Political Quotes

“about 6 years ago I introduced this amendment in its original instance. We have had good years in the House where it passed, and we have had other less successful years, like last year, when it did not. But let us face the facts: For many reasons, we are stuck with the death penalty. But this will not abolish the death penalty, and anyone that says that it will is incorrect. It will not cause relitigation of every death penalty case. That is not true. Mr. Chairman, this is a very restricted version of the original Racial Justice Act that I and the gentleman from California [Mr. Edwards], when I was on his subcommittee, first brought forward. It puts the burden on the defendant. It will not cause retrials of any cases. And guess what? The judge is the final person who decides whether or not this racial justice provision should prevent the imposition of the death penalty. Please support this limited provision in the bill and please oppose the McCollum amendment.”