[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 28026-28027]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              WITNESS SECURITY AND PROTECTION ACT OF 2007

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I have stood before the House many 
evenings to discuss the problems associated with witness intimidation 
and its detrimental impact on our judicial system and our communities.
  Tragically, there has been another ruthless occurrence of witness 
intimidation in my home town of Baltimore City that I must report 
tonight. A family who spent 10 years living the American Dream found it 
destroyed in just 10 minutes. They came home last week to find their 
home smoldering and torn apart. The phrase ``rats must be killed'' and 
the word ``snitch'' crossed out with Xs spray painted on their walls.
  The couple's oldest daughter has been in custody since July for her 
role in a robbery of a taxicab driver earlier this year. Apparently, 
her co-conspirators believe she is cooperating with law enforcement on 
some level. Gang activity also appears to be involved. The word 
``blood'' appeared on various parts of the house.
  Needless to say, the family will not be returning to their home. This 
is an innocent, hardworking family trying simply to live in peace. They 
deserve so much better.
  Unfortunately, when people are willing to cooperate with the police 
in Baltimore City and other jurisdictions throughout our country, 
sadly, it has become customary for their homes to be firebombed or for 
them to be threatened, attacked or even killed.
  No one can forget the tragedy surrounding the death of Angela and 
Carnell Dawson and their 5 children. The entire family was incinerated 
in October 2002 in the middle of the night when their home was 
firebombed in retaliation for Ms. Dawson's repeated complaints to 
police about recurring drug trafficking in her east Baltimore 
neighborhood.
  Just 2 years ago, the home of community activist Edna Abier survived 
a firebomb attack that was launched just because of her attempts to rid 
her neighborhood of drug dealers. Just a few weeks ago, I had an 
opportunity to meet with another couple whose home had been firebombed 
because they were simply trying to cooperate with police.
  Finally, Carl Lackl was murdered outside of his home with chilling 
calculation just days before he was scheduled to testify as a witness 
in a murder

[[Page 28027]]

case. His murderers lured him out of his home under the premise of 
looking at his used car that he was trying to sell.
  Violent crime in the United States is on the rise nationwide, as is 
drug-related gang activity. However, if witnesses are too afraid to 
come forward, criminals cannot be prosecuted and our justice system has 
no credibility and cannot stand.
  This is why I introduced H.R. 933, the Witness Security and 
Protection Act of 2007, which authorizes $270 million over the next 3 
years to enable State and local prosecutors who demonstrate a need for 
the funds to protect witnesses in cases involving gangs or other 
violence to establish short-term witness protection programs.
  Improving protection for State and local witnesses will move us one 
step closer to alleviating the fears and threats to prospective 
witnesses and help safeguard our communities from violence. The time 
has come for us to show our commitment to our constituents and the 
justice system because, without witnesses, there can simply be no 
justice.

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