Sylvester Turner: “I come forward today as a former member of the State senate in Texas where we passed one of the toughest juvenile…”

“I come forward today as a former member of the State senate in Texas where we passed one of the toughest juvenile justice laws in the country just last session, a bipartisan bill supported by a Republican Governor and our then-Democratic State legislature. I think it is hypocritical to suggest that this Congress, by mandating requirements on the States, is somehow going to provide leadership on juvenile justice. Our States are responding. And I think it is hypocritical for this Congress to pass a bill and suggest that we are going to mandate our States to be even tougher than they already are. This bill says Washington knows best, and that is why we support this substitute that we are offering today. I think it is time to get fiscally conservative in fighting juvenile crime. Our substitute devotes 60 percent of that $1.5 billion to prevention programs. I suggest to my colleagues this morning that any elementary school in the classroom today can identify the at-risk children who are going to be in the juvenile justice system 5 and 10 years from now. We need to follow that commonsense approach and invest 60 percent of the $1.5 billion in prevention activities. Our substitute is tough on crime. It is smart on crime. It is fiscally responsible. It is a balanced budget and provides the seed money that our communities need to mobilize hundreds of volunteers that must be a part of the solution to juvenile crime.”