Louise Slaughter: “Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in support of H.R. 4092, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in support of H.R. 4092, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. H.R. 4092 is the strongest anticrime bill this House has ever considered. I am glad that we have finally moved it to the floor, so that we can translate our rhetoric about crime into reality. The answer too many children give when asked, ``What do you want to be when you grow up?'' is: ``I just want to grow up.'' Far too many of America's young people live in an atmosphere of pervasive violence that destroys their hope for the future. I would like to read part of a letter I recently received from one young constituent. He wrote: I am a freshman at Cornell University. I grew up in Rochester, New York and I have been personally affected by the deterioration of our American cities. Last summer, when we were 17 years old, a friend and I were carjacked and driven around Rochester at gunpoint by two other 17-year-olds. We survived, but two weeks later another friend was murdered by gang members. Upon returning from Cornell for [Christmas], I learned that an 18-year-old girl from my neighborhood was carjacked and then shot in the head and chest. She died, too. Homicide statistics in the morning paper sure become a little more vivid when you become a part of them.”