Orrin Hatch: “despite President Clinton's rhetorical support for congressional passage of a strong anticrime bill, the prevailing view…”

“despite President Clinton's rhetorical support for congressional passage of a strong anticrime bill, the prevailing view inside the beltway is that weakening changes will be made to the Senate-passed bill to soften liberal opposition. This $22.8 billion measure still awaits action in the House of Representatives and, following House action, the measure will be sent to a conference committee. What remains to be seen is how many of the tough provisions in the Senate bill will survive the conference with the other body. Representatives from more than 20 organizations, including civil rights and criminal defense organizations, have reportedly begun weekly meetings to develop strategies for winning major changes in the Senate crime bill. These groups took heart in the fact that President Clinton did not explicitly endorse the Senate crime bill or most of its measures. According to the Washington director of the American Civil Liberties Union, "There's enough wiggle room to give everybody the political capital they need." Congressional Quarterly, January 29, 1994. This is the sort of political wiggling and compromising law abiding Americans can ill afford.…”