Robert Ehrlich: “The President's words are profoundly disturbing, but when we are a press release politician, of course, the act is done…”

“The President's words are profoundly disturbing, but when we are a press release politician, of course, the act is done when the press conference is over. Forget about the laws. I could do the same pile of papers in the State of Maryland, and I am sure all my colleagues could do with their respective States. I think the gentleman's point is so well taken. I hope the President did not mean what he said, because, as my colleague rightfully points out, many, not all, not in Maryland, but many of his U.S. Attorneys, particularly in Richmond, were the driving force behind Project Exile. Just as a bottom line, when we think about it, we take a situation where egos do not matter, unbelievable in this town, but we force people to cooperate. Who cares who gets the credit. It is the bottom line, the bad guys. So we take egos and put them aside. Then we target not nonviolent criminals, not even some violent criminals, but we target the most dangerous, people who shoot other people; a rather narrow group as we know, recidivists all, usually. So we target that particular group. We ask the business community to fund it. We ask the State legislature to pass the laws. We give the resources, as we did today with our Federal bill, to local prosecutors to let them do what they wish with these extra dollars. And what do we get? Safer streets. Look at the dramatic numbers. Look at the results. It may not be the agenda of some Members in this Chamber, and that is a philosophical orientation.…”