[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 120 (Thursday, September 5, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10101-H10103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              FIGHTING CRIME TO PROTECT THE AMERICA DREAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Christensen] is recognized 
for 20 minutes.
  Mr. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, during the month of August, I had the 
opportunity to spend some quality time with my fellow Nebraskans. 
During that month I knocked on over 3,500 doors and discovered that, 
willing or not, people are beginning to focus on the elections just 61 
days away now.
  The November elections are going to be very historic for, as a 
nation, we are poised to get ready for the 21st century, where we will 
set the course for flagship America and where that course will go into 
many uncharted waters.
  This November, we are going to be selecting a helmsman to lead our 
Nation into the next century to steer that Nation, to steer our Nation 
on a safe and steady course. This November, we will decide whether to 
elect the reform Congress, one that I believe has accomplished more in 
over a generation than any other Congress, or return to the status quo 
of higher taxes, bigger Government, bloated bureaucracy, unprecedented 
arrogance that came with 40 years of one-party Democratic rule.
  I heard the former speaker talk about the fact that it takes a 
village to raise a child. It does not take a village to raise a child. 
It takes a parent. It takes two parents. It takes people that care 
about a child to raise that child up right.
  I think that is what this November election is going to be about: 
restoring the American dream for that child. To each of us it means a 
little bit different. To some it means going to college. To others it 
might mean owning a home. To others it might mean being an entrepreneur 
and starting your own business. It means getting married to some and 
starting a family.

                              {time}  1715

  As a Member of Congress I believe that the American dream has got to 
be centered around a few very core issues. One is balancing this 
country's budget to begin to pay off he $5 trillion worth of debt that 
hangs around our children's necks, to give them an opportunity to live 
in a debt-free society full of opportunity, opportunity awaiting them 
in the 21st century. Restoring the American dream means freeing 
Flagship America of the anchor of taxes and regulation and letting 
working families keep more of their hard-earned money and providing 
better opportunity for them all. Restoring the American dream means 
streets where seniors can stroll safely into the night and schools 
where children can learn without fear for their life and fear walking 
to school in the morning without their parent beside them.
  And that is what I would like to talk with you about this evening, 
the violent crime and illegal drugs that are casting a long cold shadow 
over the American dream, for without safe streets, secure schoolyards 
and a drug-free future, no other element of the American dream is 
possible. We must have safe streets, secure schools, and a freedom from 
the fear for us to accomplish that American dream. I believe this is 
possible, and I believe we can achieve it.

  You know, in Nebraska we are very fortunate. Generally we have been 
spared the worst of crime. The crime and horror stories that are played 
out on the TV screens which you see in Chicago and Los Angeles and 
Houston and New York does not normally happen in Omaha, but sadly that 
is no longer true. You know, I grew up in the rural part of Nebraska. I 
can remember when we left our door unlocked and the keys in the pickup. 
But no longer can you do that. In Omaha last year alone we had 41 
killings, 8 more than in 1994. Omaha's police arrested 20 percent more 
juveniles in 1995 then they did in 1994. And that shadow, the shadow of 
crime, even took one of our brave men in blue.
  You know, two studies have been released most recently that show that 
we are losing the war on drugs. The Health and Human Services study 
showed that drug abuse is climbing

[[Page H10102]]

among our teens, putting them on a crash course with history. The study 
showed that drug use by our children doubled in the last 3 years. 
Monthly use of LSD and other halucinogens leapt 183 percent from 1992 
to 1995, and 54 percent in last year alone. Cocaine shot up 166 
percent; marijuana grew at 141 percent. In 1992, 1 in 20 kids dabbled 
in these poisons at least once a month. But last year 1 in 10 used 
these drugs regularly, twice as many. District 66 schools, the west 
side schools in my district, released a study just a couple days ago 
that showed that marijuana use is increasing at every grade level.
  If we are to rebuild the American dream, it is here where we must 
begin, in our schools, in our communities, stone by stone and brick by 
brick. We must rebuild the foundation of this great Nation to insure 
freedom from fear, freedom from drugs, to achieve the opportunity for 
the American dream for everyone, and this new Congress has laid down 
the cornerstone in this historic fight.
  This past year the Congress took on significant steps to make our 
streets safer in the quest of that American dream. We unanimously 
approved the Victim Restitution Act. The bill instructs courts in 
Federal criminal proceedings to require convicted offenders to pay 
restitution to their victims. The fact that we passed this Victim 
Restitution Act without a single dissenting vote tells me that Congress 
has changed and that we can work in a bipartisan fashion. Nowadays we 
all agree that criminals should have to pay for their misdeeds 
literally.
  We also approved the Exclusionary Rule Reform Act which would allow 
prosecutors in Federal court to use evidence gathered by law 
enforcement officials acting in good faith. Today criminals are 
frequently acquitted on technicalities only because the officers 
investigating unknowingly stepped over some arbitrary line. We should 
never allow a typographical error on a warrant to be used by some slick 
criminal defense attorney to put a vicious criminal back on the street. 
I am hopeful that this bill can be approved by the other body and sent 
to the President soon for his signature.
  We also passed the effective Death Penalty Act to limit the number of 
appeals of convicted felons on death row. Currently those on death row 
can file almost unlimited appeals, tying up the courts and using the 
process to escape their sentence. We have seen that again and again in 
Nebraska where vicious killers like ``Whack 'Em'' Willie Otey and John 
Joubert were able to cheat justice for decades. Finally the people won 
out, and they are put to death this year.
  Now that this legislation has been signed into law, I am hopeful that 
justice will soon become more swift and much more certain. We passed 
the Violent Criminal Incarceration Act which provides resources to 
States for prison construction and also contained truth-in-sentencing 
provisions intended to make convicted criminals serve more of their 
prison terms that they are given.

  We passed the Criminal Alien Deportation Improvements Act which 
strengthens our ability to deal with aliens who are convicted of 
serious crimes while they are in the United States. It is a shocking 
fact that our Federal prisons now hold more than 25 percent non-U.S. 
citizens. Since 1980 the number of alien inmates has skyrocketed 600 
percent. Why on earth should our States pay hundreds of millions of 
dollars a year to incarcerate foreign drug dealers?
  In the House we also passed legislation that would double the 
penalties for most crimes against children and against senior citizens. 
This legislation sends a simple and clear message to criminals that if 
you are so cowardly and so craven that you must prey upon the most 
vulnerable Americans, then plan on becoming a permanent resident of 
cell block B.
  We also passed Megan's Law. This important legislation requires law 
enforcement officials to notify communities and families when a 
convicted sex offender is released and moves into their neighborhood. 
No longer will our families live in fear from the unknown. It is bad 
enough that some convicted sex offenders are ever released. At the very 
least we should let people know when they move into their neighborhood.
  Working closely with my good friend Representative Lightfoot, 
chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee, we passed legislation that 
will place the Integrated Ballistic Imaging System, better known as 
IBIS, into the Omaha law enforcement communities. This will allow our 
law enforcement officials to ``fingerprint'' bullets used in the 
commission of a crime and match them up with the gun they came from.
  This will make crime solving a whole lot easier for those charged 
with the duty of protecting us and be able to really lock the key on 
those convicted of a crime using a gun.
  Finally, after a lot of hard work, we were able to get ``high drug-
trafficking'' States like Nebraska earmarked with a $5 million to help 
us put a plug on the evils of drugs flowing down Interstate 80. It is 
still waiting approval over in the Senate, and we are working with 
Senator Lott to try to get that through.
  But I believe that each of these measures are an important factor in 
fighting the increased drug usage in our country, because I believe 
each bill, brick by brick, gets us closer to restoring that American 
dream.
  Besides the bills that we passed here in the House, I introduced two 
bills that I believe will bring us closer to restoring the American 
dream and bringing safety to our streets and secure schools. One was my 
prison reform bill. On this issue I have to admit I have got some 
critics. Some people have said that prisoners are overcrowded. Some 
people have said that prisons are uncomfortable. Some people have even 
told me that prisoners are denied access to recreation.
  To my critics I say:
  So what? For too long, liberal judges, and slick criminal defense 
attorneys and misguided policies have turned our prisons into 
playhouses. To fix that, I sponsored legislation that makes it clear 
once and for all that our prisons are not country clubs.
  First, my legislation would require prisoners to work 48 hours each 
week. If both parents in middle-class families are forced to work just 
to make ends meet, at the very least we should demand that those who 
have broken our laws and terrorized our families should put in an 
honest day's work as well.
  Second, the Christensen bill requires Federal prisoners to study at 
least 12 hours per week.
  Part of the role of the prison is to prepare convicted criminals to 
reenter society. It is not their choice whether to spend that time 
playing cards or getting their GED. It is our choice.
  Third, my bill prohibits the use of weight lifting equipment in 
Federal prisons by Federal prisoners. Why should taxpayers be forced to 
pay for criminals to become stronger and more deadly so that they can 
prey upon our families once they reenter society? Our prisons are not 
for recreation, they are for incarceration.
  Fourth, the Christensen bill would ban the use of televisions in 
Federal prisons, with a narrow exception for educational purposes. So 
long as just one Nebraska family cannot afford the luxury of cable 
television, then not one Federal prisoner should have it either.
  It is time we quit treating our Federal prisons like Holiday Inns. 
Finally, the Christensen bill seeks to end frivolous prison litigation. 
Inmates right here in Nebraska, in my district, have claimed violations 
and have used taxpayer dollars to fight their claims in court for not 
having meals of their choice, complaining about soggy toast and cold 
hamburgers, cruel and unusual punishment because Nebraska taxpayers 
would not pay for a nose job. Even a right to child pornography in 
prison, despite the fact that the inmate was serving a sentence for 
first degree sexual assault on a child and manufacturing child 
pornography. Try finding those rights in the Constitution! But some 
slick criminal defense attorney probably would make that claim. The 
bottom line is that these lawsuits are nuts, and they must stop, and 
they will.
  The second piece of legislation that I sponsored makes it clear that 
the problem with guns in our society is not the guns but the felons who 
use them for a criminal purpose. I call my bill the Hard Time for Gun 
Crimes Act. This bill would dramatically increase the penalties for 
possessing, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during the 
commission of a Federal felony.

[[Page H10103]]

  For instance under my bill if you fire a gun during the commission of 
a Federal crime, if it is the first offense you will get 30 extra years 
in jail. If it is the second offense, you will get a minimum of 50, 50 
extra years in jail.
  The key message is that we have had it with gun related violence. 
Americans have zero tolerance for gun crime so our justice system 
should as well too. I think we should keep those who would misuse guns 
in jail and not let them walk the streets as they have done in the 
past. No more slick criminal defense attorneys pushing criminals to 
freedom through legal loopholes, no more soft sentences before the 
judge, no more legal gymnastics setting criminals free after a fraction 
of their allotted time in jail. My bill sends a very clear message:
  If you want to use a gun to commit a felony, plan on spending the 
next few decades behind bars, no exceptions.

                              {time}  1730

  I believe that the new Congress has brought about true change. We 
have worked hard to balance the budget for the first time in a 
generation, just as we said we would. We worked hard to reduce the 
burden of big government on hardworking Americans and job-creating 
businesses, just as we said we would.
  As I have laid out here today, we have worked very, very hard to make 
our streets safe and our schools more secure, just as we said we would. 
We are doing it so we can restore the American dream for every child, 
for every family, for a brighter and safer 21st century, because I 
believe together, in a bipartisan fashion, that this Congress has had a 
number of successes, and that together, and in future Congress, we can 
continue to build a future for that child, and that child than can be 
raised by his own parents, not the village, but by his family, for a 
bright and safe 21st century.

                          ____________________