Thomas Foley: “let me strongly support the efforts of the Majority Whip, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), to pass this…”

“let me strongly support the efforts of the Majority Whip, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. DeLay), to pass this legislation. We supported it as an amendment to the Judicial Reform Act, and I would hope my colleagues will overwhelmingly support it as a free-standing measure. This bill goes right to the heart of a horrible situation we in Florida have faced. In 1993, the Florida Department of Corrections reported that between January 1, 1987, and October 10, 1991, some 127,486 prisoners were released early from Florida prisons. Within a few years of their early release, they committed over 15,000 violent and property crimes, including 346 murders and 185 sex offenses. Now, Florida tried to stop the early release program last year, the 'gain time' provision, which was a tool used by the legislature back in the 1980s to avert overcrowding, but the judge said, no, cannot do it. It is part of their sentence now. Even though it was not applied at the beginning of their sentence, the 'gain time' provision now acts as a part of their sentence and reduces the amount of time that the prisoner is held in custody. Now, let me ask all in America who are listening to think about this for a minute. Who is paying for the kind of policy that we are trying to prevent? One involves a 21-year-old convicted burglar who got out of prison last October on early release. A month later, he was charged with kidnapping and murdering a 78-year-old woman in Avon Park near my district.”