Charles T. Canady: “I rise to speak today in favor of the McCollum amendment, which is certainly one of the two or three most important…”

“I rise to speak today in favor of the McCollum amendment, which is certainly one of the two or three most important amendments we will consider on this bill. This is such an important amendment because the provisions of the so-called Racial Justice Act would be so pernicious. Without the McCollum amendment, this bill would remain deeply flawed, because it would require prosecutors around this land to establish a racial quota system for imposition of the death penalty. The Racial Justice Act runs directly contrary to the traditions of Anglo-American justice that an individual should be tried and sentenced on the facts of his particular case. The Racial Justice Act would turn our jury system over to social scientists. It is a travesty; quite frankly, nothing more than a subterfuge to stop the death penalty in this country. So, far we have made substantial progress in improving this crime bill. Let us continue to improve this crime bill by adopting the McCollum amendment. We should not stop now.”