[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1912-H1913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             JUVENILE CRIME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from North Carolina [Mr. Etheridge] is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on an issue that is 
important to all of us. On Sunday, April

[[Page H1913]]

13, 20-year-old Kevin Pridgen stood outside a neighbor's house on Glenn 
Road in Durham, NC, in my district, just visiting like many folks do on 
Sunday afternoon. In an instant, after he had been there just briefly, 
after 15 rounds were fired by an assault rifle, Kevin Pridgen lay in 
critical condition with a gunshot wound to the stomach, a victim of a 
drive-by shooting two doors from his own home.
  The alleged shooter in this terrible crime is reported to have been a 
17-year-old juvenile whom police arrested and charged with assault with 
intent to kill. Sadly, episodes like this outrageous crime are no 
longer rare events but are increasingly part of the everyday routine in 
communities all across this country.
  Over the past several weeks I have taken the opportunity to meet with 
police officials in Durham and across my district to discuss these 
disturbing trends. Our brave law enforcement officers put their lives 
on the line every day in service to the public interest.
  They described to me the frightening details, the dangers they and 
the general public face with sharply increasing rates of violent 
juvenile crime. North Carolina's finest tell me that the juveniles 
involved in these crimes are younger than ever, while the seriousness 
of their crimes has never been worse.
  Statistics tell us that, despite the fact that overall violent crime 
in America is on the decline, youth violence is increasing. In fact, 
the latest numbers in my State show that overall violent crime is down 
by 5 percent, but youth violent crime is up by 6 percent.
  According to the criminal justice experts, they have projected that 
the demographic changes will increase the problems of violent crime of 
young people in record numbers in the coming decade.

                              {time}  1245

  We must act now to protect our citizens today and address the long-
term problems that are to come. I met with law enforcement officials 
across my district, sheriffs, police chiefs, small-town cops, juvenile 
detention officials and youth service providers. The message I received 
from these officials and from ordinary citizens comes through loud and 
clear: We must take aggressive action to stem the growing tide of 
violent juvenile crime, we must crack down on the most egregious 
offenders, and we must equip local law enforcement and youth services 
to meet the variety of challenges of our juvenile justice system. We 
must support Boys' and Girls' Clubs, YMCA's and other efforts to give 
our young people a positive alternative to the bleak choice of the 
streets. We must have a balanced approach of tough and smart efforts to 
deal with the complex and growing problem.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people desperately need leadership from 
this Congress on serious issues like juvenile crime. The voters of 
North Carolina sent me to the people's House to help provide that 
leadership. I call on my colleagues to join on a bipartisan basis to 
fulfill that mission, in the name of Kevin Pridgen and all our citizens 
who look to us for leadership to address the urgent issues that 
confront us in America.

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