[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 19 (Friday, February 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E299-E300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF THE WITNESS SECURITY AND PROTECTION ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2005

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the countless 
communities across this Nation that live under a tyranny of fear due to 
witness intimidation.
  For too long some of our bravest citizens who courageously sought to 
testify in criminal proceedings have been subject to terror at the 
hands of criminals right here on American soil.
  Drug dealers and other criminals have employed a variety of brutal 
tactics to silence witnesses and intimidate their families, including 
vandalism, threats, beatings, stabbings, shootings, and even murder.
  Witness intimidation is a menacing cancer in our society that, if 
left untreated, will spread and intensify--undermining the very 
foundation of our criminal justice system. This cancer is eroding 
public trust in the government's ability to protect witnesses and 
demoralizing needed community cooperation to enforce the law.
  Our criminal justice system relies on witnesses to provide essential 
evidence to law enforcement in the administration of justice. We cannot 
allow street thugs to persecute citizens determined to rescue their 
communities in the grips of violence and illegal drugs.
  In Baltimore City reporting crimes, or testifying in court cases 
involving drugs or violence, can be extremely dangerous and potentially 
even deadly. According to Baltimore City's State Attorney Patricia 
Jessamy, prosecutors throughout Baltimore encounter witnesses or 
victims on a daily basis who are too terrified to testify.
  Specifically, her office estimates ``at least 25 percent of non-fatal 
shooting cases are dismissed due to witness [intimidation] issues and 
most murder cases are affected on some level.'' They also report ``5 
cases where a witness was shot or murdered since September last year.''
  When cases crumble because of witness intimidation, potentially 
guilty defendants are free once again to pollute our communities with 
drugs and victimize the innocent.
  Mr. Speaker perhaps nowhere is there an example more clear in 
illustrating the realities of witness intimidation than in the tragedy 
that claimed the lives of the Dawson family from my district in East 
Baltimore City.
  In response to Mrs. Dawson's heroic efforts to report intense drug 
distribution activity in her neighborhood, the Dawson family home was 
firebombed on October 16, 2002. This insidious act not only took the 
lives of Mr. Dawson and Mrs. Dawson, but also those of their 5 young 
children.
  Unfortunately, this was not the only serious incident of witness 
intimidation to surface in Baltimore City.
  Baltimore Police Detective Thomas Newman was murdered two years ago 
due to his testimony in a trial concerning a shooting.
  On December 2, 2004, a DVD produced by criminals entitled ``Stop 
Snitching'' surfaced in Baltimore. It graphically illustrates the 
violent drug culture and the code of silence on the streets that can 
paralyze entire communities seeking to abide by the law. ``Stop 
Snitching'' goes so far as to depict grotesque images of three 
bulletridden, bloody corpses accompanied by the phrase ``snitch 
prevention.''
  On January 15th 2005, in the North Baltimore community of Harwood, 
Edna McAbier had her home firebombed in apparent retaliation for her 
work to purge her community of criminal activity.
  Regrettably, these aforementioned examples are representative of a 
growing problem of bold intimidation that send a clear message to the 
Nation that cannot be overstated--those who would cooperate with police 
in the pursuit of justice face serious retaliation and possibly 
execution.
  Witness protection programs provide an invaluable resource to law 
enforcement to combat crime and address witness intimidation. The 
Witness Security Program (WSP) established in 1970 and administered by 
the Office of Enforcement Operations at the Department of Justice has 
successfully carried out its charge. Civilian witnesses testifying in 
federal cases that deal with organized crime or 3 other serious 
offenses have been provided with long-term protection and relocation.
  The United Stated Marshals Service (USMS) has done an outstanding job 
in protecting and relocating witnesses and their families who have been 
placed in their custody. They can provide them with safety, new 
identities, housing, employment, medical treatment, and funds to cover 
the most essential of needs.
  While non-federal witnesses can participate in the WSP under certain 
conditions, the State is asked to reimburse the federal government for 
the cost of providing such protection.
  With record State deficits, local prosecutors are often placed in a 
challenging position of having to choose between directing their 
dollars to necessary prosecutorial initiatives such as investigating 
the illegal distribution of drugs or directing their limited resources 
into costly, but necessary witnesses protection programs--or, 
unfortunately, providing no protection at all.
  No one wins when our criminal justice system is forced to choose 
between these two worthwhile ends.
  That is why I rise today to introduce the Witness Security and 
Protection Act of 2005. I am proud to have the esteemed senior Senator 
from New York, Senator Schumer, reintroduce a companion measure to this 
bill in the Senate.
  This legislation would establish within the USMS a Short-Term State 
Witness Protection Program tailored to meet the needs of witnesses 
testifying in State and local criminal trials involving homicide, a 
serious felony or a serious drug offense.

  This measure authorizes $90 million in competitive grants per year 
for the next three years so that State and local district attorneys and 
the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, can provide short-term 
witness protection to their witnesses. Specifically, prosecutors can 
use these funds to provide witness protection or pay the cost of 
protecting their witnesses in the Short-Term Witness Protection Program 
within the USMS.
  We give priority in awarding grants to States with high homicide 
rates. Given our current fiscal position, it is important to ensure 
that our dollars are targeted to impact those most in need.

[[Page E300]]

  While we can never bring back the Dawson family and all those who 
carried a heavy burden of fear due to witness intimidation, we can 
honor their sacrifice by taking the necessary steps today to ensure 
that future tragedies are prevented. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
taking that critical step by cosponsoring the Witness Security and 
Protection Act.

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