William C. Baker: “I rise in support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] and in opposition to the…”

“I rise in support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum] and in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Hughes]. Mr. Chairman, we need to send to conference two strong truth-in-sentencing amendments. The Chapman amendment would take us a long way towards real truth in sentencing, and the McCollum amendment would do even more. The Hughes amendment is phony truth in sentencing. Hughes would not require the most violent to serve more hard time. It only requires them to serve a substantial, whatever that is, portion of their sentence. That means more violent criminals could be, once again, walking the street. The Hughes amendment requires that States have plans to release criminals to make room for the most violent. That is not the real solution to burglaries, car thefts and other serious crime. By defeating the Hughes amendment, Mr. Chairman, we can get a vote on the McCollum amendment, strong truth in sentencing.”