Charles W. Stenholm: “this has been a good debate and a true competition of ideas. Today I find myself in the past agreeing quite often with…”

“this has been a good debate and a true competition of ideas. Today I find myself in the past agreeing quite often with the chairman from Florida, but today I respectfully differ with the bill that he brings to the floor and enthusiastically support the substitute. When I first became involved in the issue of juvenile justice, I contacted judges, police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, educators and other folks in my district who deal with this problem on a daily basis to ask for their input. The input I received was very useful to me in helping my colleagues craft this substitute. The folks in my district told me that we do need to get tough with juvenile offenders from the first offense, but we also need to focus on prevention efforts to deal with at risk kids before serious problems occurred. They told me that in order to truly address the problems of juvenile crime we need to focus on parents as well as kids. Most importantly, local officials that deal with juvenile crime in my district ask that they be able to develop the programs in their own communities without mandates in micro-management from the Federal or the State government. The substitute will provide funding and technical assistance directly to local communities. Local educators who contacted my office warned me that we will never stop the cycle of juvenile delinquency without dealing with the problems of the family unit.”