Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
323154653
label
White House Wire on Crime 5/19/89 [OA 4425]
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
323154653
contentType
document
title
White House Wire on Crime 5/19/89 [OA 4425]
citationUrl
identifierLocal
13879-007
collections
Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Mary Kate Grant Subject Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
323154653
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
363bbe16ecc68b4d
ocrText
Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Grant, Mary Kate, Files
Subseries:
Subject File, 1988-1991
OA/ID Number:
13879
Folder ID Number:
13879-007
Folder Title:
White House Wire on Crime, 5/19/89
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
19
2
7
4
THE WHITE HOUSE
on Fighting Crime
May 19, 1989
PRESIDENT UNVEILS WIDE-RANGING PACKAGE
TO FIGHT VIOLENT CRIME
On May 15, 1989, President Bush outlined a comprehensive
program to combat violent crime, designed to strengthen the
nation's criminal justice system and the Federal, state, and
local law enforcement partnership.
The President is proposing a common-sense approach to crime
with proposals to limit access to weapons by criminals, to reform
the criminal justice system, to enhance enforcement and
prosecution, and to expand prison capacity to ensure both the
certainty and severity of punishment.
PRINCIPLES GUIDING THE PRESIDENT'S ANTI-CRIME PROPOSALS:
Four principles underlie the goals of our criminal justice
system and the means for accomplishing them:
We must protect citizens and their property, because
Americans deserve to live in a society in which they
are safe and feel secure.
Those who commit violent crimes should, and must, be
held accountable for their actions.
Our criminal justice system must have as its objective
the swift and certain apprehension, prosecution and
incarceration of those who break the law.
Success in accomplishing these goals requires a
sustained, cooperative effort by Federal, State and
local law enforcement authorities.
PUBLISHED BY THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS - (202) 456-2930
- 2 -
ELEMENTS OF THE COMPREHENSIVE CRIME CONTROL ACT OF 1989:
I. Strengthening Current Laws.
The President is calling on Congress to double the mandatory
minimum penalties -- from five years to ten years in Federal
prison -- for the use of semi-automatic weapons in violent crimes
or drug felonies.
In addition, the Attorney General has been directed to
advise America's prosecutors to end plea bargaining for violent
Federal firearms offenses.
President Bush called on Congress to enact the steps
necessary to implement the death penalty for the most serious
Federal crimes, and urged state Governors to match these Federal
initiatives -- new mandatory sentencing, tougher rules on plea
bargaining, and implementing the death penalty -- in the States.
The President also announced that the Administration will
make permanent the temporary suspension on the importation of any
semi-automatic weapons which fail to meet the criteria specified
in the Gun Control Act of 1968.
The President will propose legislation prohibiting the
importation, manufacture, sale or transfer of gun magazines of
more than 15 rounds.
And, to keep deadly weapons out of deadly hands, the
President called on Congress to close loopholes like the one that
allowed Patrick Edward Purdy to buy that deadly AKS-47 in
Stockton, California.
II. Augmenting Enforcement.
The President has directed the Attorney General and the
Treasury Secretary, working together with state and local
authorities, to launch a comprehensive, coordinated offensive
against America's most violent criminals.
President Bush requested funding for hiring 825 new Federal
agents and staff -- 375 at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms; 300 at the FBI; and 150 Deputy U.S. Marshals. This
offensive, including State and local enforcement authorities,
will target violent criminals and repeat offenders.
- 3 -
III. Enhancing Prosecution.
The President proposed to increase funds for the U.S.
Attorneys Offices to support 1,600 new prosecutors and staff, and
increase funds for the Justice Department Criminal Division to
support 168 new positions, to handle drug cases, weapons offenses
and other priority matters.
IV. Expanding Prison Capacity.
The President proposed an additional $1 billion for Federal
prison construction, bringing the total FY 1990 budget to over
$1.5 billion. This will add 24,000 new Federal prison beds to
the current 31,000 beds, an increase of nearly 80%.
PRESIDENT BUSH LAUNCHES NEW STRATEGY TO "TAKE BACK THE STREETS"
On May 15, the President participated in the National Peace
Officers' Memorial Day Service, declaring to law enforcement
officers assembled on the steps of the U.S. Capitol:
"We're going to take back the streets -- by taking
criminals off the streets."
He urged a "return to common sense," and continued:
"A common sense approach to crime means that if we are
going to affect people's behavior, we must have a
criminal justice system in which there is an
expectation that: If you commit a crime, you will be
caught; and if caught, you will be prosecuted; and if
convicted, you will do time."
After unveiling his new offensive to fight what he called
the "new class of criminals" on our streets, the President
concluded:
"Not since Lincoln has a President stood in front of
the Capitol and been just a few miles from the front
line of a war. Never was the toll more visible than in
the faces of the brave men and women -- the families --
gathered here today. And when I first stood here as
President ... I made a promise: 'This scourge will
stop. And that's a promise we intend to keep."
- 4 -
LAW ENFORCEMENT LEADERS BACK KEY ELEMENTS OF CRIME PACKAGE
Across the country, law enforcement officials are backing
the President's proposals to fight crime:
"He sent a message to the criminal element that if you
commit a crime you're going to get caught, that if you
get caught you're going to get prosecuted, and if you
get prosecuted and convicted you're going to jail --
and that requires a broad, comprehensive program of the
type he proposed today." -- Attorney General Dick
Thornburgh.
"We feel [the President's package] is a get-tough
policy, and one that is urgently required if we are to
make any headway in fighting crime. We are encouraged
by the President's commitment to the crime issue." --
John Bellizzi, Executive Director, International
Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association.
"George Bush has never wavered in his commitment
against crime and in his support for victims of crime.
This package is consistent -- and in fact is going
forward -- with what he has been doing." -- Frank
Carrington, Executive Director, Victims' Assistance
Legal Organization
"The president took the first step ... I thought the
step he took was a giant step. I applaud the
President's law enforcement package." -- Washington,
D.C. Police Chief Maurice Turner
"I am very pleased with the idea that there are going
to be added federal prosecutors, that they're adding
new employees to the ATF and US Marshals, and the fact
that there is $1.5 billion for new prison
construction." -- Mr. Robert Scully, National
President, National Association of Police Organizations
"We are especially heartened by the additional
resources being recommended for federal prosecutors and
federal prisons
We also strongly endorse the
President's position that calls for reform of our
habeas corpus procedures and the provision which would
provide a good faith exception to the Exclusionary
Rule." -- Mr. Jack Yelverton, Executive Director,
National District Attorneys Association.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS REQUEST:
RETURN TO:
3
Name
The White House Office of
Public Affairs
Address
OEOB, Room 122
Washington, D.C. 20500
Phone #