Patrick Kennedy: “I have to say at the outset how dismayed I have been with the votes that we have just had. I would say to the gentleman…”

“I have to say at the outset how dismayed I have been with the votes that we have just had. I would say to the gentleman from Florida that we might as well scrap the whole juvenile justice system, we might as well do that, because picking away at this a little bit at a time really makes no sense at all. If the gentleman thinks that kids should not be distinguished from adults with respect to their crimes, just be honest with everybody and tell them what the gentleman is really doing, and that is just scrapping the whole juvenile justice system. This stuff about 13-year-olds and 14-year-olds is just out of hand. I think the Scott amendment is just the way we need to go. We know the facts are that prevention works. In Salt Lake City a gang prevention program led to a 30 percent reduction in gang related crimes. In Washington State, gang prevention programs reduced violence by 80 percent. Imagine how far that could go in putting that money behind prevention programs that work.”