Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the manager and the chairman of the full committee, Committee on the Judiciary, and to the manager for our…”

“I thank the manager and the chairman of the full committee, Committee on the Judiciary, and to the manager for our friends on the other side of the aisle. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 961, the Justice for Juveniles Act. This is very close to my heart as the chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security working on these juvenile justice issues. And this is a necessary and important bipartisan bill that will save incarcerated young persons' lives. As indicated, chairing the subcommittee, we recently held a hearing titled, ``Juvenile Justice Pipeline and the Road Back to Integration.'' I thank the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon) for this very effective and important initiative. During the hearing, we heard testimony from witness after witness who acknowledged the body of scientific research that has been embraced by experts and the Supreme Court--and that I have known and seen over the years as we have written legislation--demonstrating that juveniles do not have the same cognitive and emotional maturity as adults. In fact, there is data that says that the brain does not fully mature until age 25. This bill makes a good change to the Prison Litigation Reform Act to take into account that the overwhelming majority of juveniles cannot comply with the law's complex grievance procedures by themselves.…”