Charles E. Schumer: “I rise in opposition to the Kasich amendment. I do not think we will need a magnifying glass to find the cuts that will…”

“I rise in opposition to the Kasich amendment. I do not think we will need a magnifying glass to find the cuts that will fall on the criminal justice system if this amendment passes. We have done a very good job of cutting the deficit. The deficit is coming down, but we have to do it with care and with rationality. We face a crisis in the criminal justice system. This is one area I think there is unanimous consensus in America that we are not spending enough. In our crime bill, we set up a trust fund. I think that is a good thing, but that mostly involves aid to localities, for cops on the beat, for building prisons, and for prevention programs. It would be ridiculous, it would made no sense, to put those programs out and then cut the sinew of Federal law enforcement which must also go along with our aid to the localities in the crime bill. If we were to cut the FBI and cut the DEA and cut the ATF the amounts of dollars as prescribed by Exon-Grassley, that is $1 billion, that would be thousands of FBI agents, thousands of DEA agents, and we would be involved in what this body and what this town and what this Congress does too often, giving with one hand and taking away with the other so there is no net result.”