[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2310-S2315]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ASHCROFT:
  S. 538. A bill to provide for violent and repeat juvenile offender 
accountability, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.


                   protect children from violence act

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to 
address a serious national problem--the increasingly violent nature of 
juvenile crime. It seems that nearly every day we hear encouraging news 
about the progress we are making in the fight against crime. There is 
no doubt that this is good news. But reports about reductions in the 
crime rate obscure two unfortunate realities: First, although the rate 
of crime has dropped over the past few yeas, the level of crime remains 
far too high. Second, whatever progress has been made in the reduction 
of overall crime rates, we are still confronted with a serious problem 
with violent juvenile crime.
  Statistics about crime rates are useful, but what really matters is 
the level of violent crime. Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 
went down over twenty points. If we were focus on that fact alone, it 
would appear that the stock market was down, when in fact the Dow is 
near its all time record high. The same is true of crime, especially 
juvenile crime. Although the most recent data show some drops in the 
crime rate, the overall level of crime, especially juvenile crime is 
unacceptably high. There are about as many violent crimes committed 
today as in 1987. The number of violent juvenile crimes is at roughly 
the 1992 level and at 150% of the 1987 level. I do not think anyone 
thought they were safe or secure enough in 1987 or in 1992.
  Statistics about crime rates also mask the increasingly violent 
nature of juvenile crimes. Seventeen percent of all forcible rapes, 
fifty percent of all arsons and thirty-seven percent of all burglaries 
are committed by juveniles. The juvenile justice system is no longer 
being asked to deal with juveniles who have committed a youthful 
indiscretion. The system is being asked to deal with juveniles who 
become hardened criminals before they turn eighteen.
  Finally, the recent dip in crime rates is cold comfort for victims of 
violent crimes. My constituents in Missouri continually identify 
violent juvenile crime as a paramount concern, and you only have to 
read the newspaper to understand why. When parents read in the 
newspaper about a 16-year old who raped four young girls in St. Charles 
County, they understand the importance of targeting violent juvenile 
crime. When parents in Hazelwood read about a 13-year old convicted of 
murder for fracturing his victim's skull with the butt of a sawed-off 
shotgun, they understand the importance of targeting violent juvenile 
crime. And when people in Poplar Bluff read about a 16-year old, 
encouraged by his 20-year old accomplice, who held a pizza delivery man 
at the point of a shotgun to steal $32, they understand the importance 
of targeting violent juvenile crime.
  Mr. President, that is precisely what the bill I am introducing today 
does--it targets violent juvenile crime. This bill, the Protect 
Children from Violent Act, will update our current juvenile justice 
laws to reflect the new vicious nature of today's teen criminals. It 
treats the most violent juvenile offenders as adults and punishes those 
adults who would exploit or endanger our children.
  The Act has several components. First and foremost, it would require 
federal prosecutors and States, in order to qualify for $750 million in 
new incentive grants, to try as adults those juveniles fourteen and 
older who commit serious violent offenses, such as rape or murder. 
There is nothing juvenile about these crimes, and the perpetrators must 
be treated and tried as adults.
  Some of the laws on the books inadvertently pervert the direction of 
the law enforcement system, offering more protections to the 
perpetrators, than to the public. This must cease. Strengthening our 
juvenile justice laws is the first line of defense in protecting the 
public and providing greater protection for innocent children than for 
violent criminals.
  In order to do this, we also must ensure that our law enforcement 
officials, courts and schools have clear lines of communication and 
access to the records of violent juvenile offenders. This bill 
accomplishes this goal by requiring the fingerprinting and 
photographing of juveniles found guilty of crimes that would be 
felonies if committed by an adult. The bill also would ensure that 
those records are made available to federal and state law enforcement 
officials and school officials, so thy will know who they are dealing 
with when they confront a dangerous juvenile offender.
  Typically, state statutes seal juvenile criminal records and expunge 
those records when the juvenile reaches age 18. Today's young criminal 
predators understand that when they reach their eighteenth birthday, 
they can begin their second career as adult criminals with an 
unblemished record. The time has come to discard the anachronistic idea 
that crimes committed by juveniles must be kept confidential, no matter 
how heinous the crime.
  Our law enforcement agencies, courts, and school officials need 
improved access to juvenile records so that they have the tools to deal 
with the exponential increase in the severity and frequency of juvenile 
crimes.
  The current state of juvenile record keeping is simply unacceptable. 
As part of the message that juvenile crime is something less than real 
crime, many jurisdictions have kept inadequate juvenile records or kept 
records sealed and inaccessible. What is more, whatever juvenile 
records they did keep were expunged when the juvenile turned eighteen. 
A judge sentencing a fresh-faced nineteen-year-old would sentence him 
like a first-time offender, blissfully ignorant of his prior record of 
similar incidents. These problems are made worse by the absence of any 
system to provide for the nationwide sharing of juvenile records. This 
is not a problem that any one State can solve alone. Even if a State 
treats juvenile criminal records like any other criminal record, it is 
still vulnerable to violent juveniles who move into the State. The 
problem we face is that although juveniles frequently cross state 
lines, their records do not follow them.
  For too long, law enforcement officers have operated in the dark. Our 
police departments need to have access to the prior juvenile criminal 
records of individuals to assist them in criminal investigations and 
apprehension.
  According to Police Chief David G. Walchak, who is past president of 
the International Association of Chiefs of Police, law enforcement 
officials are in desperate need of access to juvenile criminal records. 
The police chief has said, ``Current juvenile records (both arrest and 
adjudication) are inconsistent across the States, and are usually 
unavailable to the various programs' staff who work with youthful 
offenders.''
  Chief Walchak also notes that ``If we [in law enforcement] don't know 
who

[[Page S2315]]

the youthful offenders are, we can't appropriately intervene.''
  Chief Walchak is not the only one saying this. Law enforcement 
officers in my home State have told me that when they arrest juveniles 
they have no idea who they are dealing with because the records are 
kept confidential.
  School officials, as well as courts and law enforcement officials, 
need access to juvenile criminal records to assist them in providing 
for the best interests of all students and preventing more tragedies.
  The decline in school safety across the country can be attributed to 
a significant degree to laws that put the protection of dangerous 
students ahead of protecting the innocent--those who go to school to 
learn, not to maim or murder.
  While visiting with school officials in Sikeston, Missouri, a teacher 
told me how one of her students came to school wearing an electronic 
monitoring ankle bracelet. Can you imagine being that teacher and 
having to turn around--back to the class--to write on the chalk board 
not knowing whether that student was a rapist, or even a murderer?

  The proposed bill solves these problems by providing a nationwide 
system of record sharing. What is more, the bill provides block grants 
to the States for the purpose of establishing improved juvenile record 
keeping. To qualify for these block grants, States must keep records 
for juveniles that are equivalent to those they keep for adult 
criminals. The States must then make those records available to the 
FBI, law enforcement officers, school officials and sentencing courts. 
These provisions allow those who have to deal with these violent 
juveniles to do so based on full information. That is the only basis on 
which those decision should be made.
  In addition to requiring that federal and state prosecutors try 
violent juvenile offenders as adults and increasing record keeping and 
sharing capabilities, this bill enhances the federal criminal penalties 
for those adults who seek to lure juveniles into criminal activity or 
drug use.
  For example, any adult who distributes drugs to a minor, traffics in 
drugs in or near a school, or uses minors to distribute drugs would 
face a minimum three year jail sentence (as compared to the 1 year 
minimum under current law).
  This bill also doubles the maximum jail time and fines for adults who 
use minors in crimes of violence. The second time the adult hides 
behind the juvenile status of a child by using him to commit a crime, 
the adult faces a tripling of the maximum sentence and fine.
  The fact that our current system treats juvenile crime lightly has 
not been lost on young people. Not has it been lost on hardened adult 
criminals. If the system is going to let young people off with a slap 
on the wrist and then give them a clean slate when they turn eighteen, 
why should any adult criminal risk serious jail time by committing a 
crime themselves. Why not, instead, just use a juvenile and have the 
youth commit the crime for them. This use of juveniles is deplorable. 
But, sadly, our current treatment of juveniles gives adults an 
incentive to exploit children in this way. If a store sold candy for $5 
to adults, but for $1 to children, there would be a lot of adults 
sending a kid in to buy them a candy bar. So too, with the criminal 
justice system. Our light treatment of juveniles has led adults to 
corrupt children in order to escape the penalties imposed by the adult 
system. It is no wonder that a 20-year old in Poplar Bluff has her 16-
year old accomplice take the lead in the armed robbery. We cannot 
continue to encourage this intolerable behavior. Those who would 
corrupt our children should received our stiffest and swiftest 
sanction. To this end, my bill imposes enhanced penalties on adults who 
use juveniles to commit violent offenses, and also will encourage the 
States to adopt similar provisions.
  Furthermore, the Protect Children from Violence Act elevates to a 
federal crime the recruiting of minors to participate in gang activity. 
Under this legislation, those gangsters who lure our children into 
gangs will face a federal prosecutor and a federal penitentiary.
  A 1993 survey reported an estimated 4,881 gangs with 249,324 gang 
members in the United States. Those figures are disturbing enough. But 
a second study, conducted just two years later, found that the number 
of gangs had increased more than four-fold, with 23,388 gangs claiming 
over 650,000 members. We need legislation to stem this rising tide.
  Let me quickly recap the highlights of this legislation. In order to 
qualify for incentive grants, States would be required to try juveniles 
as adults if they commit certain violent crimes such as rape and 
murder. States also would have to fingerprint and keep records on 
juveniles who commit crimes that would be felonies if committed by 
adults, and States mut allow public access to juvenile criminal records 
of repeat juvenile offenders. These same provisions would apply to 
federal law enforcement officials. To protect our children from adults 
who prey on the, this bill doubles and triples the jail time for those 
convicted of using a juvenile to commit a violent crime or to 
distribute drugs. Anyone caught dealing drugs to minors or near a 
school will face three times the penalty under current law.
  This bill is a reasonable and prudent response to the threat that 
violent youth, and the adults that lead them into a life of crime, pose 
to our children. the monies authorized will be used to deter and 
incarcerate violent juvenile criminals, not just to provide for more 
midnight basketball and prevention programs--the situation, and our 
future, demands more than that. We need to take into account the needs 
of the innocent children--not sacrifice their protection in the name of 
privacy for violent juvenile perpetrators.
  For too long now we have treated juvenile crime as something less 
than real crime. Even the language we use--referring to adult crimes, 
but to acts of juvenile delinquency--suggests that juvenile crime is 
not real crime. But we are not talking about throwing spit-balls or 
juvenile horseplay. We are talking about murder and assault and rape. 
And I assure you that for the victims of these crimes, the crimes are 
all too real--no less so because the perpetrator was under eighteen. 
The time has come to take juvenile crime seriously and protect our 
children from violence.
                                 ______