52
Opinion of the Court
conference discussion of the issue.9 The proviso thus seems to have been inserted into the Anti-Drug Abuse Act without close inspection. Cf. United States v. Bass, 404 U. S. 336, 344 (1971) (applying rule of lenity, noting that statutory provision "was a last-minute Senate amendment" to a long and complex bill and "was hastily passed, with little discussion, no hearings, and no report").
Another probation-related provision of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, proposed shortly before the proviso, casts further doubt on the Government's reading. That provision amends the prohibition against using or carrying an explosive in the commission of a federal felony, to provide in part: "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall not place on probation or suspend the sentence of any person convicted of a violation of this subsection . . . ." Pub. L. 100- 690, § 6474(b), 102 Stat. 4380, codified at 18 U. S. C. § 844(h) (emphasis added). This provision, notwithstanding its 1988 date of enactment, is intelligible only under pre-1984 law: The 1984 Sentencing Reform Act had abolished suspended sentences, and the phrase "place on probation" had yielded to the phrase "impose a sentence of probation."
Granderson's counsel suggested at oral argument, see Tr. of Oral Arg. 22-23, 29-31, 36-41, that the proviso's drafters might similarly have had in mind the pre-1984 sentencing regime, in particular, the pre-1984 practice of imposing a sentence of imprisonment, suspending its execution, and placing the defendant on probation. See 18 U. S. C. § 3651 (1982) (for any offense "not punishable by death or life imprison-9 Debate over the conference bill took place in the middle of the night, see 134 Cong. Rec. 32633 (1988) ("I am cognizant that it is 2:20 in the morning, and I will not take long") (remarks of Sen. Dole); id., at 33318 (House vote taken at 1 a.m.), with Congress anxious to adjourn and return home for the 1988 elections that were little more than two weeks away. Section-by-section analyses were produced after conference in both the Senate and the House, but neither publication casts much light on the proviso. See id., at 32707 (Senate); id., at 33236 (House).
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