William R. Richardson: “this amendment would create more problems than it will ever solve. At a time when juvenile violence is on the rise, this…”

“this amendment would create more problems than it will ever solve. At a time when juvenile violence is on the rise, this amendment would deprive a large group of children in our communities of the only thing that can keep them out of trouble, and that is an education. This amendment will not save States money but it will pose a significant community health and safety hazard. Children thrown into the streets by this amendment will not simply disappear. They will be left with nothing to do during school hours, tempting them to pursue a host of noneducational activities. One can only imagine the possibilities. In addition, depriving children of their fundamental human right to learn how to read and write will wreak havoc on their life. These future men and women will be incapable of performing the most basic public responsibilities and will be unable to contribute to the society at large. Let us not fool ourselves. The money this amendment is trying to save by depriving kids of an education will have to be spent on more law enforcement, more incarceration and more rehabilitation. With this amendment, we are doing nothing more than just trading schools for prison, a policy wrought with problems. Mr. Chairman, the author of this amendment is a very good Member of this body. But this is not the right approach. This is an amendment that does not strike at the core of the basic decency of our country. These are kids. They do not have lobbyists.”