Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, H.R. 3355, Pub.L. 103-322, was an act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement that became law in 1994. It is the largest crime bill in the history of the US at 356 pages and will provide for 100,000 new police officers, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons and $6.1 billion in funding for prevention programs which were designed with significant input from experienced police officers. Sponsored by U.S. Representative Jack Brooks of Texas, the bill was originally written by Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

Following the 101 California Street shootings, the 1993 Waco Siege, and other high-profile instances of violent crime, the act expanded federal law in several ways. One of the most noted sections was the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. Other parts of the act provided for a greatly expanded federal death penalty, new classes of individuals banned from possessing firearms, and a variety of new crimes defined in statutes relating to immigration law, hate crimes, sex crimes, and gang-related crime.

Read more about Violent Crime Control And Law Enforcement Act:  Federal Assault Weapons Ban, Federal Death Penalty Act, Elimination of Inmate Education, Violence Against Women Act, Other Provisions

Famous quotes containing the words violent, crime, control, law and/or act:

    Lift up our eyes to you?
    no, God, we stare and stare,
    upon a nearer thing
    that greets us here,
    Death, violent and near.
    Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)

    He took control of me for forty-five minutes. This time I’ll have control over him for the rest of his life. If he gets out fifteen years from now, I’ll know. I’ll check on him every three months through police computers. If he makes one mistake he’s going down again. I’ll make sure. I’m his worst enemy now.
    Elizabeth Wilson, U.S. crime victim. As quoted in People magazine, p. 88 (May 31, 1993)

    “Have we any control over being born?,” my friend asked in despair. “No, the job is done for us while we’re sleeping, so to speak, and when we wake up everything is all set. We merely appear, like an ornate celebrity wheeled out in a wheelchair.” “I don’t remember,” my friend claimed. “No need to,” I said: “what need have us free-loaders for any special alertness? We’re done for.”
    Marvin Cohen, U.S. author and humorist. The Self-Devoted Friend, New Directions (1967)

    The inevitableness, the idealism, and the blessing of war, as an indispensable and stimulating law of development, must be repeatedly emphasized.
    Friedrich Von Bernhardi (1849–1930)

    To act the part of a true friend requires more conscientious feeling than to fill with credit and complacency any other station or capacity in social life.
    Sarah Ellis (1812–1872)