Chuck Schumer: “I am here to address S.J. Res. 3, the constitutional amendment for victims' rights. As I guess my history in the…”

“I am here to address S.J. Res. 3, the constitutional amendment for victims' rights. As I guess my history in the Congress shows, I have been very concerned about crime issues. If one would have to say they had a signature issue, for me, that has been it. I came to the view when I came to Congress--and am still of that view--that particularly in the 1980s and early 1990s, the pendulum had swung too far in the direction of individual rights and not enough in the direction of societal rights. I spent a good portion of my time in the Congress trying to bring that pendulum to the middle, joined by Democrats and Republicans. I am very proud of that work. I come to the floor because nothing in my time in the Senate has troubled me more, has bothered me more, than the amendment we are beginning to debate.”