Melvin Watt: “there really is no more vulnerable population in America in terms of being exposed to criminal conduct than the people…”

“there really is no more vulnerable population in America in terms of being exposed to criminal conduct than the people who live in the lowest-income areas in America, and when we start talking about who is vulnerable, sure, the elderly are vulnerable; sure, children are vulnerable, sure police officers are vulnerable. The list can go on, and on, and on, and on. But there really is no more vulnerable population than the population that lives in areas of our country where the incidence of crime is far above the national average. Mr. Chairman, this kind of illustrates how insane the process is we have embarked upon this evening. If we are going to set out to define who the vulnerable people were in our country--who is vulnerable to crime--we would have started with this amendment that simply says a vulnerable person under this bill is one who lives in a neighborhood where the incidence of violent crime is above the national average. I am the first to stand here, even though it is my amendment, and confess to my colleagues that it makes no sense.”