Melvin Watt

I would submit to the gentleman that in these cases there is a substantially higher likelihood that goes beyond insignificant statistical probability, if you go back and look at the statistics that the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Conyers]…

Mr. Chairman, I want to spend a few minutes putting this bill in a little bit different context than the discussion that has been taking place here because I think my colleagues and the American people really need to understand that this…

That is correct, and I think the best analysis we heard of it is, ``You win and lose cases in the real world. The burden of proof is on one side or the other, but you win a case with a 51 percent versus a 49 percent.'' Every case that gets…

this is a copy of the Constitution of the United States. I want Members to know that in this body it is under siege. Every time our Speaker shows up here and punches a hole in his laminated Contract With America, we can be almost…

If this amendment is to have any meaningful effect, if this bill is to have any meaningful effect, and people who we have not guaranteed if this bill passes that they will be compensated will be subjected to the whims of the appropriation…

Or is this a real constitutional right that we are wiling to pay for as we pay for all other constitutional rights in this country? So when our constituents come and say, ``We can get recovery if our values are diminished,'' will we…

I am concerned about Marge and Roger Krueger. The question I would ask the gentleman is if whatever agency that caused that adverse impact to Marge's land runs out of money, and they have gotten a judgment against the United States or…

I have heard the gentleman say two or three times that this is subject to appropriation. I am trying to figure out what that means, because if somebody goes into court and gets a judgment against an agency of the United States of America…

I do not know of any agency in the Federal Government that is over there writing regulations, unless they are writing those regulations pursuant to statutes that we passed in this body. And if we do not like the regulations that they write…

I just simply want to point out to the gentleman that even members of the committee have also been denied the right to offer amendments, and that during the course of debate on the rule itself we pointed out the insanity of including in…

let me speak for a minute or two about what this debate and this bill is not about, and then talk a little bit about what it is about. Mr. Chairman, we have heard in this debate that this is about whether the local government has control…

since very early in this session of Congress, I have been addressing on a number of occasions the process by which we deliberate and consider laws for this country. I debated and took issue with the cutting off of debate on an important…

a real problem I have with this bill has been illustrated by the last amendment which was adopted, and that is the question of how the bill is drafted. It leaves the field wide open for interpretation of about anything at the local level…

Mr. Chairman, I came earlier today and offered the amendment that just failed to the leadership on the majority side in an effort to try to work with the majority leadership to improve this bill. There is not a person in this House who…

I am surprised to hear the gentleman concede that funds under this bill could in fact be used to improve roads and highways and streets. I thought clearly that was not a purpose of this bill. Is the gentleman sure that he wants to concede…

The issue is not whether the courts will micromanage prisons. The issue is whether Congress will micromanage the courts, and that is what we are doing by putting this provision in the law.

This simply requires the States to have a process for collecting reliable statistical data regarding the impact of grants that are being made under sections 502 and 503 of this bill on the incidence of violent felonies and reporting that…

I would simply assure the gentleman this type of data is something the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime wants, would like to have. If we do not have it, I believe we do have it, based on representations made to me in limited resources…

Again, this is one of these situations like we saw yesterday and day before yesterday where I am not sure the other side has read the provisions of its own bill. Mr. Canady represents to my colleagues here that under one part of this, the…

Well, that is exactly what happens in any lawsuit. If the court ever enters an order in a case, that order stays in effect until the court comes back and changes that order or until some higher court changes that order. The provisions of…

I guess my concern goes substantially beyond the ones that have been expressed and back to the provisions of the fourth amendment to the Constitution which says excessive bail shall not be required, and yet here we are kind of…

We are not talking about appeals. We are talking about going back to the same court that entered the order. This provision has nothing to do with appeals. This has to do with a motion in the court where the relief was granted. Is there any…

I am not necessarily going to speak in opposition to the gentleman's amendment, but I think the gentleman is not going to be able to override the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the body of case law that has to do with the lawyers'…

I think the focus of my concern is that the gentleman is covering cases that do not exist. So the need for this amendment, I just do not understand. Can the gentleman cite one case that he is aware of, a prison litigation case or a prison…

the question I wanted to ask about this is whether this might have the effect of encouraging agencies to come up with programs that have not been thought through, and that is one part of the question, and the second part of the question…