Tim Scott: “I rise tonight to echo my colleagues' support for the Congressional Black Caucus alternative budget, and to speak…”

“I rise tonight to echo my colleagues' support for the Congressional Black Caucus alternative budget, and to speak briefly on the judiciary elements of that budget. The CBC alternative balances the budget, reduces crime, and invests in our future economic and social well-being, and it does so by better utilizing our scarce resources. For example, we believe that the $711 million allocated for the building of new prisons and jails in the committee budget could be put to better use by stressing the treatment and prevention programs. The CBC budget increases our investment in more local community prevention programs, such as mentoring, parental training, truancy prevention, gang intervention, and comprehensive educational services for at-risk youth, so fewer of our children will become involved in the juvenile justice system in the first place, and fewer crimes, fewer victims, and a decrease in taxpayer money spent on prisons will be the direct result. The CBC budget also includes an increase in the budget for the Legal Services Corporation, which will allow equal access to justice for all Americans, not just those who can independently afford it.”