[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION TO IMPOSE STRICTER MANDATORY PRISON TERMS 
                      FOR CRIMINALS USING FIREARMS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SUE W. KELLY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 25, 1999

  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today for the purpose of introducing 
legislation to impose tougher mandatory jail sentences on criminals who 
use guns.
  It is well understood by my colleagues that gun control is an issue 
over which reasonable people will often disagree. The bill I am 
introducing today, however, is reflective of an idea about which we can 
all agree--criminals who use firearms deserve tough sentences. This 
legislation seeks to increase the mandatory minimum penalties for 
individuals who possess, brandish, or discharge a firearm during the 
commission of a federal crime which is violent or involves drug-
trafficking.
  For possession of a firearm during such a crime, this bill would 
increase the minimum mandatory sentence from 5 years to 10. For 
brandishing a firearm, the minimum sentence would be raised from 7 
years to 15. If the firearms is discharged during the crime, this bill 
would set the mandatory minimum sentence at 20 years, a substantial 
increase from the current 10 year minimum.
  Tough sentences work. Just ask the people of Richmond, Virginia. The 
city's Chief of Police, Jerry Oliver, testified before Congress just 
this week about Project Exile, a program by which individuals who use a 
firearm during the commission of a crime are prosecuted in federal 
court rather than state court, making them subject to stiffer 
penalties. These tougher sentences, accompanied by a public campaign to 
tout them, have been a central cause for the city's significantly 
diminished homicide rate. We need to draw from Richmond's example.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in the effort to enact a law which 
makes it perfectly clear that profound punitive consequences await 
those criminals who use deadly firearms.

                          ____________________