Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, this is a dramatic improvement on H.R. 3. If you want to build more prisons, that is. Yet maybe there was some who did not like the block grant approach because they did want to move the States along rather than give them the money and move along by themselves. It is a compromise amendment. It is one of these rare instances where you can have your cake and eat it too, because we are encouraging the States, under the Chapman amendment, to have tougher sentences. I think we need that. We are also saying they have a real chance, if they toughen up their sentences, to get their money. Let us face it, under H.R. 3, as we made the point yesterday, not only the 3 States be eligible, but for the other 47 to be eligible they would have to spend some $60 billion on their own before being able to meet the 85 percent standard. My colleagues, let us not wish something to be so. The public, the Congress, the legislatures, the mayors, we have been wishing crime to go down for decades. But it keeps going up. It does not go down to the levels where it should. This amendment is not a wishing amendment, this is an actuality amendment. It greatly improves H.R. 3, and I compliment the gentleman for offering it.”