Jack Kingston: “I am sick and tired, as I know my colleagues are, because of the police officers actually being treated like criminals…”

“I am sick and tired, as I know my colleagues are, because of the police officers actually being treated like criminals by the lawyers when they get in these courtrooms. The police officers are the men and women who are out there on the line risking their lives, and remember they are not arresting people for the second or third time. They are arresting people under the current system for the eighth, ninth, or tenth time, and I ask, ``How would you like to be a plainclothesman working the street in a dangerous neighborhood not knowing if the last guy you sent up the river is going to be bumping into you at the convenience store?'' But that is the situation we are in now. As my colleagues know, there is another aspect, and I know we need to move on to welfare reform. I wanted to mention this bill also authorizes $10 billion for new prison construction, and I would say, just like Tom Bodett, ``We're going to leave the light on for them.''”