Political Quotes

“I thank the distinguished chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, for yielding, and for his extraordinary leadership in moving this important piece of legislation forward. Mr. Speaker, I also thank Kelly Armstrong, who is the lead Republican who has sponsored this legislation, for his advocacy and his efforts to advance this critical piece of legislation. And I thank my good friend, the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert), who indicated that we had had a previous conversation with then-Congressman Cedric Richmond at a Judiciary Committee hearing about his willingness to be supportive of moving forward with a bill to deal with the sentencing disparity that relates to crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1693, the EQUAL Act, legislation that will finally eliminate the Federal crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity, which has devastated lives and families and communities throughout the country. As has been indicated, in 1986, shortly after the tragic death of basketball star, Len Bias, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act established a 100:1 disparity in sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine. As a result, 500 grams of powder and 5 grams of crack triggered the same 5- year mandatory prison sentence. Yet, there is no policy justification for punishing crack cocaine offenses more harshly than the same offense involving powder cocaine.…”