Community Safety and Security Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, there are some things in this bill that probably make sense, and there are some things in this bill that I think are very poorly crafted and will have adverse implications for juvenile law or for sentencing reform.

We should have had a hearing. We should have looked into this whole matter and come up with something that we could all support.

Now, one of the things, I hate to say, is that there is a sense of urgency here. The problem is the majority sat on their hands.

This decision of the Supreme Court was April 17 of this year. What did the committee do in response? Nothing. Nothing. No bill was introduced. No hearings were held. Then, last week, this piece of legislation was introduced and rushed to the floor without adequate thought.

So, yes, we need to act, but we need to act like grownups. We need to make sure that we are doing something that makes sense.

I am actually going to vote ``present'' on this vote, because I don't want a ``no'' vote on the portions of the bill that I know are correct having to do with child abduction.

But I can't support something that is so poorly crafted, that is a product of such disdain for the need to be serious about this issue.

If we don't want to trample on the good work we did, and we have yet to bring to fruition on sentencing reform the juvenile justice issues that loom so large in our communities, we just can't go ahead blindly on this bill.

I thought it was important to point out that the majority has a responsibility to react to court decisions, and they failed in this case.

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