[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 4, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S974-S975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               JUVENILE JUSTICE PROVISIONS IN CRIME BILL

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise in support of S. 10, the 
Violent And Repeat Offender Act of 1997, introduced recently by my good 
friend, the Senator from Utah, who I know developed this legislation in 
close cooperation with the majority leader and my new

[[Page S975]]

colleagues on the Committee, the Senators from Missouri and Alabama. 
While I do not necessarily agree with every provision of this 
legislation, I believe overall it makes great improvements over our 
general framework for handling juvenile crime, and I am therefore 
pleased to be an original cosponsor of this bill.
  This legislation is urgently needed. Over the past decade, the rate 
of homicide committed by teenagers, ages 14-17, has more than doubled. 
Crimes of violence committed by juveniles have increased by almost 100 
percent. In 1994 alone, the number of violent crimes committed by 
juveniles increased by almost 10 percent. Drug use among teens--a 
significant factor in violent crime--is on the rise again, after nearly 
a decade of steady decreases.
  We have reached the point that 35 percent of all violent crime is 
committed by offenders less than 20 years of age. Today's teenaged 
criminal is far more likely to be a murderer than was his counterpart 
20 years ago.
  These trends are expected to continue well into the 21th century. 
Meanwhile, our current approach to juvenile crime is anachronistic and 
based on faulty premises. It assumes that we should be following a 
treatment and rehabilitation model for all juvenile crimes--whether 
what is involved is petty larceny or murder--and it then tries to 
leverage Federal dollars that we make available to the States to impose 
this model on their juvenile justice systems. For instance, the 
existing Juvenile Justice Act requires that States that receive money 
under the act look to alternatives to incarceration for all juvenile 
offenses without regard to the offense committed by the juvenile.
  This bill corrects that by substantially revising both the Federal 
Government's approach to juvenile crimes that fall under its 
jurisdiction and the terms on which we make Federal dollars available 
to the States. At the Federal level, S. 10 will permit juveniles 14 
years olds or older who are charged with murder, crimes of violence, or 
serious drug offenses to be prosecuted and sentenced as adults. Federal 
courts will be required to consider prior offenses in sentencing 
juveniles, just as they would with adult offenders. Juveniles sentenced 
to Federal prisons will no longer be automatically released on their 
21st birthdays, but will serve their full sentences.
  The bill also attacks violent juvenile crime by enhancing penalties 
relating to the paraphernalia of violence. Federal penalties are 
increased for these offenses: illegally transferring a hand gun to a 
minor; possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; and 
use of body armor during the commission of a felony.
  Finally, this bill authorizes new Federal funding for various 
valuable State juvenile justice programs while relieving them from 
burdensome, outdated, unnecessary and in some instances harmful 
requirements for obtaining funds previously authorized for this 
purpose. The bill will fund fingerprinting and DNA testing for juvenile 
offenders, expanded record-keeping, and workable prevention programs. 
It will also release the States from harmful Federal mandates, 
permitting greater innovation and flexibility in State juvenile justice 
systems. While the bill continues to ensure that juvenile and adult 
offenders are not in actual contact in jail or prison together, it 
eliminates many other requirements that presently accompany acceptance 
of Federal juvenile grants such as the obligation to avoid if at all 
possible incarcerating any young offender including a murderer.
  The new conditions on grants established in S. 10 are designed to 
assure that recipient States' juvenile systems are not based on the 
notion--unfortunately previously foisted on the States by the Federal 
courts and the Congress--that all young offenders are eager to be 
rehabilitated. Rather, they take the realistic view that recipients' 
juvenile systems should respect the rights of juvenile offenders and 
the special considerations that may be appropriate for dealing with 
them in some instances, but that they must principally be designed to 
protect the public safety and be adequate to do so. Thus, for example, 
the bill requires that recipient States permit prosecution of juveniles 
14 and older as adults in cases of murder, rape, or other crimes of 
violence.
  The juvenile justice reforms in this legislation are long overdue. I 
urge the Senate to act quickly in passing the Violent And Repeat 
Offender Act of 1997.

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