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But I can say this: I spent 7.5 years before I came into Congress 

 as a criminal court judge trying felony criminal cases, the murders, 

 the rapes, the armed robberies, the burglaries. That is the crime 

 that people want something done about. To most people in this 

 country — I would say ninety-something percent of the people, they 

 would think this is crazy; this is ridiculous. And I would suspect, 

 Senator Williams, that you are amazed that you are sitting here 

 today. And I see by the smiles I think the others are feeling the 

 same way, that you are shocked that this innocent dove hunt would 

 end up in these Federal charges and end up in a Congressional 

 hearing such as this. It is really unbelievable to me. And, in fact, 

 the arrogance and high-handedness of some people in the Federal 

 bureaucracy today is really getting totally out of hand, and some- 

 thing really needs to be done about it. 



Do any of you have any comments? 



Mr. Williams. Nothing other than to say thank you, sir, and I 

 believe all of us agree with you. And I can tell you that the attitude 

 of the voting public today toward government is not good. And 

 things like this do not help. Government is supposed to be trying 

 to help people instead of trying to hurt them at every turn, and 

 that is what it appears that this case was. And even though there 

 again, I am not bashing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Those officers 

 were there to do what they were instructed and trained to do. It 

 is just unfortunate that it occurred in such a Rambo-style setting 

 with fatigues on and so many innocent people there. 



If the field was baited, nobody knew it. I can tell you that. And 

 I do not believe to this day that the field was baited. I know Mr. 

 Sanchez, and Mr. Vento asked if we had brought suit against him. 

 No, sir. He is a friend of ours, and he told me it was not baited, 

 and I have to take his word for that. 



Mr. Duncan. Yes, sir, Mr. Boe? 



Mr. Boe. In reference to what you said, the main reason we are 

 here is I consider myself a patriotic American. I was an Eagle 

 Scout. When I was a junior at the University of Georgia, I sac- 

 rificed my college deferment to enlist in the United States infantry; 

 requested Vietnam combat duty. I was wounded twice in the 

 Central Highlands. I respect the country, and I consider myself a 

 good citizen, and that is why I am here. I taught civics for 10 

 years, 5 years in prison, believe it or not, and 5 years at Ocala 

 Vanguard High School. And I do believe that there is a method by 

 which you can improve the system. You do not have to sit on the 

 sidelines and allow a bad situation to continue to get worse. And 

 this is what is going on: we have an unfortunate situation that 

 needs to be improved, and we are coming here with a request that 

 the situation be analyzed and changed so that law enforcement offi- 

 cers can do their job and sportsmen in good faith can hunt. 



It is impractical for you to have knowledge of an undefined area 

 for 10 days, and if you have bad laws, why keep them on the 

 books? Whoever has the power to change this, I would hope would 

 take the initiative and take some corrective action. 



Mr. Duncan. My time is about to run out, and we have a vote 

 that has started, but let me say this: I am not a hunter. I do not 

 have anything against hunting, but I am not a hunter. And I am 

 not coming at it from that angle. But I think that it is really sad 



