Porter Goss: “some say that the House Democratic leadership has been stung by criticism that it has not done enough to combat crime in…”

“some say that the House Democratic leadership has been stung by criticism that it has not done enough to combat crime in America--but, not to worry. In an extraordinary election-year frenzy to get an anticrime bill passed before we head home for a 2-week recess, the Democrat leadership has placed the Rules Committee in the center ring of a circus. This circus has provided us with this bill, H.R. 4092, the 1994 omnibus crime bill. It is a compilation of almost two dozen freestanding anticrime proposals, all rolled into one bill. The distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Brooks, described this bill as carefully balanced and primarily made up of measures this House has dealt with in the past. But, Mr. Speaker, we have 114 new Members of this House who were not here for debate the last time an omnibus crime package came through. Even Members who have been around for awhile believe this bill needs to be improved. These amendments, weighing in at a modest 10 pounds, are the 179 amendments that were filed with the Rules Committee for consideration along with the crime bill--99 by Democrats and 80 by Republicans-- offered by more than 100 Members, almost one-fourth of this House. All of these ideas come even though there is no composite committee report for H.R. 4092. We now embark on a contorted and confusing process of debate that will lead us through three separate rules.…”