[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 34 (Monday, August 29, 1994)]
[Page 1701]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Members of the Senate on Crime Legislation

August 22, 1994

Dear __________:

    This week, the Senate has an historic chance to move us beyond old 
labels and partisan divisions by passing the toughest, smartest Crime 
Bill in our nation's history.
    I want to congratulate members of Congress in both houses and both 
parties who have reached across party lines and worked in good faith to 
produce this Crime Bill. This isn't a Democratic Crime Bill or a 
Republican Crime Bill--it's an American Crime Bill, and it will make a 
difference in every town, every city, and every state in our country.
    The Crime Bill produced by House and Senate conferees and passed 
yesterday by Democrats and Republicans in the House achieves all the 
same objectives as the bipartisan Crime Bill which the Senate passed 
last November by a vote of 95 to 4.
    Many of the central provisions of this Crime Bill were included in 
the Senate bill:
    * Nearly $9 billion to put 100,000 new police officers on our 
streets in community policing;
    * An additional $4.6 billion for federal, state and local law 
enforcement (a 25% increase above the Senate bill);
    * $9.9 billion for prisons (a 30% increase above the Senate bill), 
coupled with tough truth-in-sentencing requirements that will shut the 
revolving door on violent criminals;
    * Life imprisonment for repeat violent offenders by making three-
strikes-and-you're-out the law of the land;
    * Federal death penalties for the most heinous of crimes, such as 
killing a law enforcement officer;
    * A ban on handgun ownership for juveniles;
    * Registration and community notification to warn unsuspecting 
families of sexual predators in their midst;
    * A ban on 19 semiautomatic assault weapons, with specific 
protection for more than 650 other weapons; and
    * Innovative crime prevention programs, such as the Community 
Schools program sponsored by Senators Danforth, Bradley, and Dodd, and 
the Violence Against Women Act sponsored by Senators Biden, Hatch, and 
Dole.
    One of the most important elements of this Crime Bill is the 
creation of a Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund, which ensures that 
every crime-fighting program in the bill will be paid for by reducing 
the federal bureaucracy by more than 270,000 positions over the next six 
years. The idea for the Trust Fund came from Senators Byrd, Mitchell, 
Biden, Gramm, Hatch, and Dole, and the Senate approved it by a vote of 
94 to 4. The Trust Fund will ensure that the entire Crime Bill will be 
fully paid for, not with new taxes, but by reducing the federal 
bureaucracy to its lowest level in over 30 years.
    The Senate led the way in passing these important anti-crime 
proposals last November, and I urge you to take up this Crime Bill in 
the same bipartisan spirit that marked that debate. The American people 
have waited six years for a comprehensive Crime Bill. It's time to put 
politics aside and finish the job. After all the hard work that has gone 
into this effort by members of both parties acting in good faith, we owe 
it to the law-abiding citizens of this country to pass this Crime Bill 
without delay.
    Sincerely,
                                                  Bill Clinton

Note: Identical letters were sent to Senators of the 103d Congress. This 
letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on August 23.