[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 96 (Thursday, July 1, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S8158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000

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                       DURBIN AMENDMENT NO. 1227

  Mr. DURBIN proposed an amendment to the bill, S. 1283, supra; as 
follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
       Sec. ____ (a) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:
       (1) The District of Columbia has recently witnessed a spate 
     of senseless killings of innocent citizens caught in the 
     crossfire of shootings. A Justice Department crime 
     victimization survey found that while the city saw a decline 
     in the homicide rate between 1996 and 1997, the rate was the 
     highest among a dozen cities and more than double the second 
     highest city.
       (2) The District of Columbia has not made adequate funding 
     available to fight drug abuse in recent years, and the city 
     has not deployed its resources as effectively as possible. In 
     fiscal year 1998, $20,900,000 was spent on publicly funded 
     drug treatment in the District compared to $29,000,000 in 
     fiscal year 1993. The District's Addiction and Prevention and 
     Recovery Agency currently has only 2,200 treatment slots, a 
     50 percent drop from 1994, with more than 1,100 people on 
     waiting lists.
       (3) The District of Columbia has seen a rash of inmate 
     escapes from halfway houses. According to Department of 
     Corrections records, between October 21, 1998 and January 19, 
     1999, 376 of the 1,125 inmates assigned to halfway houses 
     walked away. Nearly 280 of the 376 escapees were awaiting 
     trial including 2 charged with murder.
       (4) The District of Columbia public schools system faces 
     serious challenges in correcting chronic problems, 
     particularly long-standing deficiencies in providing special 
     education services to the 1 in 10 District students needing 
     program benefits, including backlogged assessments, and 
     repeated failure to meet a compliance agreement on special 
     education reached with the Department of Education.
       (5) Deficiencies in the delivery of basic public services 
     from cleaning streets to waiting time at Department of Motor 
     Vehicles to a rat population estimated earlier this year to 
     exceed the human population have generated considerable 
     public frustration.
       (6) Last year, the District of Columbia forfeited millions 
     of dollars in Federal grants after Federal auditors 
     determined that several agencies exceeded grant restrictions 
     and in other instances, failed to spend funds before the 
     grants expired.
       (7) Findings of a 1999 report by the Annie E. Casey 
     Foundation that measured the well-being of children reflected 
     that, with 1 exception, the District ranked worst in the 
     United States in every category from infant mortality to the 
     rate of teenage births to statistics chronicling child 
     poverty.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that in considering the District of Columbia's fiscal year 
     2001 budget, the Senate will take into consideration progress 
     or lack of progress in addressing the following issues:
       (1) Crime, including the homicide rate, implementation of 
     community policing, the number of police officers on local 
     beats, and the closing down of open-air drug markets.
       (2) Access to drug abuse treatment, including the number of 
     treatment slots, the number of people served, the number of 
     people on waiting lists, and the effectiveness of treatment 
     programs.
       (3) Management of parolees and pretrial violent offenders, 
     including the number of halfway house escapes and steps taken 
     to improve monitoring and supervision of halfway house 
     residents to reduce the number of escapes.
       (4) Education, including access to special education 
     services and student achievement.
       (5) Improvement in basic city services, including rat 
     control and abatement.
       (6) Application for and management of Federal grants.
       (7) Indicators of child well-being.
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                      HUTCHISON AMENDMENT NO. 1228

  Mrs. HUTCHISON proposed an amendment to the bill, S. 1283, supra; as 
follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:
       Sec.   . The Mayor, prior to using Federal Medicaid 
     payments to Disproportionate Share Hospitals to serve a small 
     number of childless adults, should consider the 
     recommendations of the Health Care Development Commission 
     that has been appointed by the Council of the District of 
     Columbia to review this program, and consult and report to 
     Congress on the use of these funds.
                                 ______
                                 

                       EDWARDS AMENDMENT NO. 1229

  Mrs. HUTCHISON (for Mr. Edwards) proposed an amendment to the bill, 
S. 1283, supra; as follows:

       On page 13, line 17, insert the following: ``: Provided 
     further, That the District of Columbia Public Schools may 
     spend $500,000 to engage in a Schools Without Violence 
     program based on a model developed by the University of North 
     Carolina, located in Greensboro, North Carolina''.
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                    DORGAN AMENDMENTS NOS. 1230-1231

  Mrs. HUTCHISON (for Mr. Dorgan) proposed two amendments to the bill, 
S. 1283, supra; as follows:

                           Amendment No. 1230

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ____. GAO STUDY OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CRIMINAL JUSTICE 
                   SYSTEM.

       Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
       (1) conduct a study of the law enforcement, court, prison, 
     probation, parole, and other components of the criminal 
     justice system of the District of Columbia, in order to 
     identify the components most in need of additional resources, 
     including financial, personnel, and management resources; and
       (2) submit to Congress a report on the results of the study 
     under paragraph (1).
                                  ____


                           Amendment No. 1231

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ____. TERMINATION OF PAROLE FOR ILLEGAL DRUG USE.

       (a) Arrest for Violation of Parole.--Section 205 of title 
     24 of the District of Columbia Code is amended--
       (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``If the'' and 
     inserting the following:
       ``(a) If the''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), with respect to a 
     prisoner who is convicted of a crime of violence (as defined 
     in Sec. 23-1331) and who is released on parole at any time 
     during the term or terms of the prisoner's sentence for that 
     offense, the Board of Parole shall issue a warrant for the 
     retaking of the prisoner in accordance with this section, if 
     the Board, or any member thereof, has reliable information 
     (including positive drug test results) that the prisoner has 
     illegally used a controlled substance (as defined in Sec. 33-
     501) at any time during the term or terms of the prisoner's 
     sentence.''.
       (b) Hearing After Arrest; Termination of Parole.--Section 
     206 of title 24 of the District of Columbia Code is amended 
     by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, 
     with respect to a prisoner with respect to whom a warrant is 
     issued under section 205(b), if, after a hearing under this 
     section, the Board of Parole determines that the prisoner has 
     illegally used a controlled substance (as defined in Sec. 33-
     501) at any time during the term or terms of the prisoner's 
     sentence, the Board shall terminate the parole of that 
     prisoner.''.

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