Political Quotes

“one of the hallmarks of civilized society is the measure to which it protects the young, the disabled, and the elderly. Yet, even in our great democracy, we witness daily accounts of torture, abuse, murder, and mistreatment of those vulnerable people in our society. In an effort to prevent this horrible treatment of vulnerable persons, we put more police on the streets, we developed early childhood programs and family support services, and we implemented Federal sentencing guidelines to provide a certainty in punishment for similar crimes. However, as we continue to witness crimes against the vulnerable among us, we have seen that the deterrent effect of Federal sentencing guidelines has not been enough to stop those sick people that believe that hurting the less fortunate and weaker among us will make them be more powerful. There has to be a way to stop the madness. Mr. Chairman, in a perfect world we wouldn't need increased penalties for sentencing guidelines. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need Federal sentencing guidelines at all. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. Increased penalties for vicious, violent crimes against the helpless, the weak, the young, the old, the disabled is what we will decide here today.”