Sanders TOUGH ON CRIME LEGISLATION and H.R. 3355

Should Bernie Sanders apologize for his 1994 vote for the Crime Bill? I think it’s a fair question, because when Sanders voted YEA for this bill he was as complicit as Bill Clinton was signing it into law.

I know folks enjoy posting the videos of Sanders qualifying his vote on the house floor and that this somehow absolves him of the negative effects of this bill. It does not.

He liked a few parts of this bill, so he voted for this bill. Yet he touted his TOUGH ON CRIME LEGISLATION and H.R. 3355 to Vermonters during his 2006 Senate bid. Seems to me there's a bit of hypocrisy here.

Let me say this, I'm not excusing Bill Clinton’s dumb and insensitive remarks. He was wrong, but If the Crime Bill was this bad then Sanders should have voted no as well. No excuses that one or two parts of the bill looked good. Just a no vote.

This argument that the Clinton’s are solely responsible for the negative effects of H.R. 3355 on the African American and other minority communities is patently ridiculous. Sanders and others who voted YEA own it’s negative impact as well.

Sanders had no issues touting his H.R. 3355 vote to win a Senate seat in Vermont.

time.com/…

Since beginning his presidential run, Sanders has shifted his rhetoric and his positions to appeal to a broader segment of the Democratic Party. During his 2006 campaign for Senate, Sanders appealed to Vermonters by touting his record on crime and pointing in particular to his support for the 1994 crime bill that former President Bill Clinton has been criticized for and since renounced. Sanders’ website during that race even touted his “strong record of supporting tough on crime legislation.”

web.archive.org/…

Voted for the 1994 Crime Bill that Created the COPS Program. [Vote #416, 8/21/94, conference report on H.R.3355, Sanders: Y]