Thomas Sawyer: “I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4092, a vigorous new Federal anticrime initiative that will help our States and…”

“I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4092, a vigorous new Federal anticrime initiative that will help our States and cities get violent criminals off the streets and put more police officers on the streets. By adopting the strong anticrime measures in this bill, we will help reassure law-abiding Americans that we are determined to restrain the violent crime that now menaces our neighborhoods and threatens our families. This bill will provide money to put 50,000 police officers on the streets of our cities and towns. This extra manpower will allow officers to get out of their patrol cars and onto a regular beat, where they can be more effective in both preventing and responding to crime. I am especially pleased that this bill contains a substantial increase in Federal funds to assist State and local law-enforcement agencies, especially for prison construction. I was pleased to vote for the amendment, sponsored by Mr. Chapman of Texas, that added an extra $10.5 billion to the $3 billion already in the bill for building new State and regional prisons. Mr. Chairman, my State of Ohio now suffers from the Nation's worst rate of prison overcrowding: Ohio's prisons are at 182 percent of capacity. Such overcrowding poses a clear risk to prison officials. It greatly increases the likelihood of a riot, like the deadly explosion that occurred just 1 year ago at the maximum-security prison in Lucasville, OH, which left one prison guard dead and many others injured.”