On the recordFebruary 7, 1995
I want to first commend the Committee on the Judiciary for bringing this crime victims restitution bill to the floor today. It is not I think an accident that this is the first of several crime bills in which the new majority attempts to rewrite the crime bill of 1994. I applaud them for their efforts and for their foresight. Mr. Chairman, I obviously rise in support of H.R. 665, the Victim Restitution Act. This has been a long time coming for this Member. Five years ago, in the 101st Congress, I introduced the first mandatory victims' restitution bill into the Congress. Then minority leader, Bob Michel, and I offered an amendment to the 1990 crime bill on the floor of the House, and with Bob Michel's strong support, we passed that crime victims' restitution bill on a voice vote. Our good friend and colleague in the other body, Senator Don Nickles from Oklahoma, introduced a similar bill that was passed in the Senate, so we had a crime victims' restitution bill that had passed in the House, in the 101st Congress, passed in the Senate, and then somehow disappeared from the conference committee report. Lo and behold, that was to set the pattern for crime victims' restitution bills during the last 5 years. I think that is unfortunate, because this bill is essentially based on personal responsibility, saying to the bad guy, ``Look, not only do you have to face jail and fines, but you also have to try to make that victim whole.
Source
govinfo.gov
