Jon Kyl: “I think she makes three very important points. One very important point she made is that if you have a Federal statute…”

“I think she makes three very important points. One very important point she made is that if you have a Federal statute, you are only dealing with 1 to 2 percent of the victims of violent crime--those 8 million victims each year. Of course, that is the number of Federal crimes. There aren't very many serious Federal crimes that would carry the penalties necessary to invoke this constitutional provision. A Federal statute would be very small and of no comfort to the millions of victims of crime involved in State court proceedings. Secondly, there are occasions when, as in the Oklahoma City bombing case, a defendant's rights are asserted based on an amendment to the Constitution. Sometimes, for example, the judge will say: Well, I am going to exclude witnesses. I will exclude victims from the courtroom because the defendant thinks it will create undue emotion, that it will jeopardize his right to a fair trial if the jury sees the victim or the family of the victim. That was the case in the Oklahoma City bombing case and in scores of others Senator Feinstein has brought to the attention of the Senate.”