We are going to have to explore, Mr. Chairman, reasons and ways in which we are going to change and look at this criminal justice system in a very different kind of way because it is not the same for all people.

What we are experiencing every night in this country now is no longer just a fashionable thing, if you will.

We have a responsibility to make sure that patients that need the medication have it available...

Many times, it is just stupid. That is what the mandatory minimum requires the judge to do, and that is why we are trying to get rid of them.

That is what the mandatory minimum requires the judge to impose, a sentence that violates common sense.

I must also thank the thousands of dedicated DEA employees who enforce our laws every day, many of whom are putting their lives on the line to do so.

The President's clemency program suggests that the Attorney General will consider clemency for those who have already served 10 years, low level, non-violent, essentially first offenders, and then it raises the question what is a 'low…

I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the ranking member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce.

I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark).

Before we close, I want to thank my colleagues in both the House and the Senate for their hard work on this legislation. In the Senate, I am particularly grateful to Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member Alexander, Senator Mikulski, Senator…

Finally, I would like to thank all of the Members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and their staffs for their continued commitment to the well-being of American families. Mr. Speaker, both Chambers and both parties have…

If we are going to balance the budget, it is going to require some tough votes on the budget, and many of those votes will be career-ending votes.

Balancing the budget is a good idea, but we have got to recognize that it often requires tough, career-ending votes.

I think we can all agree that we are in a fiscal mess.

Reducing our deficit and balancing our budget is a goal for every Member on this panel, and I worry that we get distracted by the title of these amendments without having any serious discussion about whether the proposed provisions will…

I think I have made my point. None.

Some of us actually cast tough votes that cost many of our colleagues their seats when they voted for the 1993 Clinton budget.

When President H.W. Bush tried to do something about the deficit, that was a major factor in his failure to win reelection.

Yes, but you could cut taxes on a simple majority, but to raise taxes, you would need on most of these proposals a super majority.

Requiring a super majority may be good policy for some Members for some reasons, but suggesting that it will help balance the budget is absolutely absurd.

Tough, career-ending votes, not with titles to constitutional amendments. So rather than discuss the title, we should be discussing the provisions.

More than 4 out of 10 adult American offenders are right back in prison within 3 years of their release.

We are wasting billions of dollars.

Unnecessarily locking up people wastes money that could be put to better use.

We have too many people in jails and prisons in America today.