Benjamin Gilman: “Today we have a chance to take a giant step in our fight against repeat offenders. I must commend my colleague, the…”

“Today we have a chance to take a giant step in our fight against repeat offenders. I must commend my colleague, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Salmon) for bringing this important legislation to the floor at this time. More than 14,000 murders, rapes, and sexual assaults are committed each year by previously-convicted murderers and sex offenders. About one in eight of these completely preventable crimes occurs in a second State. The average time served in State prison for rape is just 5 rac{1}{2} years. For child molestation, it is about 4 years. For murder it is just 8 years. It has become all too common in recent years that victims are violated by someone who has been previously convicted of a crime and then released. Many who commit murder, rape, and child exploitation cannot be rehabilitated. We owe it to our communities to put a stop to that pattern of violence. Aimee's Law will do just that. It will impede the ability of convicted felons to repeat their offenses at the cost of innocent human lives. Too often we have heard personal stories of the terrible crimes that this legislation could help to eliminate. Ms. Jeremy Brown from my own congressional district in New York State was the only survivor of a man who raped and murdered a number of other women. Having been through this horrible ordeal and having persevered, she demonstrates tremendous courage, symbolic of the reason why we should be passing this legislation today.”