Political Quotes

“every Congress in which I have served--I have served here since 1975--has focused significant attention on crime legislation. It doesn't make any difference which party controls the White House or either House of Congress, the opportunity to make our mark on the criminal law has been irresistible. In fact, more than a quarter of all the Federal criminal provisions enacted since the Civil War--a quarter of all Federal criminal provisions since the Civil War--have been enacted in the 16 years since 1980, more than 40 percent of those laws have been created since 1970. In fact, at this point the total number is too high to count. Last month, a task force headed by former Attorney General Edwin Meese and organized by the American Bar Association released a comprehensive report. The best the task force could do was estimate the Federal crimes to be over 3,300. Even that doesn't count the nearly 10,000 Federal regulations authorized by Congress that carry some sort of sanction. I have become increasingly concerned about the seemingly uncontrollable impulse to react to the latest headline-grabbing criminal caper with a new Federal prohibition.”