[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 134 (Wednesday, October 1, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S10301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                FEDERAL JUDICIARY PROTECTION ACT OF 1997

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am proud to join as a cosponsor of 
the Federal Judiciary Protection Act of 1997, S. 1189.
  This legislation would provide greater protection to Federal judges, 
law enforcement officers, and their families. Specifically, our 
legislation would: Increase the maximum prison term for forcible 
assaults, resistance, opposition, intimidation, or interference with a 
Federal judge or law enforcement officer from 3 years imprisonment to 8 
years; increase the maximum prison term for use of a deadly weapon or 
infliction of bodily injury against a Federal judge or law enforcement 
officer from 10 years imprisonment to 20 years; and increase the 
maximum prison term for threatening murder or kidnaping of a member of 
the immediate family of a Federal judge or law enforcement officer from 
5 years imprisonment to 10 years. It has the support of the Department 
of Justice, the U.S. Judicial Conference, the U.S. Sentencing 
Commission, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
  It is most troubling that the greatest democracy in the world needs 
this legislation to protect the hard-working men and women who serve in 
our Federal judiciary and other law enforcement agencies. But, 
unfortunately, we are seeing more violence and threats of violence 
against officials of our Federal Government.
  Earlier this year, for example, a courtroom in Urbana, IL, was 
firebombed, apparently by a disgruntled litigant. This follows the 
horrible tragedy of the bombing of the Federal office building in 
Oklahoma City 2 years ago. More recently in my home State, a Vermont 
border patrol officer, John Pfeiffer, was seriously wounded by Carl 
Drega, during a shootout with Vermont and New Hampshire law enforcement 
officers in which Drega lost his life. Earlier that day, Drega shot and 
killed two State troopers and a local judge in New Hampshire. 
Apparently, Drega was bent on settling a grudge against the judge who 
had ruled against him in a land dispute.
  There is, of course, no excuse or justification for someone taking 
the law into their own hands and attacking or threatening a judge or 
law enforcement officer. Still, the U.S. Marshals Service is concerned 
with more and more threats of harm to our judges and law enforcement 
officers.
  The extreme rhetoric that some are using to attack the judiciary only 
feeds into this hysteria. For example, one of the Republican leaders in 
the House of Representatives was recently quoted as saying: ``The 
judges need to be intimidated,'' and if they do not behave, ``we're 
going to go after them in a big way.'' I know that House Republican 
Whip Tom Delay was not intending to encourage violence against any 
Federal official, but this extreme rhetoric only serves to degrade 
Federal judges in the eyes of the public.
  Let none of us in the Congress contribute to the atmosphere of hate 
and violence. Let us treat the judicial branch and those who serve 
within it with the respect that is essential to its preserving its 
public standing.
  We have the greatest judicial system in the world, the envy of people 
and countries around the world that are struggling for freedom. It is 
the independence of our third, coequal branch of Government that gives 
it the ability to act fairly and impartially. It is our judiciary that 
has for so long protected our fundamental rights and freedoms and 
served as a necessary check on overreaching by the other two branches, 
those more susceptible to the gusts of the political winds of the 
moment.
  We are fortunate to have dedicated women and men throughout the 
Federal judiciary and law enforcement in this country who do a 
tremendous job under difficult circumstances. They are examples of the 
hard-working public servants that make up the Federal Government, who 
are too often maligned and unfairly disparaged. It is unfortunate that 
it takes acts or threats of violence to put a human face on the Federal 
judiciary and other law enforcement officials, to remind everyone that 
these are people with children and parents and cousins and friends. 
They deserve our respect and our protection.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Federal Judiciary Protection Act 
of 1997 and look forward to its swift enactment.

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