Good afternoon: Nothing is so precious to Americans as the freedoms provided in our Constitution. In order that these freedoms may be enjoyed to their fullest, there must be another freedom--freedom from the fear of crime. The senseless shooting of Senator John Stennis in January gave tragic emphasis to the fact that there is still a high risk of crime on our Nation's streets. These acts of violence are the natural residue of an atmosphere in America that for years encouraged potential lawbreakers. Americans in the last decade were often told that the criminal was not responsible for his crimes against society, but that society was responsible. I totally disagree with this permissive philosophy. Society is guilty of crime only when we fail to bring the criminal to justice. When we fail to make the criminal pay for his crime, we encourage him to think that crime will pay. Such an attitude will never be reflected in the laws supported by this Administration, nor in the manner in which we enforce those laws. The jurisdiction of the Federal Government over crime is limited, but where we can act, we will act to make sure that we have the laws, the enforcement agencies, the courts, the judges, the penalties, the correctional institutions, and the rehabilitation programs we need to do the job. Next week I will propose a revision of the entire Federal Criminal Code, modernizing it and strengthening it, to close the loopholes and tailor our laws to present day needs. When I say "modernize," incidentally, I do not mean to be soft on crime; I mean exactly the opposite. Our new Code will give us tougher penalties and stronger weapons in the war against dangerous drugs and organized crime. It will rationalize the present patchwork quilt of punishments for crime. It will substantially raise current limits on monetary fines. And it will restrict the present absurd use of the insanity defense. I am further proposing that the death penalty be restored for certain Federal crimes. At my direction, the Attorney General has drafted a statute consistent with the Supreme Court's recent decision on the death penalty. This statute will provide capital punishment for cases of murder over which the Federal Government has jurisdiction, and for treason and other war-related crimes. Contrary to the views of some social theorists, I am convinced that the death penalty can be an effective deterrent against specific crimes. The death penalty is not a deterrent so long as there is doubt whether it can be applied. The law I will propose would remove this doubt. The potential criminal will know that if his intended victims die, he may also die. The hijacker, the kidnaper, the man who throws a firebomb, the convict who attacks a prison guard, the person who assaults an officer of the law--all will know that they may pay with their own lives for any lives that they take. This statute will be a part of my proposed reform of the Federal Criminal Code. However, because there is an immediate need for this sanction, I have directed the Attorney General to submit a death penalty statute as a separate proposal so that the Congress can act rapidly on this single provision. Drug abuse is still public enemy number one in America. Let me tell you about some of the tragic letters I have received at the White House from victims of drugs. One tells about a 5-year-old boy hospitalized in Missouri. Someone gave him LSD. One is from a boy 18 years old who had spent 11 months in a mental hospital trying to get rid of his drug addiction. He started with marijuana. He is asking me for help because his 14-year-old brother has begun to use drugs. Another is from a mother in California. Her son committed suicide. He could not end his drug habit, so he ended his life. One of the things that comes through so forcefully in these letters is the sense of despair of people who feel they have no place to turn for help, and so they write to the White House. I intend to help them. We have already made encouraging progress in the war against drug abuse. Now we must consolidate that progress and strike even harder. One area in which I am convinced of the need for more immediate action is that of putting heroin pushers in prison and keeping them there. A recent study by the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs revealed that more than 70 percent of those accused of being narcotics violators are freed on bail for a period of 3 months to I year between the time of arrest and the time of trial. They are thus given the opportunity to go out and create more misery, generate more violence, commit more crimes while they are waiting to be tried for these same activities. The same study showed that over 25 percent of the federally convicted narcotics violators were not even sentenced to jail. When permissive judges are more considerate of the pusher than they are of his victims, there is little incentive for heroin pushers to obey the law, and great incentive for them to violate it. This is an outrage. It is a danger to every law-abiding citizen, and I am confident that the vast majority of Americans will support immediate passage of the heroin trafficking legislation I will propose to the Congress next week. This legislation will require Federal judges to consider the danger to the community before freeing on bail a suspect for heroin trafficking. That is something they cannot legally do now. It will require a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison for anyone convicted of selling heroin. It will require a minimum sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment for major traffickers in drugs. And for offenders with a prior conviction for a drug felony, those who persist in living off the suffering of others, it will require life imprisonment without parole. This is tough legislation, but we must settle for nothing less. The time has come for soft-headed judges and probation officers to show as much concern for the rights of innocent victims of crime as they do for the rights of convicted criminals. In recent days, there have been proposals to legalize the possession and the use of marijuana. I oppose the legalization of the sale, possession, or use of marijuana. The line against the use of dangerous drugs is now drawn on this side of marijuana. If we move the line to the other side and accept the use of this drug, how can we draw the line against other illegal drugs? Or will we slide into an acceptance of their use as well? My Administration has carefully weighed this matter. We have examined the statutes. We have taken the lead in making sanctions against the use of marijuana more uniform, more reasonable. Previously, these sanctions were often unrealistically harsh. Today, 35 States have adopted our model statute on drugs, including marijuana. I hope others will. But there must continue to be criminal sanctions against the possession, sale, or use of marijuana. Law enforcement alone will not eliminate drug abuse. We must also have a strong program to treat and assist the addict. Two-thirds of my proposed antinarcotics budget goes for treatment, rehabilitation, prevention, and research. We are approaching the point where no addict will be able to say that he commits crimes because there is no treatment available for him. By providing drug offenders with every possible opportunity to get out of the drug culture, we need feel no compunction about applying the most stringent sanctions against those who commit crimes in order to feed their habits. The crimes which affect most people most often are not those under Federal jurisdiction, but those in which State and local governments have jurisdiction. But while the Federal Government does not have full jurisdiction in the field of criminal law enforcement, it does have a broad, constitutional responsibility to insure domestic tranquillity. That is why I am doing everything I can to help strengthen the capacity of State and local governments to fight crime. Since I took office, Federal assistance for State and local law enforcement authorities has grown from over $100 million to over $i billion. We are training over 40,000 local law enforcement officers in the control and prevention of drug abuse. This year more than 1,200 State and local police officers will graduate from the new FBI Academy, and I plan to increase assistance next year to local law enforcement to over $ 1,200 million. Crime costs Americans twice. It costs first in lives lost, in injuries, in property loss, in increased insurance rates, in being fearful for your own safety as you go about your work. And second, crime costs in the taxes that go to maintain police forces, courts, jails, other means of enforcement. It is a breach of faith with those who are paying the cost of crime, human as well as financial, to be lenient with the criminal. There are those who say that law and order are just code words for repression and bigotry. That is dangerous nonsense. Law and order are code words for goodness and decency in America. Crime is color blind. Let those who doubt this talk to the poor, the minorities, the inner-city dwellers, who are the most frequent victims of crime. There is nothing disgraceful, nothing to be ashamed of, about Americans wanting to live in a law-abiding country. I intend to do everything in my power to see that the American people get all the law and order they are paying for. Our progress in this effort has been encouraging. The latest FBI figures show that for the first 9 months of 1972, the growth rate of serious crime in America was reduced to 1 percent. That is the lowest rate of increase since 1960. In 83 of our major cities, serious crime has actually been reduced, and in the District of Columbia it has been cut in half since 1969. Convictions for organized crime have more than doubled in the last 4 years. The rate of new heroin addiction has dramatically decreased. These are the positive results of refusing to compromise with the forces of crime, refusing to accept the notion that lawlessness is inevitable in America. We have the freedom to choose the kind of nation we want, and we do not choose to live with crime. The Federal Government can help provide resources. It can help provide leadership. It can act with its own jurisdiction. But in the end, one of the best resources we have, one of the greatest safeguards to public peace, is the active concern of the law-abiding American citizen. The war against crime is not just the job of the FBI and the State and local police; it is your job, everybody's job. It is the very essence of good citizenship to act when and where we see crime being committed. Citizens in some high crime areas have gathered together to work with the police to protect lives and property, to prevent crime. They have recognized the simple fact that we are going to have a crime problem as long as we are willing to put up with it, and most Americans are not willing to put up with it any longer. When I saw and heard the remarks of our returning prisoners of war, so strong and confident and proud, I realized that we were seeing men of tough moral fiber, men who reflected, despite their long absence from America, what America is all about. Just as they are returning home to America, I believe that today we see America returning to the basic truths that have made us and kept us a strong and a free people. I am encouraged by that vision. It points the way toward a better, safer future for all Americans. It points the way to an America in which men and women and children can truly live free from fear in the full enjoyment of their most basic rights. To accept anything less than a nation free from crime is to be satisfied with something less than America can be and ought to be for all our people. Thank you and good afternoon.
Good afternoon: Nothing is so precious to Americans as the freedoms provided in our Constitution. In order that these freedoms may be enjoyed to their fullest, there must be another freedom--freedom from the fear of crime. The senseless shooting of Senator John Stennis in January gave tragic emphasis to the fact that there is still a high risk of crime on our Nation's streets. These acts of violence are the natural residue of an atmosphere in America that for years encouraged potential lawbreakers. Americans in the last decade were often told that the criminal was not responsible for his crimes against society, but that society was responsible. I totally disagree with this permissive philosophy. Society is guilty of crime only when we fail to bring the criminal to justice. When we fail to make the criminal pay for his crime, we encourage him to think that crime will pay. Such an attitude will never be reflected in the laws supported by this Administration, nor in the manner in which we enforce those laws. The jurisdiction of the Federal Government over crime is limited, but where we can act, we will act to make sure that we have the laws, the enforcement agencies, the courts, the judges, the penalties, the correctional institutions, and the rehabilitation programs we need to do the job. Next week I will propose a revision of the entire Federal Criminal Code, modernizing it and strengthening it, to close the loopholes and tailor our laws to present day needs. When I say "modernize," incidentally, I do not mean to be soft on crime; I mean exactly the opposite. Our new Code will give us tougher penalties and stronger weapons in the war against dangerous drugs and organized crime. It will rationalize the present patchwork quilt of punishments for crime. It will substantially raise current limits on monetary fines. And it will restrict the present absurd use of the insanity defense. I am further proposing that the death penalty be restored for certain Federal crimes. At my direction, the Attorney General has drafted a statute consistent with the Supreme Court's recent decision on the death penalty. This statute will provide capital punishment for cases of murder over which the Federal Government has jurisdiction, and for treason and other war-related crimes. Contrary to the views of some social theorists, I am convinced that the death penalty can be an effective deterrent against specific crimes. The death penalty is not a deterrent so long as there is doubt whether it can be applied. The law I will propose would remove this doubt. The potential criminal will know that if his intended victims die, he may also die. The hijacker, the kidnaper, the man who throws a firebomb, the convict who attacks a prison guard, the person who assaults an officer of the law--all will know that they may pay with their own lives for any lives that they take. This statute will be a part of my proposed reform of the Federal Criminal Code. However, because there is an immediate need for this sanction, I have directed the Attorney General to submit a death penalty statute as a separate proposal so that the Congress can act rapidly on this single provision. Drug abuse is still public enemy number one in America. Let me tell you about some of the tragic letters I have received at the White House from victims of drugs. One tells about a 5-year-old boy hospitalized in Missouri. Someone gave him LSD. One is from a boy 18 years old who had spent 11 months in a mental hospital trying to get rid of his drug addiction. He started with marijuana. He is asking me for help because his 14-year-old brother has begun to use drugs. Another is from a mother in California. Her son committed suicide. He could not end his drug habit, so he ended his life. One of the things that comes through so forcefully in these letters is the sense of despair of people who feel they have no place to turn for help, and so they write to the White House. I intend to help them. We have already made encouraging progress in the war against drug abuse. Now we must consolidate that progress and strike even harder. One area in which I am convinced of the need for more immediate action is that of putting heroin pushers in prison and keeping them there. A recent study by the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs revealed that more than 70 percent of those accused of being narcotics violators are freed on bail for a period of 3 months to I year between the time of arrest and the time of trial. They are thus given the opportunity to go out and create more misery, generate more violence, commit more crimes while they are waiting to be tried for these same activities. The same study showed that over 25 percent of the federally convicted narcotics violators were not even sentenced to jail. When permissive judges are more considerate of the pusher than they are of his victims, there is little incentive for heroin pushers to obey the law, and great incentive for them to violate it. This is an outrage. It is a danger to every law-abiding citizen, and I am confident that the vast majority of Americans will support immediate passage of the heroin trafficking legislation I will propose to the Congress next week. This legislation will require Federal judges to consider the danger to the community before freeing on bail a suspect for heroin trafficking. That is something they cannot legally do now. It will require a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison for anyone convicted of selling heroin. It will require a minimum sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment for major traffickers in drugs. And for offenders with a prior conviction for a drug felony, those who persist in living off the suffering of others, it will require life imprisonment without parole. This is tough legislation, but we must settle for nothing less. The time has come for soft-headed judges and probation officers to show as much concern for the rights of innocent victims of crime as they do for the rights of convicted criminals. In recent days, there have been proposals to legalize the possession and the use of marijuana. I oppose the legalization of the sale, possession, or use of marijuana. The line against the use of dangerous drugs is now drawn on this side of marijuana. If we move the line to the other side and accept the use of this drug, how can we draw the line against other illegal drugs? Or will we slide into an acceptance of their use as well? My Administration has carefully weighed this matter. We have examined the statutes. We have taken the lead in making sanctions against the use of marijuana more uniform, more reasonable. Previously, these sanctions were often unrealistically harsh. Today, 35 States have adopted our model statute on drugs, including marijuana. I hope others will. But there must continue to be criminal sanctions against the possession, sale, or use of marijuana. Law enforcement alone will not eliminate drug abuse. We must also have a strong program to treat and assist the addict. Two-thirds of my proposed antinarcotics budget goes for treatment, rehabilitation, prevention, and research. We are approaching the point where no addict will be able to say that he commits crimes because there is no treatment available for him. By providing drug offenders with every possible opportunity to get out of the drug culture, we need feel no compunction about applying the most stringent sanctions against those who commit crimes in order to feed their habits. The crimes which affect most people most often are not those under Federal jurisdiction, but those in which State and local governments have jurisdiction. But while the Federal Government does not have full jurisdiction in the field of criminal law enforcement, it does have a broad, constitutional responsibility to insure domestic tranquillity. That is why I am doing everything I can to help strengthen the capacity of State and local governments to fight crime. Since I took office, Federal assistance for State and local law enforcement authorities has grown from over $100 million to over $i billion. We are training over 40,000 local law enforcement officers in the control and prevention of drug abuse. This year more than 1,200 State and local police officers will graduate from the new FBI Academy, and I plan to increase assistance next year to local law enforcement to over $ 1,200 million. Crime costs Americans twice. It costs first in lives lost, in injuries, in property loss, in increased insurance rates, in being fearful for your own safety as you go about your work. And second, crime costs in the taxes that go to maintain police forces, courts, jails, other means of enforcement. It is a breach of faith with those who are paying the cost of crime, human as well as financial, to be lenient with the criminal. There are those who say that law and order are just code words for repression and bigotry. That is dangerous nonsense. Law and order are code words for goodness and decency in America. Crime is color blind. Let those who doubt this talk to the poor, the minorities, the inner-city dwellers, who are the most frequent victims of crime. There is nothing disgraceful, nothing to be ashamed of, about Americans wanting to live in a law-abiding country. I intend to do everything in my power to see that the American people get all the law and order they are paying for. Our progress in this effort has been encouraging. The latest FBI figures show that for the first 9 months of 1972, the growth rate of serious crime in America was reduced to 1 percent. That is the lowest rate of increase since 1960. In 83 of our major cities, serious crime has actually been reduced, and in the District of Columbia it has been cut in half since 1969. Convictions for organized crime have more than doubled in the last 4 years. The rate of new heroin addiction has dramatically decreased. These are the positive results of refusing to compromise with the forces of crime, refusing to accept the notion that lawlessness is inevitable in America. We have the freedom to choose the kind of nation we want, and we do not choose to live with crime. The Federal Government can help provide resources. It can help provide leadership. It can act with its own jurisdiction. But in the end, one of the best resources we have, one of the greatest safeguards to public peace, is the active concern of the law-abiding American citizen. The war against crime is not just the job of the FBI and the State and local police; it is your job, everybody's job. It is the very essence of good citizenship to act when and where we see crime being committed. Citizens in some high crime areas have gathered together to work with the police to protect lives and property, to prevent crime. They have recognized the simple fact that we are going to have a crime problem as long as we are willing to put up with it, and most Americans are not willing to put up with it any longer. When I saw and heard the remarks of our returning prisoners of war, so strong and confident and proud, I realized that we were seeing men of tough moral fiber, men who reflected, despite their long absence from America, what America is all about. Just as they are returning home to America, I believe that today we see America returning to the basic truths that have made us and kept us a strong and a free people. I am encouraged by that vision. It points the way toward a better, safer future for all Americans. It points the way to an America in which men and women and children can truly live free from fear in the full enjoyment of their most basic rights. To accept anything less than a nation free from crime is to be satisfied with something less than America can be and ought to be for all our people. Thank you and good afternoon.
good afternoon nothing is so precious to americans as the freedoms provided in our constitution in order that these freedoms may be enjoyed to their fullest there must be another freedom freedom from the fear of crime the senseless shooting of senator john stennis in january gave tragic emphasis to the fact that there is still a high risk of crime on our nation streets these acts of violence are the natural residue of an atmosphere in america that for years encouraged potential lawbreakers americans in the last decade were often told that the criminal was not responsible for his crimes against society but that society was responsible i totally disagree with this permissive philosophy society is guilty of crime only when we fail to bring the criminal to justice when we fail to make the criminal pay for his crime we encourage him to think that crime will pay such an attitude will never be reflected in the laws supported by this administration nor in the manner in which we enforce those laws the jurisdiction of the federal government over crime is limited but where we can act we will act to make sure that we have the laws the enforcement agencies the courts the judges the penalties the correctional institutions and the rehabilitation programs we need to do the job next week i will propose a revision of the entire federal criminal code modernizing it and strengthening it to close the loopholes and tailor our laws to present day needs when i say modernize incidentally i do not mean to be soft on crime i mean exactly the opposite our new code will give us tougher penalties and stronger weapons in the war against dangerous drugs and organized crime it will rationalize the present patchwork quilt of punishments for crime it will substantially raise current limits on monetary fines and it will restrict the present absurd use of the insanity defense i am further proposing that the death penalty be restored for certain federal crimes at my direction the attorney general has drafted a statute consistent with the supreme court recent decision on the death penalty this statute will provide capital punishment for cases of murder over which the federal government has jurisdiction and for treason and other crimes contrary to the views of some social theorists i am convinced that the death penalty can be an effective deterrent against specific crimes the death penalty is not a deterrent so long as there is doubt whether it can be applied the law i will propose would remove this doubt the potential criminal will know that if his intended victims die he may also die the hijacker the kidnaper the man who throws a firebomb the convict who attacks a prison guard the person who assaults an officer of the law all will know that they may pay with their own lives for any lives that they take this statute will be a part of my proposed reform of the federal criminal code however because there is an immediate need for this sanction i have directed the attorney general to submit a death penalty statute as a separate proposal so that the congress can act rapidly on this single provision drug abuse is still public enemy number one in america let me tell you about some of the tragic letters i have received at the white house from victims of drugs one tells about a boy hospitalized in missouri someone gave him lsd one is from a boy 18 years old who had spent 11 months in a mental hospital trying to get rid of his drug addiction he started with marijuana he is asking me for help because his brother has begun to use drugs another is from a mother in california her son committed suicide he could not end his drug habit so he ended his life one of the things that comes through so forcefully in these letters is the sense of despair of people who feel they have no place to turn for help and so they write to the white house i intend to help them we have already made encouraging progress in the war against drug abuse now we must consolidate that progress and strike even harder one area in which i am convinced of the need for more immediate action is that of putting heroin pushers in prison and keeping them there a recent study by the bureau of narcotics and dangerous drugs revealed that more than 70 percent of those accused of being narcotics violators are freed on bail for a period of 3 months to i year between the time of arrest and the time of trial they are thus given the opportunity to go out and create more misery generate more violence commit more crimes while they are waiting to be tried for these same activities the same study showed that over 25 percent of the federally convicted narcotics violators were not even sentenced to jail when permissive judges are more considerate of the pusher than they are of his victims there is little incentive for heroin pushers to obey the law and great incentive for them to violate it this is an outrage it is a danger to every citizen and i am confident that the vast majority of americans will support immediate passage of the heroin trafficking legislation i will propose to the congress next week this legislation will require federal judges to consider the danger to the community before freeing on bail a suspect for heroin trafficking that is something they can not legally do now it will require a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison for anyone convicted of selling heroin it will require a minimum sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment for major traffickers in drugs and for offenders with a prior conviction for a drug felony those who persist in living off the suffering of others it will require life imprisonment without parole this is tough legislation but we must settle for nothing less the time has come for judges and probation officers to show as much concern for the rights of innocent victims of crime as they do for the rights of convicted criminals in recent days there have been proposals to legalize the possession and the use of marijuana i oppose the legalization of the sale possession or use of marijuana the line against the use of dangerous drugs is now drawn on this side of marijuana if we move the line to the other side and accept the use of this drug how can we draw the line against other illegal drugs or will we slide into an acceptance of their use as well my administration has carefully weighed this matter we have examined the statutes we have taken the lead in making sanctions against the use of marijuana more uniform more reasonable previously these sanctions were often unrealistically harsh today 35 states have adopted our model statute on drugs including marijuana i hope others will but there must continue to be criminal sanctions against the possession sale or use of marijuana law enforcement alone will not eliminate drug abuse we must also have a strong program to treat and assist the addict of my proposed antinarcotics budget goes for treatment rehabilitation prevention and research we are approaching the point where no addict will be able to say that he commits crimes because there is no treatment available for him by providing drug offenders with every possible opportunity to get out of the drug culture we need feel no compunction about applying the most stringent sanctions against those who commit crimes in order to feed their habits the crimes which affect most people most often are not those under federal jurisdiction but those in which state and local governments have jurisdiction but while the federal government does not have full jurisdiction in the field of criminal law enforcement it does have a broad constitutional responsibility to insure domestic tranquillity that is why i am doing everything i can to help strengthen the capacity of state and local governments to fight crime since i took office federal assistance for state and local law enforcement authorities has grown from over 100 million to over i billion we are training over local law enforcement officers in the control and prevention of drug abuse this year more than state and local police officers will graduate from the new fbi academy and i plan to increase assistance next year to local law enforcement to over million crime costs americans twice it costs first in lives lost in injuries in property loss in increased insurance rates in being fearful for your own safety as you go about your work and second crime costs in the taxes that go to maintain police forces courts jails other means of enforcement it is a breach of faith with those who are paying the cost of crime human as well as financial to be lenient with the criminal there are those who say that law and order are just code words for repression and bigotry that is dangerous nonsense law and order are code words for goodness and decency in america crime is color blind let those who doubt this talk to the poor the minorities the dwellers who are the most frequent victims of crime there is nothing disgraceful nothing to be ashamed of about americans wanting to live in a country i intend to do everything in my power to see that the american people get all the law and order they are paying for our progress in this effort has been encouraging the latest fbi figures show that for the first 9 months of 1972 the growth rate of serious crime in america was reduced to 1 percent that is the lowest rate of increase since 1960 in 83 of our major cities serious crime has actually been reduced and in the district of columbia it has been cut in half since 1969 convictions for organized crime have more than doubled in the last 4 years the rate of new heroin addiction has dramatically decreased these are the positive results of refusing to compromise with the forces of crime refusing to accept the notion that lawlessness is inevitable in america we have the freedom to choose the kind of nation we want and we do not choose to live with crime the federal government can help provide resources it can help provide leadership it can act with its own jurisdiction but in the end one of the best resources we have one of the greatest safeguards to public peace is the active concern of the american citizen the war against crime is not just the job of the fbi and the state and local police it is your job everybody job it is the very essence of good citizenship to act when and where we see crime being committed citizens in some high crime areas have gathered together to work with the police to protect lives and property to prevent crime they have recognized the simple fact that we are going to have a crime problem as long as we are willing to put up with it and most americans are not willing to put up with it any longer when i saw and heard the remarks of our returning prisoners of war so strong and confident and proud i realized that we were seeing men of tough moral fiber men who reflected despite their long absence from america what america is all about just as they are returning home to america i believe that today we see america returning to the basic truths that have made us and kept us a strong and a free people i am encouraged by that vision it points the way toward a better safer future for all americans it points the way to an america in which men and women and children can truly live free from fear in the full enjoyment of their most basic rights to accept anything less than a nation free from crime is to be satisfied with something less than america can be and ought to be for all our people thank you and good afternoon
good afternoon nothing precious americans freedoms provided constitution order freedoms may enjoyed fullest must another freedom freedom fear crime senseless shooting senator john stennis january gave tragic emphasis fact still high risk crime nation streets acts violence natural residue atmosphere america years encouraged potential lawbreakers americans last decade often told criminal responsible crimes society society responsible totally disagree permissive philosophy society guilty crime fail bring criminal justice fail make criminal pay crime encourage think crime pay attitude never reflected laws supported administration manner enforce laws jurisdiction federal government crime limited act act make sure laws enforcement agencies courts judges penalties correctional institutions rehabilitation programs need job next week propose revision entire federal criminal code modernizing strengthening close loopholes tailor laws present day needs say modernize incidentally mean soft crime mean exactly opposite new code give us tougher penalties stronger weapons war dangerous drugs organized crime rationalize present patchwork quilt punishments crime substantially raise current limits monetary fines restrict present absurd use insanity defense proposing death penalty restored certain federal crimes direction attorney general drafted statute consistent supreme court recent decision death penalty statute provide capital punishment cases murder federal government jurisdiction treason crimes contrary views social theorists convinced death penalty effective deterrent specific crimes death penalty deterrent long doubt whether applied law propose would remove doubt potential criminal know intended victims die may also die hijacker kidnaper man throws firebomb convict attacks prison guard person assaults officer law know may pay lives lives take statute part proposed reform federal criminal code however immediate need sanction directed attorney general submit death penalty statute separate proposal congress act rapidly single provision drug abuse still public enemy number one america let tell tragic letters received white house victims drugs one tells boy hospitalized missouri someone gave lsd one boy 18 years old spent 11 months mental hospital trying get rid drug addiction started marijuana asking help brother begun use drugs another mother california son committed suicide could end drug habit ended life one things comes forcefully letters sense despair people feel place turn help write white house intend help already made encouraging progress war drug abuse must consolidate progress strike even harder one area convinced need immediate action putting heroin pushers prison keeping recent study bureau narcotics dangerous drugs revealed 70 percent accused narcotics violators freed bail period 3 months year time arrest time trial thus given opportunity go create misery generate violence commit crimes waiting tried activities study showed 25 percent federally convicted narcotics violators even sentenced jail permissive judges considerate pusher victims little incentive heroin pushers obey law great incentive violate outrage danger every citizen confident vast majority americans support immediate passage heroin trafficking legislation propose congress next week legislation require federal judges consider danger community freeing bail suspect heroin trafficking something legally require minimum sentence 5 years prison anyone convicted selling heroin require minimum sentence 10 years life imprisonment major traffickers drugs offenders prior conviction drug felony persist living suffering others require life imprisonment without parole tough legislation must settle nothing less time come judges probation officers show much concern rights innocent victims crime rights convicted criminals recent days proposals legalize possession use marijuana oppose legalization sale possession use marijuana line use dangerous drugs drawn side marijuana move line side accept use drug draw line illegal drugs slide acceptance use well administration carefully weighed matter examined statutes taken lead making sanctions use marijuana uniform reasonable previously sanctions often unrealistically harsh today 35 states adopted model statute drugs including marijuana hope others must continue criminal sanctions possession sale use marijuana law enforcement alone eliminate drug abuse must also strong program treat assist addict proposed antinarcotics budget goes treatment rehabilitation prevention research approaching point addict able say commits crimes treatment available providing drug offenders every possible opportunity get drug culture need feel compunction applying stringent sanctions commit crimes order feed habits crimes affect people often federal jurisdiction state local governments jurisdiction federal government full jurisdiction field criminal law enforcement broad constitutional responsibility insure domestic tranquillity everything help strengthen capacity state local governments fight crime since took office federal assistance state local law enforcement authorities grown 100 million billion training local law enforcement officers control prevention drug abuse year state local police officers graduate new fbi academy plan increase assistance next year local law enforcement million crime costs americans twice costs first lives lost injuries property loss increased insurance rates fearful safety go work second crime costs taxes go maintain police forces courts jails means enforcement breach faith paying cost crime human well financial lenient criminal say law order code words repression bigotry dangerous nonsense law order code words goodness decency america crime color blind let doubt talk poor minorities dwellers frequent victims crime nothing disgraceful nothing ashamed americans wanting live country intend everything power see american people get law order paying progress effort encouraging latest fbi figures show first 9 months 1972 growth rate serious crime america reduced 1 percent lowest rate increase since 1960 83 major cities serious crime actually reduced district columbia cut half since 1969 convictions organized crime doubled last 4 years rate new heroin addiction dramatically decreased positive results refusing compromise forces crime refusing accept notion lawlessness inevitable america freedom choose kind nation want choose live crime federal government help provide resources help provide leadership act jurisdiction end one best resources one greatest safeguards public peace active concern american citizen war crime job fbi state local police job everybody job essence good citizenship act see crime committed citizens high crime areas gathered together work police protect lives property prevent crime recognized simple fact going crime problem long willing put americans willing put longer saw heard remarks returning prisoners war strong confident proud realized seeing men tough moral fiber men reflected despite long absence america america returning home america believe today see america returning basic truths made us kept us strong free people encouraged vision points way toward better safer future americans points way america men women children truly live free fear full enjoyment basic rights accept anything less nation free crime satisfied something less america ought people thank good afternoon
good afternoon nothing precious american freedom provide constitution order freedom may enjoy full must another freedom freedom fear crime senseless shoot senator john stennis january give tragic emphasis fact still high risk crime nation street act violence natural residue atmosphere america year encourage potential lawbreaker american last decade often tell criminal responsible crime society society responsible totally disagree permissive philosophy society guilty crime fail bring criminal justice fail make criminal pay crime encourage think crime pay attitude never reflect law support administration manner enforce law jurisdiction federal government crime limit act act make sure law enforcement agency court judge penalty correctional institution rehabilitation program need job next week propose revision entire federal criminal code modernize strengthen close loophole tailor law present day need say modernize incidentally mean soft crime mean exactly opposite new code give u tough penalty strong weapon war dangerous drug organize crime rationalize present patchwork quilt punishment crime substantially raise current limit monetary fine restrict present absurd use insanity defense propose death penalty restore certain federal crime direction attorney general draft statute consistent supreme court recent decision death penalty statute provide capital punishment case murder federal government jurisdiction treason crime contrary view social theorist convince death penalty effective deterrent specific crime death penalty deterrent long doubt whether applied law propose would remove doubt potential criminal know intend victim die may also die hijacker kidnaper man throw firebomb convict attack prison guard person assaults officer law know may pay live life take statute part propose reform federal criminal code however immediate need sanction direct attorney general submit death penalty statute separate proposal congress act rapidly single provision drug abuse still public enemy number one america let tell tragic letter receive white house victim drug one tell boy hospitalize missouri someone give lsd one boy 18 year old spend 11 month mental hospital try get rid drug addiction start marijuana ask help brother begin use drug another mother california son commit suicide could end drug habit end life one thing come forcefully letter sense despair people feel place turn help write white house intend help already make encouraging progress war drug abuse must consolidate progress strike even hard one area convince need immediate action put heroin pusher prison keep recent study bureau narcotic dangerous drug reveal 70 percent accuse narcotic violator free bail period 3 month year time arrest time trial thus give opportunity go create misery generate violence commit crime wait tried activity study show 25 percent federally convict narcotic violator even sentence jail permissive judge considerate pusher victim little incentive heroin pusher obey law great incentive violate outrage danger every citizen confident vast majority americans support immediate passage heroin traffic legislation propose congress next week legislation require federal judge consider danger community free bail suspect heroin traffic something legally require minimum sentence 5 year prison anyone convict sell heroin require minimum sentence 10 year life imprisonment major trafficker drug offender prior conviction drug felony persist live suffer others require life imprisonment without parole tough legislation must settle nothing less time come judge probation officer show much concern right innocent victim crime right convict criminal recent day proposal legalize possession use marijuana oppose legalization sale possession use marijuana line use dangerous drug draw side marijuana move line side accept use drug draw line illegal drug slide acceptance use well administration carefully weigh matter examine statute take lead make sanction use marijuana uniform reasonable previously sanction often unrealistically harsh today 35 state adopt model statute drug include marijuana hope others must continue criminal sanction possession sale use marijuana law enforcement alone eliminate drug abuse must also strong program treat assist addict propose antinarcotics budget go treatment rehabilitation prevention research approach point addict able say commits crime treatment available provide drug offender every possible opportunity get drug culture need feel compunction apply stringent sanction commit crime order feed habit crime affect people often federal jurisdiction state local government jurisdiction federal government full jurisdiction field criminal law enforcement broad constitutional responsibility insure domestic tranquillity everything help strengthen capacity state local government fight crime since take office federal assistance state local law enforcement authority grow 100 million billion train local law enforcement officer control prevention drug abuse year state local police officer graduate new fbi academy plan increase assistance next year local law enforcement million crime cost american twice cost first live lose injury property loss increase insurance rate fearful safety go work second crime cost tax go maintain police force court jail mean enforcement breach faith pay cost crime human well financial lenient criminal say law order code word repression bigotry dangerous nonsense law order code word goodness decency america crime color blind let doubt talk poor minority dweller frequent victim crime nothing disgraceful nothing ashamed american want live country intend everything power see american people get law order pay progress effort encourage late fbi figure show first 9 month 1972 growth rate serious crime america reduce 1 percent lowest rate increase since 1960 83 major city serious crime actually reduce district columbia cut half since 1969 conviction organize crime double last 4 year rate new heroin addiction dramatically decrease positive result refuse compromise force crime refuse accept notion lawlessness inevitable america freedom choose kind nation want choose live crime federal government help provide resource help provide leadership act jurisdiction end one best resource one great safeguard public peace active concern american citizen war crime job fbi state local police job everybody job essence good citizenship act see crime commit citizen high crime area gather together work police protect live property prevent crime recognize simple fact go crime problem long willing put american willing put longer saw heard remark return prisoner war strong confident proud realize see men tough moral fiber men reflect despite long absence america america return home america believe today see america return basic truth make u keep u strong free people encourage vision point way toward good safer future americans point way america men woman child truly live free fear full enjoyment basic right accept anything less nation free crime satisfy something less america ought people thank good afternoon