John Conyers

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I am proud to join with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Forbes) and rise in strong support of H.R. 916 because our Nation's criminal justice system depends on the hard work and commitment of the men and women who serve as prosecutors and defenders; yet the ability of the public sector to attract qualified individuals and to retain experienced attorneys is increasingly becoming more compromised. As many of us know, recent law school graduates are often burdened with overwhelming student education loans. The amount of their debt can effectively preclude a young attorney from choosing to practice in the public sector, and with the median salary for an associate in private practice now many times the median salary of a State prosecutor, public-spirited attorneys who owe extensive student loans have a very hard time deciding that they can afford to work in our criminal justice system. In Wayne County, Michigan, our county prosecutor Ms. Kym Worthy, a veteran trial lawyer before she assumed the position, has come to me repeatedly asking for help in this area. So this measure addresses the critical problem by directing the Attorney General to establish a loan repayment assistance program for an individual who agrees to remain employed for at least 3 years as either a State or local criminal prosecutor or as a State, local or Federal public defender for criminal cases. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to congratulate the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Forbes), the floor manager of this bill, and to thank him for the helpful compromises that he led in working out the bipartisan support of this bill. I thank you. Madam Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott), the author of the bill.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute and that is to describe the wide spectrum of legal support for this measure: the National District Attorneys Association, the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, and many others. Madam Speaker, I am now pleased to introduce a gentleman from South Carolina, the chairman of the Budget Committee, as much time as he may consume, Mr. John Spratt. (Mr. SPRATT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I would bring to the attention of our membership a communication from the National Conference of Chief Justices at the State level in support of Federal legislation to create incentives to law students to participate in public service occupations after graduations. The 109th Congress considered legislation designed to encourage qualified individuals to enter in and continue employment for at least 3 years as criminal prosecutors and public defenders by means of providing the United States Government payment of a portion of that individual student loan for each year of such employment. Whereas the 110th Congress is also likely to consider legislation to assist the repayment of student loans of qualified individuals who commit to employment as prosecutors and public defenders, therefore, the Association of American Law Schools, Equal Justice Works, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, and the American Bar Association have expressed support for the above-described legislation, and the lawyers to engage in civil and legal services to enhance access by justice, by low-income persons rendered valuable public service that is comparable to that provided by criminal prosecutors and public defenders. Therefore, be it resolved that the Conference of Chief Justices hereby urges the Congress to adopt legislation to give financial incentives to law school graduates to commit to sustained public service as prosecutors and public defenders. Therefore, the conference additionally encourages Congress to develop and adopt separate legislation providing similar relief for qualified individuals who engage in employment as civil, legal aid attorneys, adopted as proposed by the Government Affairs Committee and the Professionalism and Competence Committee of the Conference of Chief Justices on February 7 in the year 2007. Madam Speaker, I would be happy to recognize former judge Louie Gohmert of the Judiciary Committee for 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. I thank the gentleman from Texas for his contribution. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1700) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to enhance the COPS ON THE BEAT grant program, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join 102 cosponsors, including a dozen members of the House Judiciary Committee, in supporting this legislation. During the 1990s, the crime rate for all categories of crime and in all parts of the United States fell dramatically. For example, homicide rates in 2001 plunged 43 percent from their peak in 1991, reaching their lowest level in 35 years. Now, there are many potential explanations offered regarding the dramatic and unexpected drop in the rate of violent crime during the 1990s. One popular explanation is the Nation's sustained economic growth during the days of the Clinton administration. But researchers often point to one other explanation: the creation of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services in 1994, the COPS bill; and the subsequent infusion of more than $7.6 billion in grants into State and local law enforcement communities to hire police officers and promote community policing as an effective strategy to prevent crime. The bill before us reinvigorates the COPS crime fighting program in several important respects. First, it establishes hiring grants for community policing officers, anti-terror officers, and school resource officers. It also reauthorizes ``Troops-to-COPS'' grants to hire former members of the Armed Forces in particular as career law enforcement officers. And it also authorizes a ``Community Prosecutors Program'' to pay for community prosecuting programs, including those that assign prosecutors to handle cases from specific geographic areas or to address counter- terrorism and related problems. Finally, it authorizes ``Technology Grants'' to State and local law enforcement agencies to help them refocus some of their activities from reacting to crime to preventing it. Crime prevention has now come back into vogue. So this legislation, because of its long and successful prior experience, has been endorsed by key law enforcement groups: the National Sheriffs Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Police Organizations, and the National League of Cities. I am proud to indicate their strong support for this measure, and I urge my colleagues to lend their support to a bill whose restoration is more than deserved. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Los Angeles, California, Diane Watson.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield such time as he may consume to the author of this measure, Mr. Weiner of New York, whose confidence I have so much of this afternoon, notwithstanding that there are eight other speakers, because of his persevering commitment to reinstituting this community policing bill.

Mr. CONYERS. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. CONYERS. I would like to play good cop in this because I want to commend those Republicans who are going to vote for this measure for joining us. Look, it doesn't matter when you come on board. It's that your thoughtfulness in helping us craft a bipartisan bill was exceedingly important, and I personally am indebted to you for that.

Mr. CONYERS. Thank you.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, Eddie Bernice Johnson has supported this bill from its inception, and so I recognize the gentlelady from Dallas, Texas, for 1 minute.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield 1 minute to the chairman from Illinois, Rahm Emanuel.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains on both sides?

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield one-quarter of a minute to the author of the bill, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Oakland, California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, what has happened here today is very important in terms of developing a justice system that will operate at a very fundamental and basic level, the police level. It doesn't correct the lack of prosecution that has been raised by the gentleman from Virginia. It doesn't correct many parts of the justice system that we on the committee plan to go into. But I think there is a unanimity on both sides of the aisle for restoring a very important community program that has justified itself, and it is in that spirit that I want to commend everyone on both sides of the aisle for their important work that they have done in beginning to restore the program. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the author of the bill, the gentleman from New York, Anthony Weiner, whose perseverance has led us to the floor here today.

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CONYERS

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?