[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 150 (Thursday, December 7, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S11736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE RECORD ON EXECUTIONS

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise with regret to mark another 
milestone in the history of our system of justice. This morning's 
papers report that yesterday the state of Texas carried out its 39th 
execution, the most of any state since 1862, when the military hanged 
39 Native Americans in one day in Minnesota. This evening, Texas is 
scheduled to surpass that record with its 40th execution. This is a 
regrettable record.
  This year, as of yesterday, states in America have executed 82 
people. We have reached a sad state of affairs when this Country 
executes nearly 100 people every year. In 1998, only China and the 
Congo executed more people a year than did the United States.
  And we have reached an inequitable state of affairs when nearly half 
of the executions this year--39 out of the 82 to date--were carried out 
in just one state. The state with the next most executions this year, 
Oklahoma, has had 11 executions. Southern states have carried out 
nearly 9 out of 10 executions that have taken place this year.
  Across the street, the building that holds the Supreme Court of the 
United States has emblazoned across its pediment the words ``Equal 
Justice Under Law.'' In a Nation that prides itself in that equal 
justice, how can we abide a system where nearly half of the executions 
are carried out in just one state?
  Finally, I rise to mark another milestone. On Tuesday of next week, 
the Federal Government is scheduled to reenter the grim business of 
execution. For nearly 40 years, no one has been executed in the name of 
the people of the United States. That is set to change next Tuesday.
  In light of the demonstrated evidence of regional and racial 
disparity in the application of this most final punishment, I call on 
the President to stay that execution. I call on the President to impose 
a moratorium on Federal executions and establish a blue ribbon 
commission to examine the fairness of the system of capital punishment 
in America.
  In September, the Department of Justice released a report on the 
federal death penalty system. That report found that whether the 
federal system sends people to death row appears to be related to the 
federal district in which they are prosecuted or the color of their 
skin.
  After the Justice Department released the report, White House 
spokesman Jake Siewert confirmed the President's view that ``these 
numbers are troubling'' and that more information must be gathered to 
determine ``more about how the system works and what's behind those 
numbers,'' including ``why minorities in some geographic districts are 
disproportionately represented.''
  We do not yet know why our federal system produces racially and 
geographically lopsided results. We need a systematic review.
  Many are joining in asking the President for a moratorium on 
executions. Their ranks include, among so many others, Lloyd Cutler, 
the esteemed former adviser to Presidents Carter and Clinton; Julian 
Bond, Chairman of the NAACP; and the Reverend Joseph Lowrey, chair of 
the Black Leadership Forum and President emeritus of the Southern 
Christian Leadership Conference.
  Yes, justice demands that crimes be punished. But if we demand 
justice, we must administer justice fairly.
  Before we reach the milestone of reinstituting Federal executions, 
let us pause to evaluate the fairness of our Nation's machinery of 
death.
  Mr. President, let this be a milestone that we choose not to reach, 
next week. God willing, let this be a milestone that we choose not to 
reach, if ever, for some time to come.

                          ____________________