[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 25, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H3507-H3508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE JUVENILE JUSTICE BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Chabot). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hastert) 
is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HASTERT. On behalf of the elected entire Republican leadership, I 
rise today to talk about the efforts of the House to respond to the 
national crisis surrounding violence in our schools.
  Last week's shooting in Conyers, Georgia, only reinforced the fears 
of many parents about the safety of the schools which their children 
attend. Studies show that our Nation's schools on average are safer 
than ever, but average means nothing to the mothers and fathers who 
send their children to school every day. They want more from us, and we 
will provide more.
  Last week the other body passed legislation that responded in part to 
the situation in our schools. Part of that legislative response 
included gun control legislation.
  We support commonsense legislation that keeps guns out of the hands 
of unsupervised children. We support tightening laws to bring 
uniformity between gun shows and gun shops. We support instant 
background checks at gun shows.
  We intend to bring these measures to the floor of the House, and I 
believe they will pass, but passing these measures is only part of the 
solution.
  As I said on this floor last week, our children need to learn the 
differences between right and wrong. They need moral instruction, and 
they need a culture that reinforces positive values that help create a 
safer and more secure society.
  What happened in Littleton, Colorado, and Conyers, Georgia, are 
genuine national tragedies. It is natural that they should spur us to 
action, but it is wrong for anyone to simply try to score political 
points as a result of these tragedies.
  I take a back seat to no one in this Congress when it comes to a 
desire to make our schools safer. I specifically spoke about safer 
schools from this well in my first speech as Speaker.
  I taught high school for 16 years before entering public life. My two 
boys graduated from public high school not that long ago. My wife goes 
to work every day in a public school, just as she has for the last 33 
years. I want her and the children she teaches to be safe.
  Last week, in consultation with the minority leadership, we developed 
a timetable for consideration of a juvenile justice bill that would 
help make our schools safer. It was a very constructive meeting. I 
thought we had mapped out a very responsible, straightforward approach 
to handling this issue by prompt action of the authorizing committee, 
not riders on unrelated appropriation bills.
  Unfortunately, it appears that despite the best efforts at the 
leadership level, more partisan elements are continuing to press for 
quicker, ill-considered action this week. We continue to believe, just 
as we proposed last week, that we should consider this bill in a timely 
yet responsible way.
  In order to responsibly expedite matters, I asked the Committee on 
the Judiciary to move up its hearing on this issue by 3 weeks. They 
agreed, and will start hearings this Thursday.
  I asked the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) to be prepared to mark 
up legislation the first week we get back from the Memorial Day 
district work period so it could be ready for the floor the next week. 
Again, this was much faster than originally proposed. He has agreed to 
do so.
  Later today he and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. McCollum) will announce an outline of our 
youth violence legislation.
  This legislation will focus on making our schools and our streets 
safer by prosecuting those who break the current gun laws. It will keep 
lawbreakers in jail longer. It will enact a zero tolerance policy for 
children who bring guns to school, and it will make sure that dangerous 
juveniles will not be able to buy guns lawfully when they become 
adults, and that we have open and complete juvenile records to help us 
keep guns out of their hands.
  When we consider this legislation, the House will be able to work its 
will regarding certain provisions from the Senate package, just as I 
had assured the minority leader last week.
  The House will vote on trigger locks, background checks at gun shows, 
and closing the gun purchasing loophole. We will expedite this 
legislation, but we will not force it through the system without the 
proper consideration of the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Some of my colleagues, sensing an advantage, may try to go outside of 
the rules of the House and attach ill-considered riders to legislation 
not relevant to the juvenile justice issue. That would be a mistake. I 
know emotions are running high, but let us be honest about this. Even 
if we did pass legislation this week, it would still be

[[Page H3508]]

the middle of June at the earliest before we could send a bill to the 
White House.
  Pretending otherwise, and promising the victims of these terrible 
tragedies something else, does a tremendous disservice not only to us 
and to our institution, but to the very people we are trying to 
protect.
  Our Nation's schoolchildren deserve to attend the safest, most secure 
schools that we can provide, and the parents of our children should 
rest secure in the knowledge that everything is being done within our 
powers, both as citizens and legislators, to create precisely that 
environment.
  This is not the time to play on the fears of our most vulnerable. 
This is the time for aggressive yet responsible leadership, one in 
which we can think carefully and examine all of the issues before we go 
off half-informed, searching for the snappiest sound bite rather than 
working together to develop the best legislation that we can.
  This is one of those rare times when the national consensus demands 
that we act, but it does not require us to rush to judgment, to risk 
compounding the situation by stampeding toward what sounds like the 
best way to score points against each other. We can do better than 
that, and I am determined to see that we will.
  By cooperating, we can get a bill to the White House promptly, while 
making sure that the policies are ready to be enforced when schools 
reopen in September. The Nation's eyes have turned towards us, looking 
for responsible leadership. We must resist the temptation to score 
political points at the expense of the lives and families of our 
Nation's children.
  Demagoguery for the sake of partisan advantage will not serve the 
country well, nor will it produce the best legislative solution 
possible. We have the opportunity to rise above partisanship and do 
ourselves and our Nation proud. I appeal to all the Members not to let 
this opportunity slip away.
  We have responsible legislation and it is ready to go. It can be made 
better. Rushing it to the floor this week will not result in a better 
product in the long run. Let us come together, move forward, and 
develop the best legislation we can so that all Americans can take 
pride in how we respond.

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