Frank Riggs: “I am particularly pleased in the waning days of this Congress, the 105th Congress, in our country's history, we are…”

“I am particularly pleased in the waning days of this Congress, the 105th Congress, in our country's history, we are going to be able to go to conference with the Senate on hopefully a comprehensive approach to combating juvenile crime. As the chairman mentioned, there are two measures that have passed the House, both with strong bipartisan support; H.R. 3, the Committee on the Judiciary bill, and H.R. 1818, the bill that originated in and was reported out of our Committee on Education and the Workforce. The two bills combined represent very tough anti-crime legislation and legislation that is focused on delinquency prevention. I think all of us can agree... that the best way to address the problem of increasing or rising juvenile crime in this country is to identify those young people who are at risk of engaging in delinquent behavior, who are at risk of committing crimes, and through appropriate intervention by interceding in their lives early on to provide them and their families, their parents and their guardians, with help and with the resources to divert them out of the juvenile justice system.”