March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Andrews, Snowe spar on crime bill> Both lawmakers vote for compromise

The compromise crime bill became a political issue in Maine Monday, with Senate candidates and U.S. Reps. Tom Andrews and Olympia Snowe taking pot shots at each other’s crime vote records.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell — the man Andrews and Snowe are vying to succeed — warned that efforts to stall the crime bill in the Senate would be “unwise.”

Andrews and Snowe both voted for the compromise crime bill that passed Sunday, 235-195.

But Andrews questioned Snowe’s support of the bill after her vote in favor of a motion to replace the bill with one that did not include an assault weapon ban.

Andrews issued a statement that accused Snowe of “being a captive of the gun lobby.”

“By signing that bill, Olympia Snowe put herself on the side of the gun manufacturers instead of the people of Maine,” he said.

Snowe responded with her own statement, which accused Andrews of “shameful grandstanding.” She questioned Andrews’ votes on previous crime-related bills.

Both statements were issued by the lawmakers’ campaign offices.

There were three votes cast Sunday on the crime bill. The first was to bring the bill to a vote. Both Maine representatives voted in favor of that.

A second measure backed by the National Rifle Association would have withdrawn the crime bill in favor of an alternative written by gun ban opponents. Snowe supported that bill, while Andrews opposed it.

The third vote was on the crime bill itself. Both Snowe and Andrews voted in favor of that.

Snowe spokesman Nicholas Graham said the congresswoman “has always been against gun control,” including proposals to ban semiautomatic assault weapons. Snowe worked to get the ban removed from the crime bill, but when that failed she voted for the crime bill because its benefits outweighed the gun ban, he said.

The compromise bill would authorize spending $10.8 billion on state and local law enforcement, including $8.8 billion to help put 100,000 new police on the streets. It also would authorize $2.6 billion for federal law enforcement, $9.85 billion for prisons and $6.9 billion for crime prevention, including drug courts.

In the Senate, the bill faced an uncertain future with Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, threatening to raise a procedural motion that could stall progress.

On the assault weapons ban, Andrews said, “Maine hunters and sportsmen don’t use AK-47s with 75-round clips to hunt deer.”

“If you want to take the hunting rifle away from the Maine hunter, you’re going to have to go through me first. But if you’re asking me to support something that makes good common sense and saves lives in your neighborhood, yes, I’m going to be with you,” he said.

Also Monday, Snowe said the crime bill contained possible good news for Loring Air Force Base, which will finish closing down next month.

“The crime bill that passed the House Sunday evening asks the attorney general to consider closed military installations in rural areas of America — like Loring — to be considered for conversion into federal prisons, as long as it is cost effective and consistent with local reuse plans,” she said.


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