This problem “can be eliminated,” declared the witness.

“No it can’t,” I said to myself and soon thereafter to my chairman.

We legislate for the SOBs of the world, I often tell people. We make their actions illegal and impose fines, limit their future behavior, or put them in jail.

These penalties are designed to reduce the problem caused by their acts. But they won’t rid society of this bad behavior.

Advocates are advocates. They urge us to adopt severe penalties and make no concessions to another viewpoint. That is their role.

But they also need to recognize that human beings aren’t perfect and neither is the legislative process. We seek compromise among 141 different members, with the goal of reducing – but not eliminating, the problems before us.