[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 95 (Thursday, July 16, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S8415]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CAMPUS CRIME REPORTING

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise to praise my colleagues for 
making Senator Specter's legislation on campus crime reporting a part 
of the higher education bill. This amendment to the higher education 
legislation, of which I was a cosponsor, will improve the safety and 
security of college students and employees across the United States.
  Mr. President, when young people go to college they expect to face 
many challenges--academically, professionally and personally. But 
neither they nor their parents expect college kids to face high rates 
of crime, including violent crime. Unfortunately, on too many of our 
campuses this is exactly what they face. And the situation is made 
worse by the fact that many colleges and universities fail to 
accurately and fully report crimes committed on their campuses.
  This amendment will close significant loopholes in current law that 
keep parents and prospective college students from getting the 
information they need to make a fully informed decision regarding where 
they should go to college. Thanks to this amendment, the Department of 
Education will be directed to require colleges to report criminal 
offenses that occur on sidewalks, streets, and other public lands on or 
adjacent to the campus, as well as offenses that occur in buildings 
that are owned by the college but used for commercial purposes, such as 
student food courts. Colleges that fail to compile accurate crime 
reports in accordance with these new requirements will suffer civil 
penalties.
  Mr. President, a crime is a crime, whether it occurs in a college 
classroom, in the campus food court or on the sidewalk. A young man who 
is mugged, a young woman who is raped, any student who is accosted, 
beaten or murdered, suffers the same pain and loss regardless of which 
part of campus it is on which they are victimized.
  Through this amendment we can see to it that students and their 
parents have the fullest possible information available to them 
regarding the safety of the campuses they are considering. This 
amendment also will provide colleges and universities with the extra 
incentive some of them may need to improve the safety and security of 
their students and employees. In 1994 alone, Mr. President, over 9,500 
violent crimes were reported on our college campuses. And that figure 
does not include crimes colleges have not been required to report. We 
must do better. College is challenging enough, Mr. President, without 
adding to its challenges the unknown risk of crime.
  Again, I congratulate my colleagues on including this important 
amendment in the higher education bill and look forward to the swift 
and efficient implementation of its language.

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