[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 128 (Friday, October 13, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10545-S10546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     NATIONAL POLICE ATHLETIC LEAGUE YOUTH ENVIRONMENT ACT OF 2000

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3235, which is at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3235) to improve academic and social outcomes 
     for youth and reduce both

[[Page S10546]]

     juvenile crime and the risk that youth will become victims of 
     crime by providing productive activities conducted by law 
     enforcement personnel during non-school hours.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  (At the request of Mr. Daschle, the following statement was ordered 
to be printed in the Record.)
 Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate 
today, by unanimous consent, passed H.R. 3235, the National Police 
Athletic League Youth Enrichment Act of 2000, a bill that will 
authorize the Department of Justice to provide grant money to police 
after-school programs to reduce crime and drug use. This bill is 
companion legislation to S. 1874, a bill introduced by Senator Graham, 
Senator Bingaman, and myself. The Senate bill has a total of 22 
cosponsors.
  I want to thank my colleagues in this body, particularly my friend 
Senator Hatch, for their support of this legislation. I also want to 
thank Representative Tom Barrett for his work on the bill, and 
Representatives Canady and Scott for helping shepherd the legislation 
through the House.
  I also want to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of the Police 
Athletic League in spreading the word about the bill. In particular, 
Ron Exley of the California Police Activities League labored tirelessly 
to build support for the legislation.
  H.R. 3235 would create a program directing the Department of 
Justice's Office of Justice Programs to award grants to the Police 
Athletic League, PAL, to establish new PAL chapters to serve public 
housing projects and other distressed areas and to expand existing 
chapters to assist additional youth.
  To do this, the bill would authorize $16 million a year for 5 years 
beginning with fiscal year 2001. The money would be used to enhance the 
services provided by the existing 320 established PAL chapters and 
provide seed money for the establishment of an additional 250 chapters 
over 5 years.
  The Police Athletic League was founded by police officers in New York 
City in 1914. Its mission is to offer an alternative to crime, drugs, 
and violence for our nation's most at-risk youth. In the last 75 years, 
PAL has become one of the largest youth-crime prevention programs in 
the nation, with a network of 1700 facilities serving more than 3000 
communities and 1.5 million young people. Over one-third of existing 
PALs are in California, and these chapters serve more than 300,000 at-
risk youth. Off-duty police officers staff local chapters, and PALs 
receive most of their funding from private sources.
  PALs currently provide kids with after-school recreational, 
educational, mentoring, and crime prevention programs. By keeping kids 
busy and out of trouble, PALs have significantly reduced juvenile crime 
and victimization in hundreds of communities across the country. One 
study found, for example, that PALs have cut crime in Baltimore by 30 
percent and decreased juvenile victimization there by 40 percent. 
Another study concluded that PAL reduced crime and gang activity in a 
HUD housing development in El Centro, California by 64 percent.
  PAL programs involve close, positive interaction between kids and 
cops, encouraging youngsters to view the police in a favorable light 
and obey the law. The programs are generally held after school, during 
the prime hours that some youth turn to crime and other anti-social 
activities.
  PAL programs more than pay for themselves, saving taxpayers millions 
of dollars in crime, drug, and dropout costs. The Department of Justice 
has found, for example, that each youngster who drops out of high 
school and turns to crime and drugs costs taxpayers a staggering $2-3 
million. Even so, the legislation requires any new chapter seeking a 
grant to explain the manner in which it will operate without additional 
direct federal assistance when the act is discontinued.
  In short, this valuable legislation will help fight crime and benefit 
kids in California and across the country. It will now go to President 
Clinton's desk for signature.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon 
the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 3235) was read the third time and passed.

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