    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [June 25, 1991]
    [Pages 721-722]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Luncheon Meeting With Law Enforcement Officials
    June 25, 1991

        Well, let me just say it's a pleasure to be here with the heads of
    all our Federal law enforcement agencies. We'll be taking a little
    lunch, talking over the issues of concern to the various departments.
        But let me just say a word about our crime bill. By now, certainly
    all of you are familiar with this 100-day challenge that I threw down to
    the Congress to act on the bill. That was now 106 days ago. And we sent
    our comprehensive crime bill up to the Congress 106 days ago, and the
    Senate started debating provisions of the legislation just last
    Thursday. The House has given absolutely no indication that they plan to
    act soon.
        Our bill, in my view, would help fight violent crime, assist our law
    enforcement officials by relieving many of the frustrations of the
    current system. There will be no more delays, no more abuse of the
    system through habeas corpus petitions. It has penalties for those who
    use a firearm in the commission of a crime. They're the ones we ought to
    go after.
        We also propose reforming the exclusionary rule to permit the
    admission of evidence that has been seized in good faith. And a
    meaningful Federal death penalty--everyone's familiar with that and our
    position on that.
        But my view is, the American people simply are tired of watching
    hoodlums walk, of seeing criminals mock our justice system with these
    endless technicalities. They want to bring order to the streets that

    [[Page 722]]

    are shaken by chaos and crime--the people do. And yet, for more than 2
    years Congress has failed to act on our proposals--good, solid
    proposals--to fight crime and to strengthen the rule of law.
        So, we've got to wait and see what the final product will look like.
    I'm simply not going to sign just any bill, just call it an anticrime
    bill. And I will not sign any bill, frankly, that handcuffs our law
    enforcement people, our police, and that demoralizes the law enforcement
    community.
        Now we just got word, however, this morning--another disappointment,
    I might say--but the Senate declined to adopt our exclusionary rule
    provision. Our proposal would have extended what they call a good faith
    exception of the exclusionary rule to warrant searches. This means that
    the evidence of serious crimes will be excluded at trial now because the
    officer did not have a warrant, even where the officer believes in good
    faith that no warrant was necessary.
        So, as troubling as this is, what is worse is that the Biden
    exclusionary rule proposal remains in the bill. And although Senator
    Biden attempted to codify current case law, our view is that his
    language would actually make it harder to get evidence admitted as it
    does current law.
        So, I hope the Senate will take a new look at these provisions. I
    hope that Congress or the House side of that Congress will act, and I
    can guarantee all of you who are giving a lot of your lives--and your
    people are--to law enforcement that the American people are with us in
    this; they want these things done. And I'm having great difficulty
    getting it through the Congress, so I hope the American people will
    speak up and let the Congress know that this kind of strong anticrime
    legislation has their support. We need some action.
        It's a pleasure.

                        Note: The President spoke at 12:14 p.m. in the
                            Roosevelt Room at the White House. In his
                            remarks, he referred to Senator Joseph R. Biden,
                            Jr. A tape was not available for verification of
                            the content of these remarks.