Political Quotes

“Let me point out that Dr. Lee Brown, the Director of the National Office on Drug Policy, has said that he believes the crack cocaine law has a racially discriminatory impact because crack, used predominantly by African-Americans, has a 5-year mandatory minimum for only 5 grams, while the same amount of cocaine nets only probation; 92 percent of the Federal crack defendants are African-American and only 3 percent are white. Is it clear? Could there be any doubt? I think on both sides of the aisle we have conceded there is racial disparity that begs and pleads, in a system that depends on the support of the criminal justice law to be fair, that we make this correction. It really cannot be done anywhere else. I think that the study that the gentleman from New Jersey seeks is going to make it abundantly persuasive to all of us that we have got to take action on this very important disparity.”