Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 12, 1991 TAG: 9103120349
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"We stood by our troops and today it's time to stand up for America's prosecutors and police," Bush said in a speech to state prosecutors gathered in the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House.
Bush chided Congress for not passing the "core provisions" of his crime package in the past two years. They include extending the death penalty to more federal crimes, restrictions on appeals of death-row inmates, and a "good-faith" exception to the judicial rule barring the use of illegally seized evidence.
He noted that since he first proposed these measures, "another 294 policemen and women are dead . . . almost three times the number of precious American lives lost during this entire Gulf War."
His proposal comes five days after he urged Congress to pass crime, civil-rights and transportation legislation in the next 100 days.
"There is nothing new in the president's crime package, nothing that hasn't been tried - and failed - over the years of trying to get tough," said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Government Operations Committee.
"Merely locking more people up or adding to the numbers subjected to the death penalty is no solution," Conyers said.
House leaders made clear last week that Bush's crime package would be considered only after lawmakers take up a gun-control proposal requiring a seven-day waiting period for people who want to buy firearms.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Congress could pass crime legislation in 100 days if Bush dropped his opposition to gun-control legislation.
Besides expanding the federal death penalty and banning military-style assault weapons, Biden said, an alternative bill he is introducing would increase federal aid to local law enforcement and add 2,000 FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
"The president wants to punish crime - and so do we - but we also want to do more to prevent crime and make our cities and towns safer for all Americans," Biden said.
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Narcotics Committee, argued that most of the president's bill concerned only the "federal law enforcement system, which has so little to do with the solution to the problem that our nation is facing.
"It's really sad that the president will take this crime bill and would imply its passage would in fact have anything to do with the war against drugs," Rangel said.
While much of the Bush crime package contains old proposals, it contains new elements that would:
Streamline procedures for expelling aliens suspected of terrorism.
Impose the death penalty for the use of weapons of "mass destruction" such as bombs, for kidnappings that result in death, murders for hire, and killing of witnesses in drug cases.
Provide a five-year mandatory sentence for gun possession by someone already convicted of a violent felony or a serious drug crime. The bill would also double from five to 10 years the sentence for using a semiautomatic gun in drug crimes.
Allow firearms to be used as evidence of federal crimes even if they were seized during an illegal search.
Bush called this provision one of the most important. "It never made sense that because a policeman has made a mistake, a dangerous criminal can get off scot free," he said.
The so-called exclusionary rule, which requires suppression of evidence seized during an illegal search, is intended to deter police from violating constitutional protections.
Under Bush's proposal, a "good-faith" exception to the rule would allow the introduction of evidence from an improper search if the police officer thought he was acting legally.
Besides creating new capital crimes, the bill would revive the death penalty for federal offenses such as treason, espionage and killings resulting from bank robberies, train wrecks and plane hijackings.
by CNB