Political Quotes

“I rise today to support S. 2073, as amended. More than a year ago this House overwhelmingly passed H.R. 3 and H.R. 1818. H.R. 3, the Juvenile Crime Control Act of 1997, sponsored by Congressman Bill McCollum, focused on the punishment of juvenile offenders. H.R. 1818, The Juvenile Crime Control and Delinquency Prevention Act, provided a balance to punishment by focusing on prevention of juvenile delinquency. H.R. 1818 was designed to assist States and local communities to develop strategies to combat juvenile crime through a wide range of prevention and intervention programs. The Senate has yet to pass companion legislation and we have a limited number of days remaining in this session. I support the procedure we are using today to allow us to get to Conference with the Senate to produce legislation that provides both appropriate punishment for juvenile offenders and the development of intervention and prevention programs to prevent our children from becoming involved in delinquent activities. H.R. 1818 is a bipartisan bill--it was the result of many hours of discussions between Congressmen Riggs, Martinez, Scott, and myself. The bill represents good policy. In developing this bill we attempted to strike a balance in dealing with children, young people who grow up and come before the juvenile justice system, and tried to recognize that some of these children, at ages 16 and 17, are already very vicious and dangerous criminals.”