Nashua, New Hampshire (CNN) Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday said she disagrees with former Vice President Joe Biden's assessment that the 1994 crime bill he pushed "did not generate mass incarceration."

"I have a great deal of respect for Vice President Joe Biden, but I disagree with him," Harris, a former prosecutor, told CNN in a gaggle with reporters in Nashua, New Hampshire. "That crime bill -- that 1994 crime bill -- it did contribute to mass incarceration in our country. It encouraged and was the first time that we had a federal three strikes law. It funded the building of more prisons in the states. So, I disagree, sadly."

Harris' comments illustrate how Biden's support of the bill , which provided federal funds for new cops and prisons and tightened federal sentencing guidelines, will continue to face scrutiny during his 2020 presidential bid as the "tough on crime" policies of the '90s have fallen out of favor within the Democratic Party.

Biden was pressed about his role in passing the bill during a campaign event in Nashua on Monday afternoon; he told a New Hampshire voter, "This idea that the crime bill generated mass incarceration -- it did not generate mass incarceration."

"The mass incarceration occurred by the states setting mandatory sentences," he added. "What happened is, if you go back and look, the black caucus supported the bill."

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