan.
  Mr. ABRAHAM. I thank the Chair.

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