[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 59 (Thursday, May 8, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          IN SUPPORT OF INCREASED FUNDING FOR CRIME PREVENTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from California [Ms. Millender-McDonald] is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, today this body was presented 
with legislation that was called the Juvenile Crime Act of 1997, long 
on language but short on a balanced approach to this problem.
  I recognize that violent crime must be met with punitive actions. But 
nonviolent crime must give juvenile delinquents an opportunity to 
change. That is why I tried to influence and offer this amendment that 
I had today calling on more funding for preventive measures, but I was 
unable to submit it. So I objected to H.R. 3, because no juvenile crime 
bill will be worth the paper it is written on without full and adequate 
resources for juvenile crime prevention. There is no way we can lock up 
or imprison a generation of troubled young people. We must provide 
meaningful alternatives to deter our young people from a life of crime.
  In California, the total juvenile arrests in 1994 were 257,389 young 
folks. Of those arrested, only 22,053 or 8 percent were violent 
offenders. That leaves 235,336 nonviolent juvenile arrests. Those are 
the young people we can save and that we must reach out and work with.
  Mr. Speaker, we must be tough with violent criminals, even young 
violent criminals. But in California only 8 percent of all juvenile 
offenders are violent, and we must deal with them appropriately. They 
must be locked up. But the 235,336 whom we can save, we must provide 
the programs for those in a way that we can turn their lives around.
  That is why my amendment would increase funding for crime prevention 
programs by $2.3 billion. We have got to reach at-risk juveniles before 
they begin committing violent offenses. Our communities must reach out 
to them through education and crime deterrent programs when they cry 
out for attention through infractions of the law.
  My amendment would also make sure that funds would be there for crime 
prevention. It places our Federal priorities first on crime prevention, 
not building more prisons. We have more prisons in California than any 
other State, but our crime rates are not the lowest. Prisons alone will 
not solve the problem. Crime prevention is what we need.
  Mr. Speaker, we must provide more resources for drug prevention, for 
nonviolent crime; we must have more education initiatives. We must 
increase the penalty for the transfer of a handgun to a juvenile or for 
a juvenile who possesses a handgun. This is why I introduced my bill, 
the Firearm Child Safety Lock Act of 1997, which prohibits the transfer 
of a firearm without a child safety lock as an integral component.
  I am committed to helping the juvenile delinquents who are nonviolent 
in Watts, Willowbrook, Compton, Lynwood, Long Beach, Wilmington and all 
over my district who have had minor infractions with the law; to seek 
and help them, through preventive measures, to turn their devious 
behaviors into more positive outcomes. We can do that, Mr. Speaker. We 
must do that. They are asking for our help. We must be there to provide 
that safety net before they become violent offenders. We can do no 
less.



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