Mitch Landrieu: “I wanted to say how much I admire him for bringing this issue to the attention of the Senate and for his eloquent…”

“I wanted to say how much I admire him for bringing this issue to the attention of the Senate and for his eloquent presentation on what I think is a real problem in our Nation. As he outlined, in Louisiana, during his last visit, he found that one of our facilities sure could stand great improvement. I am also positive that there are many facilities in other States in our Nation that can also use improvement and attention. We talk about being "tough on crime." We talk about being smart and tough because it takes a combination of that to really drive down these juvenile crime rates, drive down crime rates in America. We need to remain tough, with tough penalties; but we also have to be smart. This was a smart amendment that we accepted just a few minutes ago. This was maybe one of the smartest things we have done in a couple of weeks here--and maybe for a long time --because we have allowed States to take some of their money for construction and use it for mental health services.”