Charles P. Rose: “The way the law is written now, the mandatory sentence attaches to the users of crack cocaine; the possibilities of…”

“The way the law is written now, the mandatory sentence attaches to the users of crack cocaine; the possibilities of probation attached to the users of powder cocaine. The result of that is that our prisons are full of black males who have used crack cocaine, and the more affluent white boys in the community who have used the powder cocaine are on probation. Let us just say it. My dear friends have been a little hesitant to put it out like that, but that is the truth. I wish that we could pass the 2 and 2 of the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Hughes] or even make it 10 and 10, as I think some might like to make it. But to have this unequal and to have it unequal during this study still bothers me. But I thank the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Hughes] for his amendment. I support it.”