[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 111 (Thursday, July 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8866-S8868]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. BURNS (for himself and Mr. Baucus):
  S. 1989. A bill to authorize the construction and operation of the 
Fort Peck Reservation rural water system in the State of Montana, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


          Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 1996

   Mr. BURNS. Madam President, today, I introduce a bill that 
will ensure the Assiniboine and Sioux people of the Fort Peck 
Reservation in Montana a safe and reliable water supply system. The 
Fort Peck Reservation is located in northeastern Montana. It is one of 
the largest reservations in the United States, and has a population of 
more than 10,000. The Fort Peck Reservation faces problems similar to 
all reservations in the country, that of remote rural areas. This 
reservation also suffers from a very high unemployment rate, 75 
percent. Added to all this, the populations on the reservation suffer 
from high incident of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. 
A safe and reliable source of water is needed to both improve the 
health status of the residents and to encourage economic development 
and thereby self-sufficiency for this area.
  This legislation would authorize a reservation-wide municipal, rural 
and industrial water system for the Fort Peck Reservation. It would 
provide a much needed boost to the future of the region and for 
economic development, and ultimately economic self-sufficiency for the 
entire area. My bill has the support of the residents of the 
reservation and the endorsement of the Tribal Council of the 
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes.
  The residents of the Fort Peck Reservation are now plagued with major 
drinking water problems. In one of the communities, the sulfate levels 
in the water are four times the standard for safe drinking water. In 
four of the communities the iron levels are five times the standard. 
Sadly, some families were forced to abandon their homes as a result of 
substandard water quality. Basically, the present water supply system 
is inadequate and unreliable to supply a safe water supply to those 
people that live on the reservation.
  Several of the local water systems have had occurrences of biological 
contamination in recent years. As a result, the Indian Health Service 
has been forced to issue several health alerts for drinking water. In 
many cases, residents of reservation communities are forced to purchase 
bottled water. Not a big deal to those who can afford it, but difficult 
to a population that has the unemployment rate found on the 
reservation. All this, despite the fact that within spitting distance 
is one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the United States, built 
on the Missouri River.
  Agriculture continues to maintain the No. 1 position in terms of 
economic impact in Montana. In a rural area like the Fort Peck 
Reservation agriculture plays the key role in the economy, more so than 
in many areas of the State. The water system authorized by the 
legislation will not only provide a good source of drinking water, but 
also a water supply necessary to protect and preserve the livestock 
operations on the reservation. A major constraint on the growth of the 
livestock industry around Fort Peck has been the lack of adequate 
watering sites for cattle. This water supply system would provide the 
necessary water taps to fill watering tanks for livestock, which in 
normal times would boost the local economy of the region and the State. 
An additional benefit of this system would be more effective use of 
water for both water and soil conservation and rangeland management.
  The future water needs of the reservation are expanding. Data show 
that the reservation population is growing, as many tribal members are 
returning to the reservation. It is clear that the people that live on 
the reservation, both tribal and nontribal members, are in desperate 
need of a safe and reliable source of drinking water.
  The solution to this need for an adequate and safe water supply is a 
reservation-wide water pipeline that will deliver a safe and reliable 
source of water to the residents. In addition this water project will 
be constructed in size to allow communities off the reservation the 
future ability to tap into the system. A similar system for water 
distribution is currently in use on a reservation in South Dakota.
  The people of the Fort Peck Reservation the State of Montana are only 
asking for one basic life necessity. Good, clean, safe drinking water. 
This is something that the more developed regions of the Nation take 
for granted,

[[Page S8867]]

but in rural America we still seek to develop.
  I realize that this bill will be assigned a number and will not go 
much further than being referred to a committee. However, this issue 
needs to be placed upon the radar screens of Congress, so that in the 
coming years we can get this accomplished for the Fort Peck Reservation 
and the people of the State of Montana.
                                 ______
                                 
       By Mr. BIDEN (by request):
  S. 1991. A bill entitled the ``Anti-Gang and Youth Violence Control 
Act of 1996''; to the Committee on the Judiciary.


          The Anti-Gang and Youth Violence Control Act of 1996

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Anti-Gang and Youth 
Violence Control Act of 1996. This is the President's juvenile justice 
bill, and I am introducing it at his request.
  Over the last several years, a consensus has been building in our 
Nation, and we are now in the unusual position of having the public and 
the experts in agreement that juvenile crime and violence is the most 
pressing problem facing America.
  Moreover, we now have the statistics to back up the consensus: This 
past February, the U.S. Department of Justice released an update to its 
first national report on juvenile offenders and victims.
  The numbers in this report, as well as those in the FBI's most recent 
uniform crime report, demonstrate what many have been warning of for 
the last several years--we are facing a devastating rise in juvenile 
violence and crime.
  Between 1988 and 1994 the juvenile violent crime arrest rate has 
increased by more than 50 percent.
  In 1994, there were more than 125,000 juvenile arrests for violent 
crime offenses and another 131,000 juvenile arrests for drug abuse 
violations.
  A total of more than 2.2 million juveniles were arrested for crimes 
in 1994.
  Between 1993 and 1994, while adult arrest rates remained virtually 
stable, the total number of juvenile arrests increased 11 percent.
  Over this same period, the number of juvenile arrests for violent 
crime increased 6.5 percent.
  Most frightening, the Justice Department study also forecast that, 
even if the overall crime rate stops growing, the rising number of 
juveniles will nonetheless produce a 22-percent rise in violent crime 
arrests.
  And, should the violent crime rate continue to grow as it has between 
1983 and 1992, the number of juveniles arrested for violent crimes will 
double by the year 2010 to more than 260,000 arrests.
  The President's Anti-Gang and Youth Violence Control Act includes 
important provisions to address these increases in chronic, violent 
offenders, including transferring the most serious offenders to adult 
court for prosecution, increasing the range of sanctions available to 
the courts in sentencing a juvenile, increasing the length of time a 
juvenile can be incarcerated, and increasing the access courts have to 
a juvenile offender's prior record.
  In my view, these provisions take an important first step toward 
beginning a needed dialog about a problem that is complicated and must 
be addressed over the long term. I hope that we can build on what the 
President has proposed, because we face a three-tiered challenge in 
reforming the juvenile justice system.
  As juvenile violence grows, both in rate and intensity, it is, of 
course, important to reform the juvenile justice system to address the 
most violent young criminals. The current system was never designed to 
handle either the number of juveniles or the level of violence being 
perpetrated by a small number of juveniles. The President's bill 
focuses on this aspect of juvenile justice reform.
  Just as critical--if not more so--if we are to effectively end the 
rise of juvenile crime rates is to focus on where this new breed of 
criminals is coming from and work to prevent future increases like the 
ones we have seen over the past decade.
  Allow me to put some of the aforementioned statistics in context.
  First, even with the increases in juvenile crime and violence, 
juveniles accounted for just 14 percent of all violent crimes and 25 
percent of all property crimes in 1994.
  Second, a small proportion of all children commit most of the violent 
juvenile crimes--less than one-half of 1 percent of all juveniles were 
arrested for a violent crime, and approximately 7 percent of youth who 
commit crime are violent offenders.
  This last number is both heartening and frightening. On the one hand, 
it indicates that there is a small target population which demands our 
immediate attention, and that targeting this population could have 
significant results in lowering juvenile crime rates. As I noted, the 
President's bill addresses this need to crack down on this group.
  On the other hand, the President's bill does not address the very 
real need to address the 95 percent of kids who are not yet committing 
serious crimes, but are on the crime path and will become part of this 
5 percent if left unchecked.
  In other words, we must do more to identify those offenders who will 
end up a part of that dangerous 5 percent and turn them around before 
they are too far down the road to violence.
  Focusing attention only on the violent 5 percent misses the essential 
point that most kids in the juvenile justice system--95 percent of all 
juveniles arrested--are not violent. They are also often first-time 
offenders. These are the juveniles the system was originally designed 
to handle, and rightfully so, because these are the children who can 
still be deterred from becoming life-long criminals if we provide 
juvenile courts with the appropriate prevention and intervention 
resources at this critical stage.
  Today, in most States, a juvenile can commit multiple, nonviolent 
offenses before they get any real attention from the juvenile justice 
system. This must change. We must help these 95 percent of juvenile 
offenders at the time of their first misbehavior and keep them from 
becoming repeat or serious offenders. This means giving juvenile court 
judges the ability to impose a range of graduated sanctions designed to 
prevent additional criminal behavior.
  Finally, we must realize that most children are not delinquent--94 
percent of children in 1994 did not come before a judge--but these 
children are in danger of becoming delinquent due to the risk factors 
many of them face.
  Any truly comprehensive juvenile justice plan must address not only 
those children already in the system, but it must also focus on those 
children who may enter the system if their needs are not addressed.
  This task may sound like an impossible task, but it is not. We know 
what works and we can implement it. For example, we know that nearly 50 
percent of all youth crime occurs during the hours after-school and 
before dinnertime, as these are the hours that 80 percent of America's 
children during these hours return to homes where no adults are present 
to provide supervision.

  By providing ``safe-havens'' such as boys and girls clubs and police 
athletic leagues where children can go after school, we can remove 
children from the streets and keep them out of trouble.
  In addition, we know that most juvenile offenders target other 
juveniles as their victims. By providing safe, supervised activities 
for children, we also achieve the goal of ``target-hardening''--that 
is, we can reduce juvenile crime by removing potential victims from 
offender's paths.
  Mr. President, as I have stated, although I generally support the 
efforts and initiatives of the President's Anti-gang and Youth Violence 
Control Act, it can only be one component of an overall juvenile 
justice initiative if it is to be successful. The President's bill does 
contain some important initiatives to deal with the most violent youth 
offenders. Among others, these provisions--which incorporate proposals 
made by me and other Members of Congress, include programs to initiate 
drug and gun courts in the juvenile system, to increase penalties for 
engaging children in drug trafficking, and for increasing controls on 
dangerous drugs such as Rohypnol and methamphetamine which are becoming 
increasingly popular among youth.
  I commend the President on his efforts, and I urge the President and 
my colleagues to continue to address the

[[Page S8868]]

issues of juvenile justice by working with me to develop a 
comprehensive youth violence control and delinquency prevention plan.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 1992. A bill to recognize the significance of the AIDS Memorial 
Grove, located in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, and to 
direct the Secretary of the Interior to designate the AIDS Memorial 
Grove as a national memorial; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.


                  the aids memorial grove act of 1996

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the AIDS 
Memorial Grove Act of 1966.
  This bill is identical to H.R. 3193 sponsored by Congresswoman Pelosi 
in the House.
  The legislation recognizes the significance of the 15-acre AIDS 
Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and directs the 
Secretary of Interior to designate the AIDS Memorial Grove as a 
national memorial.
  The AIDS Memorial Grove is a place where people come together to 
grieve, find solace, support and hope. Since 1991, volunteers have been 
planting trees and maintaining this woodland area. Visitors come not 
only from San Francisco, but also from all across the United States.
  In giving national recognition to the area, the legislation makes the 
AIDS Memorial Grove the Nation's first living memorial dedicated to the 
thousands of Americans who have died of AIDS and in support of 
individuals who are living with acquired immune deficiency syndrome and 
their families and friends.
  No Federal funds would be required.
  The AIDS Memorial Grove is, and will continue to be, a public/private 
partnership totally supported by private donations. The AIDS Memorial 
Grove board of directors already has signed a 99-year agreement with 
the City of San Francisco and the San Francisco Recreation and Park 
Department to maintain the grove in perpetuity.
  The legislation is consistent with other bills creating areas 
affiliated with the National Park System. I urge my colleagues to join 
me in working for its enactment.
   Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1992

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``AIDS Memorial Grove Act of 
     1996''.

     SEC. 2. RECOGNITION AND DESIGNATION OF THE AIDS MEMORIAL 
                   GROVE AS NATIONAL MEMORIAL.

       (a) Recognition of Significance of the AIDS Memorial 
     Grove.--The Congress hereby recognizes the significance of 
     the AIDS Memorial Grove, located in Golden Gate Park in San 
     Francisco, California, as a memorial--
       (1) dedicated to individuals who have died as a result of 
     acquired immune deficiency syndrome; and
       (2) in support of individuals who are living with acquired 
     immune deficiency syndrome and their loved ones and 
     caregivers.
       (b) Designation as National Memorial.--Not later than 90 
     days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
     of the Interior shall designate the AIDS Memorial Grove as a 
     national memorial.

                          ____________________