ASSAULT AND BATTERY IN 1997, 23 YEARS AGO. RELEASED IN THREE
           YEARS. WITHIN A YEAR OF HIS RELEASE, HE RAPED AND ATTEMPTED TO
           STRANGLE AND 11-YEAR-OLD BOY. HE PAID HIM $20 TO DRINK LIQUOR
           AND THEN TRIED TO STRANGLE HIM WITH SHOELACES, LEFT HIM
           UNCONSCIOUS AFTER HE WAS RAPED. AND THE YOUNG BOY REGAINED

           CONSCIOUSNESS AS ELMER SPENCER'S ATTENTION WAS DIVERTED AND THE
           YOUNG BOY MIRACULOUSLY ESCAPED. ELMER SPENCER WAS SENTENCED TO
           22 YEARS IN PRISON FOR THAT CRIME, RELEASED IN 1994 AFTER
           SERVING 14 YEARS IN PRISON. 1996 CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED RAPE
           AND THREE COUNTS OF ASSAULT, ATTACKED POLICE OFFICERS
           RESPONDING TO A WOMAN'S CRY FOR HELP WHO HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO

           RAPE. SENTENCED TO TEN YEARS. RELEASED NOVEMBER 14, THIS YEAR
           AFTER SERVING 3 1/2 YEARS. FIVE DAYS LATER CHRISTOPHER LEE
           OSCHERMAN, A NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY FROM FREDERICK, MARYLAND, WAS
           MURDERED BY THIS MAN. FIVE DAYS AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM
           PRISON A TEN-YEAR SENTENCE, SERVING 3 1/2 YEARS, THIS
           PEDOPHILE, THIS MAN WHO HAD ATTEMPTED MURDER PREVIOUSLY,
           MURDERED THIS YOUNG NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY.
           
           THE QUESTION IS: WHEN WILL WE LEARN IN THIS COUNTRY?

           WE KNOW WHO ARE COMMITTING THE CRIMES, ESPECIALLY THE VIOLENT
           CRIMES. IN MOST CASES IT IS SOMEONE WHO HAS COMMITTED OTHER
           VIOLENT CRIMES, BEEN PUT IN PRISON AND OFTEN RELEASED EARLY. I
           SPOKE TO THE FAMILY OF THIS NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY. THERE'S NOT MUCH
           YOU CAN DO TO CONSOLE THAT FAMILY. THEY ARE GRIEVING OBVIOUSLY
           FOR THE LOSS OF THIS YOUNG BOY. BUT I TOLD THEM SOME 6 US ARE
           WORKING VERY HARD TO TRY TO CHANGE THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE

           RELEASE OF VIOLENT PRISONERS. I'VE SPOKEN MANY TIMES ON THIS
           FLOOR ABOUT OTHER CRIMES THAT ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. DIFFERENT
           VICTIMS, BUT EXACTLY THE SAME. YOUNG PRUCKMAYR -- YOUNG BETTINA
           PRUCKMAYR, I BROUGHT HER PICTURE TO THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE. A
           YOUNG 26-YEAR-OLD HUMAN RIGHTS ATTORNEY WHO MOVED TO THIS TOWN
           WITH SUCH GREAT EXPECTATION AND PASSION TO DO WORK IN THIS

           AREA. DECEMBER 16, 1995, SHE WAS AT AN A.T.M. MACHINE AND A MAN
           NAMED LEO GONZALEZ WRIGHT APPREHENDED HER THERE. HE WAS A MAN
           WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN PRISON. HE HAD COMMITTED MANY PREVIOUS
           CRIMES. LEO GONZALEZ WRIGHT AT THE AGE OF 19, SENTENCED TO 15
           TO 60 YEARS FOR ARMED ROBBERY AND MURDER, RELEASED AFTER 17
           YEARS. DURING THE 17 YEARS HE COMPILED A RECORD OF 38
           DISCIPLINARY REPORTS AND TRANSFERS DUE TO DRUG USE, LACK OF

           PROGRAM INVOLVEMENT, WEAPONS POSSESSION WHILE IN PRISON,
           ASSAULTS ON INMATES AND STAFF. BUT LET OUT EARLY SO THAT IN
           DECEMBER OF 1995 HE WAS ON THE STREETS HERE IN WASHINGTON,
           D.C., HE WAS ABLE TO STAB YOUNG BETTINA PRUCKMAYR WITH A
           PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER 37 TIMES. IT WASN'T THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW
           THAT HE WAS A VIOLENT OFFENDER OFFENDER. HE USED A BUTCHER

           KNIFE JUST PREVIOUS TO THAT TO ROB AND CARJACK A FEMALE
           MOTORIST. AFTER HE HAD BEEN LET OUT OF PRISON WHILE ON
           PROBATION AND PAROLE, HE WAS PICKED UP FOR DRUGS; LET RIGHT
           BACK OUT ON THE STREETS. AND AS A RESULT, BETTINA PRUCKMAYR WAS
           KILLED. JONATHAN HALL -- I'VE SPOKEN ABOUT JONATHAN HALL HERE
           ON THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE. IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME STORY.
           JONATHAN WAS 13 YEARS OLD FROM FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA. A BOY THAT
           HAD SOME DIFFICULTIES, BUT NEIGHBORS DESCRIBED HIM IN THE

           NEWSPAPER WHEN I READ THIS STORY, IT IS ABOUT JUNK JONATHAN AS
           A START YOUNG BOY STARVED FOR AFFECTION. THEN HIS MOTHER
           REPORTED HIM AS MISSING SOME YEARS AGO. 12 DAYS LATER THEY
           FOUND HIS BODY AT THE BOTTOM OF A POND NEAR HIS HOME. HE HAD
           BEEN STABBED OVER 60 TIMES. AND THEY FOUND AS THIS YOUNG BOY
           HAD DIED, THEY FOUND GRASS BETWEEN HIS FINGERS. HE OBVIOUSLY
           HAD BEEN STABBED 60 TIMES BUT NOT DEAD WHEN HIS ATTACKER LEFT
           HIM. AND THIS YOUNG BOY TRIED TO CRAWL OUT OF THAT POND, AND

           THEY FOUND GRASS BETWEEN HIS FINGERS. BUT HE DIED. DIDN'T MAKE
           IT. JAMES BUCK MURRAY KILLED HIM. LIVED RIGHT THERE IN THE
           NEIGHBORHOOD. NOW WHY WAS HE LIVING THERE?
           WELL, HE WAS SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR SLASHING THE THROAT OF A
           CAB DRIVER, STEALING THE CAB AND LEAVING THE DRIVER FOR DEAD.
           BUT HE WAS LET OUT. THREE YEARS LATER ON WORK RELEASE, ABDUCTED
           A WOMAN, CONVICTED OF KIDNAPPING, SENT TO PRISON AGAIN. BUT HE
           WAS LET OUT. AND THEN YOUNG JONATHAN HALL, OF COURSE, IS
           MURDERED BY SOMEONE WE KNEW?
           OF COURSE. BY SOMEONE VIOLENT?

           OF COURSE. PUT IN PRISON AND RELEASED EARLY. AND SHAME ON THOSE
           WHO RUN OUR PRISON SYSTEM. SHAME ON THE LAWS THAT EXIST THAT
           ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. NOW I'VE ASKED IN THE CASE IN MARYLAND
           JUST RECENTLY WITH CHRISTOPHER LEE OSCHERMAN, HOW COULD IT BE
           THAT A MAN WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN SUCH VIOLENT CRIMES, HOW
           COULD IT BE THAT WHEN SENTENCED TO TEN YEARS, HE RELEASED AFTER 3 1/2?

           THIS IS AFTER MANY OTHER CRIMES, MIND YOU. AND FIVE DAYS AFTER
           WHICH HE KILLS A NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY?
           HOW COULD IT BE THAT HE'S RELEASED THAT EARLY?
           
           
           THE ANSWER: UNFORGIVABLE IGNORANCE, IN MY JUDGMENT, IN THE
           CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC POLICY. I'M SORRY TO SAY THAT ABOUT
           THOSE WHO DID IT. THOSE WHO DID IT HAVE SAID THAT THOSE WHO GO
           TO PRISON, WHO SERVE IN PRISON PRIOR FOR OTHER CONVICTIONS WILL
           NOW EARN ADDITIONAL GOOD-TIME CREDITS AT AN ACCELERATED PACE
           AGAINST THEIR CURRENT SENTENCE BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN IN PRISON

           BEFORE. NOW THAT IS IGNORANCE. WE OUGHT NOT REWARD ANYONE WITH
           AMPLE OR BETTER GOOD-TIME BENEFITS BECAUSE THEY SERVED IN
           PRISON BEFORE. VIOLENT OFFENDERS OUGHT TO BE PUT IN PRISON AND
           THEIR PRISON CELL OUGHT TO BE THEIR ADDRESS UNTIL THE END OF
           THEIR PRISON TERM. END OF STORY. I AM SO SICK AND TIRED OF
           READING STORIES ABOUT INNOCENT PEOPLE. AND I'VE MENTIONED JUST
           THREE, AND I COULD MENTION MORE, AND I HAVE MANY MORE. I'M SO
           SICK AND TIRED OF READING THE STORIES ABOUT GOVERNMENTS THAT
           ALLOW VIOLENT OFFENDERS OUT OF PRISON TO WALK UP AND DOWN THE

           STREETS OF THIS COUNTRY AND KILL AGAIN. YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU
           LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, YOU ARE SEVEN TIMES MORE
           LIKELY TO BE MURED THAN IF YOU LIVE IN FRANCE?
           THE MURDER RATE IN OUR COUNTRY IS SEVEN TIMES THAT 6 GERMANY,
           SIX TIMES THAT OF ISRAEL, TEN TIMES THAT OF JAPAN, SEVEN TIMES
           THAT OF SPAIN. IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG HERE?
           I THINK SO. LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR PRISON
           SYSTEM. FOR ALL THE TALK ABOUT TRUTH IN SENTENCING, IF YOU'RE

           CONVICTED OF MURDER IN THIS COUNTRY, IN ALMOST ALL OF THIS IS
           IN THE STATE COURT SYSTEMS -- THIS IS NOT IN MOST CASES A
           FEDERAL CRIME -- IF YOU'RE QUICTL F CONVICTED OF MURDER IN THIS
           COUNTRY ON AVERAGE YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN PRISON TEN YEARS. OR
           YOU'RE GOING TO GET SENTENCED TO 21 YEARS, BUT YOU'RE GOING TO
           BE SERVING ABOUT TEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR MURDER. RAPE, YOU CAN
           EXPECT TO SERVE ABOUT FIVE YEARS IN PRISON. THEY'LL SENTENCE
           YOU TO TEN ON AVERAGE, BUT YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO BE THERE ABOUT
           FIVE. ROBBERY, YOU'RE GOING TO BE SENTENCED TO 8.4 PERHAPS, AND
           YOU'LL SERVE FOUR YEARS FOR ROBBERY. WELL, NOW, WHAT IS THE
           ANSWER TO ALL OF THIS?

           AND WHY ARE THESE FOLKS LET OUT EARLY?
           WHY WOULD WE DECIDE IN THIS COUNTRY THAT IN MURDER -- A
           MURDERER SHOULD ONLY SERVE HALF OF THEIR SENTENCE?
           WELL, THE PRISON AUTHORITIES AND OTHERS WHO CONSTRUCT THESE
           LAWS TELL US THE REASON THAT THEY HAVE TO DANGLE GOOD-TIME
           BENEFITS IN FRONT OF THESE PRISONERS, INCLUDING VIOLENT
           OFFENDERS, IS BECAUSE IT ALLOWS THEM TO BETTER MANAGE THEM
           WHILE IN PRISON. IN OTHER WORDS, IF THEY BEHAVE WHILE IN
           PRISON, THEY CAN GET OUT EARLY. AND THAT'S A TERRIFIC

           INCENTIVE, THEY SAY, FOR PRISON INMATE MANAGEMENT. OH, WELL, I
           WONDER -- I WOULD ASK THE QUESTION ABOUT THE MANAGEMENT OF
           ELMER SPENCER JR. I WONDER IF I COULD GET NAMES OF THE PEOPLE
           WHO DECIDED THAT THE BEST WAY TO MANAGE ELMER SPENCER JR.'S
           TIME IN PRISON WAS TO DANGLE IN FRONT OF HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO
           BE RELEASED SEVEN YEARS EARLY -- SEVEN YEARS EARLY -- SO THAT
           HE COULD BE ON THE STREETS IN LATE NOVEMBER OF THIS YEAR AND
           RUN INTO A NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY AND MURDER HIM. I GUESS THE WORD

           IS ALLEGEDLY MURDER HIM BECAUSE HE IS NOW CHARGED WITH THE
           CRIME. BUT I THINK THERE IS LITTLE QUESTION ABOUT THE GUILT IN
           THIS CAME, I'M -- IN THIS CASE, I'M TOLD. I WONDER IF WE WOULD
           HAVE THOSE WHO HAVE DECIDE THAT HAD IT'S APPROPRIATE FOR JAMES
           BUCK MURRAY TO BE ON THE STREETS OR LEO GONZALEZ WRIGHT TO BE
           ON THE STREETS AFTER MURDER AND MURDER AGAIN AND VIOLENT CRIME,
           TO BE BACK ON THE STREETS SO THAT BETTINA AND YOUNG JONATHAN

           AND ALL OF THE OTHERS ARE VICTIMS?
           WELL, WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
           THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE. THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. IT'S VERY
           SIMPLE. IT IS TO DECIDE AS A POLICY, AS I HAVE ADVOCATED FOR
           SOME WHILE, REGRETTABLY UNSUCCESSFULLY, THAT IN THIS COUNTRY WE
           DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THOSE WHO COMMIT VIOLENT CRIMES AND THOSE
           WHO COMMIT NONVIOLENT CRIMES. 50% OF THOSE IN THE -- IN
           INCARCERATION IN THIS COUNTRY IN OUR PRISONS AND JAILS ARE
           VIOLENT OFFENDERS. 50% OF THEM ARE VIOLENT OFFENDERS. WE OUGHT
           TO, IN MY JUDGMENT, IN AMERICA HAVE A SYSTEM THAT SAYS IF YOU

           COMMIT A VIOLENT ACT, UNDERSTAND THIS. ALL OVER AMERICA,
           UNDERSTAND THIS AND LISTEN WELL. YOU COMMIT A VIOLENT ACT,
           THERE WILL BE NO GOOD TIME. THERE WILL BE NO PAROLE. THERE WILL
           BE NO TIME OFF FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR. YOU WILL GO TO PRISON, AND
           THE SENTENCE ADMINISTERED BY THE JUDGE IN YOUR TRIAL WILL BE
           THE SENTENCE THAT YOU SERVE IN YOUR PRISON. NO GOOD TIME OFF
           FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR. WE NEED TO DO THAT IN THIS COUNTRY. I'VE
           TRIED AND TRIED AND TRIED AGAIN IN THIS SENATE TO ADVANCE THAT

           PUBLIC POLICY UNSUCCESSFULLY. BUT I AM NOT GOING TO QUIT. THIS
           106TH CONGRESS IS ENDING WITHOUT GREAT DISTINCTION. WE DIDN'T
           EVEN DISCUSS THE ISSUE OF CRIME. WE SHOULD. I HOPE WE WILL IN
           THE 107TH CONGRESS. AND I HOPE PERHAPS THAT OUR REPUBLICANS AND
           DEMOCRATS WHO UNDERSTAND THAT IS THERE'S NOTHING PARTISAN ABOUT
           ANY OF THESE ISSUES. BUT THERE IS A CRYING NEED IN THIS COUNTRY
           TO DECIDE THAT VIOLENT OFFENDERS MUST BE PUT AWAY AND KEPT AWAY
           FOR THEIR ENTIRE TERM OF INCARCERATION. IN 1991, WHICH IS SOME

           LONG YEARS AGO, THE LATEST STATISTICS THAT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO
           FIND -- IN 19819 BUREAU OF JUSTICE FOUND THAT THERE WERE --
           1981 THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE FOUND THERE WERE 106,000 PEOPLE IN
           STATE PRISONS FOR OFFENSES THAT THEY COMMITTED WHILE THEY WERE
           ON PAROLE FROM A PREVIOUS CONVICTION. LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN
           BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT. 156,000 PEOPLE WERE INCARCERATED FOR
           CRIMINAL OFFENSES THAT THEY COMMITTED WHILE THEY WERE OUT ON
           PAROLE FROM A PREVIOUS PRISON SENTENCE. THAT IS EXACTLY THE

           CASE IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THE MURDER I STARTED WITH TODAY.
           EXACTLY THE CASE WITH ELMER SPENCER JR. OUT EARLY AND A
           NINE-YEAR-OLD IS DEAD. AND THIS IS NOT AN UNUSUAL STORY. I
           COULD SPEAK FOR TWO HOURS AND MORE AND NOT JUST ABOUT MARYLAND
           OR VIRGINIA OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. THERE IS A COURAGEOUS
           YOUNG WOMAN FROM NORTH DAKOTA NAMED JULIE SHULTZ. JULIE SHULTZ
           IS A FRIEND OF MINE. SHE'S THE MOTHER OF THREE. SHE'S FROM

           BURLINGTON, NORTH DAKOTA. SHE WAS GOING TO A LEAGUE OF CITIES
           MEETING IN WILL LISTTON, NORTH DAKOTA, ON A QUIET NORTH DAKOTA
           HIGHWAY AND STOPPED AT A REST STOP. JULIE SHULTZ, MOTHER OF
           THREE, AT THIS REST STOP ENCOUNTERED A MAN NAMED GARY WAYNE
           PUCKETT WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN PRISON BUT WAS RELEASED EARLY
           IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. THIS ISSUE KNOWS NO STATE
           BOUNDARIES. HE ASSAULTED JULIE SHULTZ AND THEN SLIT HER THROAT

           AND LEFT HER FOR DEAD. AND MIRACULOUSLY SHE SURVIVED. I WON'T
           DESCRIBE THE EVENT THAT ALLOWED HER TO SURVIVE, BUT THEY WERE
           QUITE MIRACULOUS. BUT GARY WAYNE PUCKETT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN
           NEAR A REST STOP ON A ROAD IN NORTH DAKOTA ON THAT DAY. HE WAS
           RELEASED EARLY. AGAIN, WE KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. STATE
           GOVERNMENTS SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. PUBLIC POLICY SHOULD
           KNOW BETTER THAN THAT. AND WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT. IT IS MY

           INTENTION TO REINTRODUCE IN THE COMING CONGRESS, IN JANUARY IN
           THE COMING CONGRESS, LEGISLATION THAT I HAVE INTRODUCED
           PREVIOUSLY. AND THAT IS LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PROVIDE
           FINANCIAL PENALTIES IN THE TRUTH IN SENTENCING GRANTS THAT ARE
           GIVEN FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO THE STATE GOVERNMENTS FOR
           THOSE STATES THAT FAIL TO ENACT LAWS THAT ELIMINATE GOOD-TIME
           CREDITS, ELIMINATE THE DANGLING OF TIME OFF FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR
           AND SAY INSTEAD BY STATE STATUTE, IF YOU ARE CONVICTED OF A

           VIOLENT CRIME, UNDERSTAND YOUR ADDRESS WILL BE YOUR JAIL CELL
           UNTIL
{END: 2000/12/06 TIME: 16-30 , Wed.  106TH SENATE, SECOND SESSION}