In 1992, then-Senator Joe Biden issued a stark warning about the crime crisis in Washington, D.C., employing rhetoric that echoes President Donald Trump’s recent justifications for federal intervention in the city.
During a Senate floor speech that September, Biden advocated for what would become the “Biden Crime Bill” by detailing his own safety concerns. He described being warned by staff not to stop at red lights late at night to avoid carjackings, a threat he said forced him to “never come to a full stop” at intersections. “People standing on the corner, walking up with a gun,” he explained.
Biden also recounted an incident where a representative for the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms stopped him from walking to a nearby hotel, citing a recent stabbing of a congressman and a shooting in a local park. He shared another story of a carjacking attempt at a 7-Eleven, where an assailant with a pistol successfully stole a woman’s vehicle.
The future president argued that personal caution was no longer sufficient to prevent victimization. “Prudence in no way will determine whether or not you can avoid being the victim of violent crime,” he said. “It may increase your chances of not being a victim, but there’s no place to hide.”
The speech has resurfaced as the Democratic Party criticizes President Trump’s decision to assume control of D.C. law enforcement agencies to combat a similar crime wave.
At the time, Biden also criticized then-President George H.W. Bush for what he saw as an effort to block tough crime legislation. Of his own proposed bill, Biden boasted, “we do everything but hang people for jaywalking.”
While the “Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1993” he promoted did not pass, much of its substance was incorporated into the successful 1994 crime bill signed by President Bill Clinton.
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