Ric Keller: “Thank you, Madam Chairman. I claim the time in opposition although I am not opposed to this amendment. We have seen a…”

“Thank you, Madam Chairman. I claim the time in opposition although I am not opposed to this amendment. We have seen a skyrocketing problem, at least in my home State of Florida, with the rise in violent juvenile crime. In my area, central Florida, we have seen juvenile robberies over the past 2 years of kids of 15 and under increase by 311 percent. When I talk with the experts about this problem, I am told that we do need a holistic approach, as my colleague, Congressman Hastings, says; and that for the worst of the worst offenders, the repeat violent offenders, people who slit other kids' throats, you have got to lock them away. But on the front end when you can still have hope to catch some of these kids and turn them around, we have to make every effort to do it. The reason I say that is because when we look at the statistics in Florida we find that 80 percent of the inmates in our jails and prisons are high school dropouts. If we deal with them holistically, we say, hey, if you're going to stay in school, we will give you a Pell grant to pay for a college education so you can have a nice car and a home. If you are willing to stay in school but you can't read, we will get you a reading coach to help you read, even if you are in high school. We are going to get you a mentor to get you through it. We have to give these young people hope in educational and job opportunities and approach it holistically. Yes, that means prevention, but you also need tough enforcement.”