Steven Schiff: “the House of Representatives is about to take up the proposed new Federal anticrime bill. I want to say that it is none…”

“the House of Representatives is about to take up the proposed new Federal anticrime bill. I want to say that it is none too soon. Violent crime is the greatest problem facing the United States of America. Why? Because for the obvious reason, that unless we can go to work safely, unless we can send our children to school safely, unless we can be in our homes safely, we cannot address all of our other problems, as serious as certainly they may be. Of all the different provisions in the crime bill, of which there are quite a number, the most important, in my view, is that which deals with repeat offenders, because it is the repeat offender who is the criminal that will not stop committing crimes and probably commits three, four, five, or more crimes a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. There is a provision in the bill before us that would address this situation that is called three strikes and you're out, meaning three violent felonies or two violent, and one drug felony, and mandatory life in prison. This would be an improvement over the law today, but it does not go far enough. We need to say if they are truly violent crimes, why get to three? Why should not two violent crimes being committed warrant life in prison? At the very least, Mr. Speaker, I will offer an amendment that says commission of two serial violent crimes should mean life in prison.”