THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, August 8, 1994                 TAG: 9408060018
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A06  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   59 lines

PORK DISGUISED AS PUNISHMENT STOP THAT CRIME BILL

Conventional wisdom has it that Congress will never vote against anything labeled a crime-control measure. Well, conventional wisdom just could be wrong this time. The Clinton administration is putting on a full-court press to get the $30 billion crime package enacted, which shows it is worried the bill might fail. It deserves to die, however, for it is nothing more than pork disguised as punishment.

The Republican staff of the House Judiciary Committee has assembled a list of the choicest examples. Congress ought to explain how much any of this has to do with controlling crime:

$50 million for ``youth violence prevention.'' Grants made under this program are supposed to find methods for preventing juvenile crime, including ``alternatives to school suspension.''

$20 million for ``gang prevention.'' This is supposed to provide ``support services to assist the participants to reach their full potential'' by funding music, art and drama activities as well as teaching ``life skills.''

$40 million for ``Community Youth Academies'' to provide residential counseling for young offenders. Special attention is to be paid to raising the ``self-esteem'' of said youth.

$40 million for the fabled midnight basketball leagues. At least half the players in these leagues must live in public housing. Communities that receive these grants must have at least two of the following characteristics: a high rate of HIV infection; a high rate of crime; a high rate of teen pregnancy; or a high rate of school dropouts.

Family and Community Endeavor Schools would provide $279 million to ``improve academic and social development by instituting a collaborative structure that trains and coordinates the efforts of (public school) teachers, administrators, social workers, guidance counselors, etc.''

The bizarre Violence Against Women Act is also part of the bill. ``Gender-based assaults'' would become a violation of federal civil-rights law. Extra money would go to jurisdictions with mandatory arrest policies in domestic-abuse cases. The same grants discourage arresting both parties, making it clear that it is husbands who are being targeted. Thus, radical feminism is enacted into federal law.

Even the ``good'' elements of the bill are nothing to write home about. The president's much-ballyhooed promise to put 100,000 more police on the streets is less than meets the eye. There is federal funding for only 20,000 positions, and those might replace only officers who retire or resign, for no net gain overall. And who pays when the federal grants run out in three to six years?

The crime bill is a fraud on the American people. Its passage would have absolutely no effect on crime as most Americans know it and would only further feed Congress' endless appetite for pork.

KEYWORDS: CRIME BILL U.S. CONGRESS

by CNB