Newt Gingrich: “I thank my friend, the gentleman from Florida, for yielding time to me. Let me just say that I was doing some reading…”

“I thank my friend, the gentleman from Florida, for yielding time to me. Let me just say that I was doing some reading recently about a safer America, and I ran across a fascinating story. In 1933, there was an effort to assassinate President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the assassin missed and he killed Mayor Cermak of Chicago who was standing next to the President. The assassin was arrested; there were eye witnesses. The assassin was tried, and less than 35 days after the assassination, the assassin was given the death penalty and he was executed so that people in America who had seen the horror of Mayor Cermak being killed could remember, 35 days later, why the man was being executed. Mr. Speaker, in Georgia 2 weeks ago, we had a man executed for a terrible murder, a man executed after a long period of appeals. That murder occurred 16 years ago. Sixteen years. It took 192 times as long, 19,200 percent more time, because of all the appeals the criminal defense lawyers have built into the system over the years. What I find sad about this rule is that the Democratic machine after 40 years is still protecting the criminal defense lawyers. For 40 years the Democrats have run the House, it has gotten harder and harder to have an effective death penalty, for 40 years.…”