Melvin Watt: “Mr. Chairman, I have to say that after listening to this debate, my colleague from Florida, the chairman of the…”

“Mr. Chairman, I have to say that after listening to this debate, my colleague from Florida, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary, is just as much in denial on the floor of the House as he is in the committee. The truth of the matter is that these truth in sentencing grants simply do not work for the purpose that he believes they do. We went 2, 3 years ago, I was part of the Subcommittee on Crime at that time, went with the chairman of the subcommittee to the various States. And every place we went law enforcement people, including the folks that he said would say differently, that he invited, told the chairman of our Subcommittee on Crime that this was not a good idea. It was not a good idea, including the Attorney General of California. I was there at the hearing when he told him that. This was not a good idea. This is a Republican Attorney General who is running for governor of California. He told him this was not a good idea. Yet we passed the bill. And now the GAO has told him that it is making no impact, minimal impact. Four States consider this a factor in whether they pass truth in sentencing laws. And he is back here on the floor saying we still ought to do this. We are wasting taxpayers money doing something that if we converted it to prevention programs, as the gentleman from Virginia...”