Political Quotes

“in many communities across our country, people are living in Hobbesian states of nature where life is nasty, beastly, brutish and, all too often, very, very short. The reason is that there is a dramatic rise in juvenile crime across this country. The number of homicides committed by juveniles increased five times the rate of homicides committed by adults. Arrests for juveniles committing violent crimes will more than double during the next 15 years. The need to address this problem clearly requires a comprehensive approach, yet the juvenile justice bill that is being attempted to be passed here in Congress only provides money for 12 States to address this problem, 12 States that include Wyoming and Vermont. In America, Mr. Speaker, one-third of juvenile crimes occur in four cities: in Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Yet under this bill, while Wyoming and Vermont receive funding to address juvenile crime, cities like Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles receive not a dime. It seems to me, Mr. Speaker, if we are going to address juvenile crime in a comprehensive way, we ought to apply our funding from sea to shining sea and do it in the places where juvenile crime occurs.”