I want to point out, with respect to the gentlewoman from California, that we are here talking about the increases in penalties. The numbers I quoted were not the penalty but increases in penalties. So, for example, the penalty for…

I think the issue of legal reform is very important. I think it needs to get moving in the House of Representatives, and the issue with which, the matters with which I take issue can be addressed elsewhere in the process. Any bill that…

I support a products liability bill. I think the rationale for it is not perfect. I think arguments can be legitimately made against a Federal products liability bill. But I think a case can be made and has been made for the idea that when…

I would like to take it a step further in that I was persuaded last year that in some localities, in some localities there was a problem with local law enforcement which could not or did not act adequately to protect these clinics or to…

I was sensitive to the argument made in the Committee on the Judiciary that even where you were proceeding with illustrations, there could, by omission, be an implication that something is not intended by Congress. The amendment I am…

I just have to say, as an aside, and as a supporter of the law that passed in the last Congress making it a Federal offense to commit violence, to prevent people from entering reproductive clinics, not simply for picketing them, as was…

I pointed out that a provision of funding in the crime bill that passed last year allows increased lighting for roads, and under the gentleman's amendment that could be interpreted that the improvement in lighting is some kind of…

Our amendment, as has been stated a number of times, is a block grant program to units of local government in which they can decide the best use of their funds. That may in fact be for more police. It may be for what we have come to call…

I agree with the need for crime prevention programs. I have to say that, as a career criminal prosecutor and also a defense attorney for 2 years, I have found it hard to identify specifically what does prevent crime. During one period of…

I just want to say in conclusion once again that it was our belief we would be debating these amendments for the entire 10 hours of this bill, which essentially made the same point over and over again, which we think we have recognized in…

It could be used to help local law enforcement identify wherever they felt that a special incidence of crime, that is up to them to decide in their communities.

Basically the gentleman is correct in that my amendment is an illustration and the local governments are free to make this choice. There were some who felt that was not clear enough, which is the reason for my amendment.

Mr. Chairman, this weekend the President of the United States said, obviously referring to this bill, H.R. 728, that he would oppose, perhaps veto, any bill that would jeopardize the number of police officers that would have been provided…

I just want to say with respect to that issue that the gentlewoman has raised, I have not seen the Federal Justice Department prosecute cases primarily where local government or State government has not prosecuted. I have seen duplication…

I want to say I think we are getting at a part of this amendment now that I raised and which has not been really developed by the other side until right now. There is a difference here between a block grant approach and between our…

I just want to ask of the gentleman from Michigan, I thought I heard the gentleman from Michigan say that he favored the block grant approach because it offered flexibility to the States in terms of whether to use funds for prisons or…

some States are, through their legislature, showing the priority of passing laws which will incarcerate their serious violent criminals longer. It is the purpose of this bill to assist those States. There are two pots of money, and we…

I just want to come down to the central issue. Once we have decided it is all right to offer States prison grants, and that by offering that, it is not a violation of federalism, as long as we seem to be both on board on that, the major…

I think there is another reason to support H.R. 667, and that is it represents the idea of truth in legislation. During the consideration of the crime bill which was enacted last year, from the beginning all the way through to the time the…

I just want to say briefly that we have heard some impassioned opinions about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, both in their favor and in their opposition. I want to point out, however that I do not think this is going to be an…

I oppose this amendment also, and I do so because, as I understand the arguments that are being made, they come down to this: The argument is that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is riding roughshod over the rights of innocent…

I just wanted to emphasize what this bill does and what this bill does not do. This bill does not repeal legislatively the entire exclusionary rule, or anything even that comes close to it. Speaking for myself, I would not support a bill…

I rise to comment on apparently a news broadcast that occurred last night with respect to the bill, H.R. 666. I cannot tell my fellow Members where this news report took place. I did not see it. But I received some calls this morning which…

Mr. Chairman, I want to say, although it is certainly true that the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Volkmer] has worked on this amendment for quite some time, I want to say that the accusations of some kind of insidious kind of motivations I…

I want to point our that the gentleman's premise is what I believe is incorrect in this debate. There is nothing in this bill that changes the law as to when a search warrant is needed or is not needed. It deals only with those situations…