[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4357-S4358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

 By Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Specter, Mr. DeWine, Mr. 
          Ashcroft, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Sessions, and Mr. Grams):

  S. 899. A bill to reduce crime and protect the public in the 21st 
Century by strengthening Federal assistance to State and local law 
enforcement, combating illegal drugs and preventing drug use, attacking 
the criminal use of guns, promoting accountability and rehabilitation 
of juvenile criminals, protecting the rights of victims in the criminal 
justice system, and improving criminal justice rules and procedures, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


                    twenty-first Century Justice Act

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, today I am proud to introduce the Twenty-
first Century Justice Act. Last month, when I announced this 
initiative, along with my colleagues Senator Thurmond, Senator DeWine, 
Senator Ashcroft, Senator Sessions, Senator Abraham, and Senator Grams, 
I noted that despite some modest gains in the fight against crime, 
violent crime still touched far too many Americans. Sadly, this has 
been borne out in the weeks since.
  As the recent tragedies in Littleton, CO, and in my own hometown of 
Salt Lake City, UT, remind us, crime in America is still too prevalent 
and violent. The tragic cost imposed on law-abiding citizens requires 
reasoned and thoughtful action to deter these heinous crimes. We must 
come together as a society to address this problem.
  Furthermore, we should recognize that there is little the Federal 
Government could have done directly to have prevented the tragedies in 
Littleton and elsewhere. There are, however, important steps we can 
take to address this issue. Our crime bill takes such steps.
  Now, let me describe for my colleagues how this bill, which is a 
balanced, comprehensive, and focused plan to fight crime, will expand 
current successful law enforcement practices. It is based on what we 
know reduces crime. Be it increased methamphetamine abuse in Utah and 
other Western states, further increases in juvenile crime, or the 
threat of international crime, we know that our plan will make a 
significant difference.
  Our plan maintains and strengthens the current federal assistance to 
States that has proven invaluable in reducing crime nationally, and it 
adds new initiatives that will further reduce crime at the federal, 
state, and local levels. I am proud of our plan, and I look forward to 
working with the administration and my Senate colleagues to enact it.
  America witnessed an unprecedented growth in crime during the 20th 
century. Our plan ensures that we will become the 21st century with 
decreasing crime rates. Our plan contains four central elements:
  First, it continues and improves Federal assistance to State and 
local law enforcement. Second, it reinvigorates our commitment to 
winning the war on drugs. Third, it emphasizes holding violent 
offenders accountable by vigorously prosecuting gun crimes. And fourth, 
it includes needed judicial and criminal procedure reforms and 
protections for the rights of crime victims.
  Notwithstanding the leadership we have seen here in Congress and by 
many of our nation's governors, crime in America is still unacceptably 
high by historical standards. For example, for 1997--the most recent 
year for which national crime rate statistics are available--the murder 
rate was 33 percent higher than it was in 1960, and the rape rate was 
413 percent higher than in 1960. In 1997, the aggravated assault rate 
was 526 percent higher than it was in 1960. Even with the modest 
declines in recent years, America still has more violent crime than any 
industrialized nation in the world. The first obligation of government 
is to protect its citizens from crime. Obviously, despite the recent 
declines, we have a long way to go in reducing crime in America.
  Despite the recent progress--much of it in partnership with Governors 
like Mike Leavitt of Utah, George Allen and Jim Gilmore of Virginia, 
and George W. Bush of Texas--we cannot become complacent. The most 
troubling aspect of the Clinton Justice Department's budget is its 
elimination of block grants that have proven so successful in helping 
state and local authorities reduce crime. We simply cannot become 
indifferent. Remember the war on drugs? During the Reagan and Bush 
administrations, our nation began a national, long-term commitment to 
fight drug abuse. Due to these efforts, drug use began to decline. 
However, drug use, especially among teenagers, has exploded since 1992. 
Unless we remain vigilant, the same will happen with violent crime.
  Permit me to review each of the four main parts to our legislative 
crime plan in greater detail.


  Continuing and Improving Federal Assistance to State and Local Law 
                              Enforcement

  Combined with our ongoing commitment to prevention and treatment, our 
bill extends the authorization for the highly successful partnership we 
have created with local law enforcement--the Local Law Enforcement 
Block Grant Program, which the Republican Congress created in the 
Contract with America. Since fiscal year 1996, this program has 
provided more than $2 billion in funding for equipment and technology, 
such as radios and scanners, directly to state and local 
law enforcement. The authorization for this program will be between 
$600-700 million per year. Although the block grant has been extremely 
effective in assisting state and local law enforcement, the

[[Page S4358]]

Clinton administration budget eliminates funding for this program.

  Our bill also reauthorizes the truth-in-sentencing prison grants at 
approximately $700 million per year. These truth-in-sentencing grants, 
which provide funds to States to build prisons, have been instrumental 
in lowering crime by encouraging States to incarcerate violent and 
repeat offenders for at least 85 percent of their sentence. In January, 
the Justice Department reported that 70 percent of prison admissions in 
1997 were in States requiring criminals to serve at least 85 percent of 
their sentence. More significantly, the average time served by violent 
criminals nationally has increased 12.2 percent since 1993. Perhaps the 
biggest reason for recent declines in violent crime is due to these 
truth-in-sentencing prison grants. Simply put, violent criminals cannot 
commit crimes against innocent victims while in prison. Our bill 
continues this successful program and makes the program more flexible 
by allowing States to use the funds for jails and juvenile facilities, 
in addition to prison construction.
  Despite this success, the Clinton administration eliminates funding 
for the Truth-in-Sentencing program--even though many States have 
changed their laws due to this federal commitment to assist in prison 
construction. Nothing deters and prevents violent crime as well as 
incarcerating violent and repeat offenders.
  Our bill also includes the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block 
Grant to help States build juvenile detention centers, drug test 
juvenile offenders, establish graduated sentencing sanctions for repeat 
juvenile offenders, and improve juvenile record keeping. This provision 
authorizes $450 million for the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block 
Grant. It also includes $435 million for prevention programs and 
reauthorizes the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 
within the Justice Department. The administration's budget eliminates 
funding for the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant, even 
though these are the only federal funds dedicated to juvenile law 
enforcement purposes.
  Finally, our bill reauthorizes and reforms the COPS program re-
targeting this assistance to the type of policing we know works--zero 
tolerance for crime, computer tracking of criminal hot spots, and 
holding commanders responsible for results.


                A Commitment to Winning the War on Drugs

  The second major part of this legislative addresses drugs. This 
section focuses attention where only the federal government has the 
ability to make a difference--drug interdiction. It also increases the 
penalties for methamphetamine and powder cocaine trafficking. Our bill 
encourages States to keep prisons and jails drug-free to break the link 
between drugs and crime--and provides bonus grants to help States do 
this. And our bill includes a faith-based drug treatment bill designed 
by Senator Abraham. I would especially like to thank and acknowledge 
the leadership that Senators Ashcroft and DeWine have shown in fighting 
drugs, particularly methamphetamine. Their leadership has been 
invaluable on this issue.


  Holding Violent Offenders Accountable Through Firearms Prosecutions

  I do not support gun control, but I do believe in crime control. In 
addition to remaining true to truth-in-sentencing and prison 
construction, our bill builds on and expands a successful Richmond, 
Virginia program in which the U.S. Attorney's office prosecutes as many 
local gun-related crimes in federal court as possible to take advantage 
of federal mandatory minimum sentences and stiff bond rules. This 
provision does not create additional federal crimes, but instead 
utilizes existing federal statues. This program builds on the Project 
Triggerlock program which was implemented by the Bush administration.
  This program emphasizes cooperation between state and federal 
prosecutors, as well as the BATF and the local police departments. The 
last major component of this program is an extensive media campaign to 
promote the message to potential criminals that ``[a]n illegal gun will 
get you five years in federal prison.'' The media campaign also 
encourages citizens to report gun crimes to authorities. This program 
has been a huge success. Homicides have decreased 50 percent in 
Richmond after this program was implemented. Our bill provides funds to 
implement this program in major cities across the nation.
  Again, the Clinton administration's record on gun prosecutions is 
troubling. Between 1992 and 1997, Triggerlock gun prosecutions dropped 
nearly 50 percent, from 7,045 to 3,765. These are prosecutions of 
defendants who use a firearm in the commission of a felony.


            Judicial-Procedural Reforms and Victims' Rights

  The last major element of our crime plan enacts procedural and 
judicial reforms that improve the administration of justice. Our bill 
reforms the Miranda rule to allow voluntary statements in evidence. It 
codifies common-sense procedural issues, including the ``good-faith'' 
exception to exclusionary rule, and further reforms habeas corpus 
appeals.
  Our bill also recognizes that the administration of justice requires 
government to safeguard the interests of victims. How can there be 
justice if crime victims feel victimized by the criminal justice 
system? The bill ensures that victims are given respect in the criminal 
system, ensuring their right to attend trials in federal court, to be 
heard at critical stages such as detention hearings, and to be notified 
when the defendant is released or escapes. Our bill also calls for 
ratification of a crime victim's rights constitutional amendment to 
ensure that these rights are recognized everywhere in America. Our bill 
also steers necessary funds toward combating violence against women and 
children, and strengthens federal mandatory restitution laws.
  This bill is not a panacea for our crime problem. We are faced, I 
believe, with a problem which cannot be solved alone by new laws. It 
is, at its core, a moral problem. Somehow, in too many instances, we 
have failed as a society to pass to the next generation the moral 
compass that differentiates right from wrong. This problem cannot be 
solved by legislation alone. It cannot be restored by the enactment of 
a new law or the implementation of a new program But it can be achieved 
by families and communities working together to teach accountability by 
example and by early intervention when the signs point to violent and 
antisocial behavior.
  Our bill is a step in the right direction. I urge my colleagues to 
support this important crime fighting legislation, which will 
strengthen our nation's ability to protect citizens from the scourge of 
violent crime.
                                 ______