[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 56 (Wednesday, April 28, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4497-S4502]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Feingold, and Mr. 
        Kennedy):
  S. 2358. A bill to allow for the prosecution of members of criminal 
street gangs, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, I am joined by Senators Leahy, 
Kennedy, and Feinghold in introducing the American Neighborhoods Taking 
the Initiative--Guarding Against Neighborhood Gangs (ANTI-GANG) Act, 
which is a comprehensive, tailored bill that will help State and local 
prosecutors prevent, investigate, and prosecute gang crimes in their 
neighborhoods.
  The National Youth Gang Center has reported evidence of resurgence in 
gang violence, and this is clearly reflected in Chicago, IL, where 45 
percent of the homicides last year were gang-related. In Chicago, there 
are 98 identified gangs, with an estimated 100,000 gang members; over 
13 percent of the gang members nationwide are located within Chicago's 
city limits.
  I would like to commend the State and local prosecutors and law 
enforcement agencies for their work in fighting this problem. The ANTI-
GANG Act would authorize $862.5 million in grants over the next 5 years 
to provide them with the tools they need and have specifically 
requested of Congress to combat violent gangs.
  For example, the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) wrote 
the following: ``We must find new methods of protecting those 
individuals brave enough to come forward as

[[Page S4498]]

witnesses. Our biggest problem is getting the financial help to 
establish, and run, meaningful witness protection programs.'' The 
National Alliance of Gang Investigators (NAGI) also has identified a 
trend in witness intimidation that is ``dramatically affecting the 
prosecution of violent gang offenders.'' The ANTI-GANG Act responds by 
authorizing $300 million over 5 years for the protection of witnesses 
and victims of gang crimes. This bill also would allow the Attorney 
General to provide for the relocation and protection of witnesses in 
State gang, drug, and homicide cases, and it would allow States to 
obtain the temporary protection of witnesses in Stage gang cases 
through the Federal witness relocation and protection program, without 
any requirement of reimbursement for those temporary services.
  The ANTI-GANG Act also authorizes $200 million for grants to develop 
gang prevention, research, and intervention services. However, these 
grants should not be limited to those areas already identified as 
``high intensity'' interstate gang activity areas. The NAGI also has 
identified a trend of gangs migrating from larger cities to smaller 
communities, which is fueled in large part by an increase in gang 
involvement in drug trafficking. This may be related to the spread of 
methamphetamine, which is the fastest-growing drug in the United States 
and, according to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the ``single-
greatest threat to rural America today.'' In response to these trends, 
the ANTI-GANG Act would allow rural communities and other jurisdictions 
to apply for these grants, to prevent gang violence from occurring in 
the first place.
  The ANTI-GANG Act also authorizes $262.5 million over five years for 
the cooperative prevention, investigation, and prosecution of gang 
crimes. Most of this funding would be for criminal street gang 
enforcement teams made up of local, State, and Federal law enforcement 
authorities that would investigate and prosecute criminal street gangs 
in high intensity interstate gang activity areas (HIIGAAs). 
Importantly, this bill would allow HIIGAAs to be integrated with High 
Intensity Interstate Drug Trafficking Areas (HIIDTAs), to avoid 
conflicts in those areas where the two entities would coexist.
  The ANTI-GANG Act also authorizes $100 million over five years for 
technology, equipment, and training to identify gang members and 
violent offenders and to maintain databases to facilitate coordination 
among law enforcement and prosecutors.
  In addition to these new resources, the ANTI-GANG Act will 
effectively strengthen the ability of prosecutors to prosecute violent 
street gangs, by creating a stronger federal criminal gang prosecution 
offense. This new offense criminalizes participation in criminal street 
gangs, recruitment and retention of gang members, and witness 
intimidation. At the same time, it responds to concerns raised by the 
NDAA regarding potential conflicts with local investigation and 
prosecution efforts, by requiring certification by the Department of 
Justice before any prosecution under this bill could be undertaken in 
federal court.
  The ANTI-GANG Act also promotes the recruitment and retention of 
highly-qualified prosecutors and public defenders by establishing a 
student loan forgiveness program modeled after the current program for 
federal employees. Almost a third of prosecutors' offices across the 
country have problems with recruiting or retaining staff attorneys, and 
low salaries were cited as the primary reason for recruitment and 
retention problems. This proposed loan forgiveness program is supported 
by the American Bar Association, the NDAA, the National Association of 
Prosecutor Coordinators, the National Legal Aid and Defender 
Association, and the American Council of Chief Defenders.
  The ANTI-GANG Act will effectively strengthen the ability of 
prosecutors at the local, state, and federal level to prosecute violent 
street gangs, and it will give state and local governments the 
resources they need to protect witnesses and prevent youth from joining 
gangs in the first place. This bill achieves these important goals 
without increasing any mandatory minimum sentences, which conservation 
jurists such as Justice Anthony Kennedy have criticized as ``unfair, 
unjust, unwise.'' It also does not unnecessarily expand the federal 
death penalty--a measure which has been included in other federal gang 
legislation but is opposed by the Leadership Conference on Civil 
Rights, NAACP, ACLU, and National Association of Criminal Defense 
Lawyers.
  Finally, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition 
has raised the following concerns regarding federal gang legislation 
that would allow more juveniles to be prosecuted as adults in the 
federal system: ``[T]he fact remains that transfer of youth to the 
adult system, simply put, is a failed public policy. Comprehensive 
national research on the practice of prosecuting youth in the adult 
system has shown conclusively that transferring youth to the adult 
criminal justice system does nothing to reduce crime and actually has 
the opposite effect. In fact, study after study has shown that youth 
transferred to the adult criminal justice system are more likely to re-
offend and to commit more serious crimes upon release than youth who 
were charged with similar offenses and had similar offenses histories 
but remained in the juvenile justice system. Moreover, national data 
show that young people incarcerated with adults are five times as 
likely to report being a victim of rape, twice as likely to be beaten 
by staff and 50 percent more likely to be assaulted with a weapon than 
youth held in juvenile facilities. A Justice Department report also 
found that youth confined in adult facilities are nearly 8 times more 
likely to commit suicide than youth in juvenile facilities.''
  In light of these concerns, the ANTI-GANG Act provides Congress with 
the necessary data to decide whether to expand the federal role in 
prosecuting juvenile offenders, by requiring a comprehensive report on 
the current treatment of juveniles by the states and the capability of 
the federal criminal justice system to take on these additional cases 
and house additional prisoners. The American Bar Association has 
written that this study is ``the more prudent course of action at this 
time.''
  The ANTI-GANG Act is a comprehensive, common-sense approach to fight 
gang violence. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this 
important legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a summary of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

  The American Neighborhoods Taking the Initiative--Guarding Against 
                   Neighborhood Gangs (ANTI-GANG) Act


                                overview

       The American Neighborhoods Taking the Iniative--Guarding 
     Against Neighborhood Gangs (ANTI-GANG) Act of 2004 is a 
     comprehensive, tailored bill that will help state and local 
     prosecutors prevent, investigate, and prosecute gang crimes 
     in their neighborhoods. This bill contains four major 
     provisions:
       (1) It gives state and local prosecutors the tools they 
     need and have specifically requested of Congress to combat 
     violent gangs by authorizing $52.5 million for the 
     cooperative prevention, investigation, and prosecution of 
     gang crimes; $20 million for technology, equipment, and 
     training to identify gang members and violent offenders and 
     to maintain databases to facilitate coordination among law 
     enforcement and prosecutors; $60 million for the protection 
     of witnesses and victims of gang crimes; and $40 million for 
     grants to develop gang prevention, research, and intervention 
     services.
       (2) It replaces the current provision on criminal street 
     gangs in federal law, seldom-used penalty enhancement, with a 
     stronger measure that criminalizes participation in criminal 
     street gangs, recruitment and retention of gang members, and 
     witness intimidation. The ANTI-GANG Act targets gang violence 
     and gang crimes in a logical, straightforward manner.
       (3) It will provide Congress with the necessary data to 
     decide whether to expand the federal role in prosecuting 
     juvenile offenders by requiring a comprehensive report on the 
     current treatment of juveniles by the states and the 
     capabilities of the federal criminal justice system to take 
     on these additional cases and house additional prisoners.
       (4) It promotes the recruitment and retention of highly-
     qualified prosecutors and public defenders by establishing a 
     student loan forgiveness program modeled after the current 
     program for federal employees.
       The ANTI-GANG Act will effectively strengthen the ability 
     of prosecutors at the local, state, and federal level to 
     prosecute violent street gangs, it will give state and local 
     governments the resources they need to protect witnesses and 
     prevent kids from joining gangs in the first place. This bill 
     achieves these important goals without increasing any 
     mandatory minimum sentences

[[Page S4499]]

     (which conservative jurists such as Justice Anthony Kennedy 
     have criticized as ``unfair, unjust, unwise''). It also 
     respects the traditional principles of federalism, by 
     requiring certification by the Department of Justice before 
     any prosecution under this bill may be undertaken in federal 
     court and by not unnecessarily expanding the federal death 
     penalty.


            SECTION-BY-SECTION SUMMARY OF THE ANTI-GANG ACT

                     Title I--Criminal Street Gangs

       Sec. 101. Criminal Street Gangs--Definitions. Defines a 
     criminal street gang as a preexisting and ongoing entity 
     (e.g., having already committed crimes); targets violent 
     criminal street gangs by requiring that at least one 
     predicate gang crime be a violent gang crime; establishes 
     evidentiary relevance of gang symbolism in prosecutions; and 
     allows federal prosecution of neighborhood gang activity when 
     those activities substantially affect interstate commerce.
       Sec. 102. Criminal Street Gangs--Prohibited Acts, 
     Penalties, and Forfeiture. Creates three new federal crimes 
     to prosecute cases involving violent criminal street gangs. 
     (1) It prohibits the recruitment and forced retention of gang 
     members, including harsher penalties if an adult recruits a 
     minor or prevents a minor from leaving a criminal street 
     gang. (2) It prohibits participation in a criminal street 
     gang if done with the intent to further the criminal 
     activities of the gang or through the commission of a single 
     predicate gang crime. (3) It prohibits witness intimidation 
     and tampering in cases and investigations related to gang 
     activity. Before the federal government may undertake a 
     prosecution of these offenses, the Department of Justice must 
     certify that it has consulted with state and local 
     prosecutors before seeking an indictment and that federal 
     prosecution is ``in the public interest and necessary to 
     secure substantial justice.''
       Sec. 103. Clerical Amendments.
       Sec. 104. Conforming Amendments.
       Sec. 105. Designation of and Assistance for ``High 
     Intensity'' Interstate Gang Activity Areas. Requires the 
     Attorney General, after consultation with the governors of 
     appropriate States, to designate certain locations as ``high 
     intensity'' interstate gang activity areas (HIIGAAs) and 
     provide assistance in the form of criminal street gang 
     enforcement teams made up of local, State, and Federal law 
     enforcement authorities to investigate and prosecute criminal 
     street gangs in each designated area. The ANTI-GANG bill also 
     allows for HIIGAAs to be integrated with High Intensity 
     Interstate Drug Trafficking Areas (HIIDTAs), to avoid 
     conflicts and bureaucratic morasses in those areas where the 
     two entities would coexist. Subsection (c) authorizes funding 
     of $40 million for each fiscal year 2005 through 2009.
       Sec. 106. Gang Prevention Grants. Requires the Office of 
     Justice Programs of the Department of Justice to make grants 
     to States, units of local government, tribal governments, and 
     qualified private entities to develop community-based 
     programs that provide crime prevention, research, and 
     intervention services designed for gang members and at-risk 
     youth. Subsection (f) authorizes $40 million for each fiscal 
     year 2005 through 2009. No grant may exceed $1 million nor 
     last for any period longer than 2 years.
       Sec. 107. Gang Prevention Information Grants. Requires the 
     Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice to 
     make grants to States, units of local government, tribal 
     governments to fund technology, equipment, and training for 
     state and local sheriffs, police agencies, and prosecutor 
     offices to increase accurate identification of gang members 
     and violent offenders and to maintain databases with such 
     information to facilitate coordination among law enforcement 
     and prosecutors. Subsection (f) authorizes $20 million for 
     each fiscal year 2005 through 2009. No grant may exceed $1 
     million nor last for any period longer than 2 years.
       Sec. 1089. Enhancement of Project Safe Neighborhoods 
     Initiative to Improve Enforcement of Criminal Laws Against 
     Violent Gangs. Expands the Project Safe Neighborhood program 
     to require United States Attorneys to identify and prosecute 
     significant gangs within their district; to coordinate such 
     prosecutions among all local, State, and Federal law 
     enforcement agencies; and to coordinate criminal street gang 
     enforcement teams in designated ``high intensity'' interstate 
     gang activity areas. Subsection (b) authorizes the hiring of 
     94 additional Assistant United States Attorneys and funding 
     of $7.5 million for each fiscal year 2005 through 2009 to 
     carry out the provisions of this section.
       Sec. 109. Additional Resources Needed by the Federal Bureau 
     of Investigation to Investigate and Prosecute Violent 
     Criminal Street Gangs. Requires the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation to increase funding for the Safe Streets 
     Program and to support the criminal street gang enforcement 
     teams in designated high intensity interstate gang activity 
     areas. Subsection (b) authorizes $5 million for each fiscal 
     year 2005 through 2009 to expand the FBI's Safe Streets 
     Program.
       Sec. 110. Expansion of Federal Witness Relocation and 
     Protection Program. Amends 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3521(a)(1), which 
     governs the Federal witness relocation and protection 
     program, to make clear that the Attorney General can provide 
     for the relocation and protection of witnesses in State gang, 
     drug, and homicide cases. Current law authorizes Federal 
     relocation and protection for witnesses in State cases 
     involving ``an organized criminal activity or other serious 
     offense.''
       Sec. 111. Grants to States and Local Prosecutors to Protect 
     Witnesses and Victims of Crime. Authorizes the Attorney 
     General to make grants available to State and local 
     prosecutors and the U.S. Attorney for the District of 
     Columbia for the purpose of providing short-term protection 
     to witnesses in cases involving an organized criminal 
     activity, criminal street gang, serious drug offense, 
     homicide, or other serious offense. State and local 
     prosecutors will have the option of either providing the 
     witness protection themselves or contracting with the United 
     States Marshals Service for use of the Federal witness 
     protection and relocation program. Subsection (d) authorizes 
     $60 million for each fiscal year 2005 through 2009 to fund 
     the program. By providing significantly increased resources 
     and flexibility for State and local prosecutors, this 
     provision responds in a meaningful way to the need for 
     effective witness protection emphasized by prosecutors during 
     the September 17, 2003, hearing in the Judiciary Committee.
       Sec. 1112. Witness Protection Services. Amends 18 U.S.C. 
     Sec. 3526 to allow States to obtain the temporary protection 
     of witnesses in State gang cases through the Federal witness 
     relocation and protection program, without any requirement of 
     reimbursement for those temporary services. Currently, 
     complex reimbursement procedures deter State and local 
     prosecutors from obtaining witness protection services from 
     the Federal government in emergency circumstances.

     Title II--Related Matters Involving Violent Crime Prosecution

       Sec. 201. Study on Expanding Federal Authority for Juvenile 
     Offenders. This section requires the General Accounting 
     Office to do a comprehensive report on the advantages and 
     disadvantages of increasing Federal authority for the 
     prosecution of 16- and 17-year-old offenders. Some have 
     proposed indicting and prosecuting more juveniles in Federal 
     courts as a step in combating gang violence. Although there 
     is insufficient data to support this proposition, it is 
     appropriate for the GAO to review the current treatment of 
     such offenders by the States and the capability of the 
     Federal criminal justice system to take on these additional 
     cases and house additional prisoners. With this review, 
     Congress can knowledgeably consider whether to expand the 
     Federal role in prosecuting juveniles.
       Sec. 202. Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act. This 
     section establishes a student loan repayment program for 
     prosecutors and public defenders that is modeled after the 
     program currently available to federal employees. This would 
     increase the ability of federal, state, and local prosecutors 
     and public defenders to recruit and retain highly-qualified 
     attorneys. Attorneys in this program must agree to serve for 
     a minimum of three years. Participants can receive up to 
     $10,000 per year and a total of up to $60,000; these amounts 
     are identical to the limitations in the program for federal 
     employees. Subsection (h) authorizes $25 million for fiscal 
     year 2005 and such sums as may be necessary for each 
     succeeding fiscal year.

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to cosponsor the introduction 
of the ANTI-Gang Act with my good friends on the Judiciary Committee, 
Senators Durbin, Kennedy and Feingold.
  The American Neighborhoods Taking the Initiative--Guarding Against 
Neighborhood Gangs Act of 2004 is a bill carefully crafted to target 
violent criminal street gangs whose activities extend beyond the 
neighborhood and have a substantial impact on Federal interests.
  As a former county prosecutor, I have long expressed concern about 
making Federal crimes out of every offense that comes to the attention 
of Congress. I know that States have competent and able police 
departments, county sheriffs' offices, prosecutors and judges. Gangs 
are, more often than not, locally-based, geographically-oriented 
criminal associations, and our local communities are on the front lines 
of the fight against gang violence. We should be supplementing the work 
of our State and local law enforcement officers, not usurping them. 
This is why this bill specifically targets only those gangs where there 
is a provable Federal interest. This is why this bill requires 
consultation with our State and local counterparts before embarking on 
a Federal prosecution of historically State crimes. And this is why 
major provisions of the bill are directed toward helping State and 
local law enforcement officers prevent, investigate, and prosecute gang 
crimes in their own neighborhoods.
  There are four major sections of the bill:
  First, the bill gives State and local prosecutors financial resources 
to guard against neighborhood gangs by authorizing $72.5 million for 
the cooperative prevention, investigation, and prosecution of gang 
crimes; $40 million for grants to develop gang prevention,

[[Page S4500]]

research, and intervention services; and $60 million for the protection 
of witnesses and victims of gang crimes. Federal funds are also 
provided for hiring new Assistant U.S. Attorneys and to fund 
technology, equipment and training grants to increase accurate 
identification of gang members and violent offenders and to maintain 
databases with such information to facilitate state and Federal 
coordination.
  The first defense in protecting our youth against gang influence is a 
good offense. I have long thought that programs aimed at combating gang 
activity must incorporate gang prevention and education--programs that 
would examine why our youth choose to associate in gangs and prey on 
others--to be effective. When Chairman Hatch appropriately targeted 
gang violence as a subject for a full Committee hearing last year, all 
agreed that we should be doing more to deter our youth from joining 
gangs in the first place. This bill heeds that call.
  Another unifying theme of the expert witnesses at the Committee's 
hearing was the serious need for Federal assistance in protecting 
witnesses who will provide information about and testify against gangs 
from intimidation. Our bill not only provides funding to help protect 
witnesses, it also makes it a Federal crime to intimidate witnesses in 
certain State prosecutions involving gang activity.
  Second, the bill defines a Federal criminal street gang by using 
well-established legal principles and providing recognizable limits. 
Rather than create yet another cumbersome and broad-reaching Federal 
crime that overlaps with numerous existing Federal statutes, this bill 
actually targets the problem that needs to be addressed: violent 
criminal street gangs. It recognizes that gangs are ongoing entities 
whose members commit crimes more easily simply because of their 
association with one another. Gangs prove the old adage: there is 
safety in numbers. Gang members can be sheep-like in their loyalty and 
allegiance to the gang. In this regard, the bill also explicitly and 
evenhandedly addresses the evidentiary significance of gang symbolism 
in gang prosecutions.
  In addition to witness intimidation, other important crimes 
established by this bill include: One, participation in criminal street 
gangs by any act that is intended to effect the criminal activities of 
the gang; two, participation by committing a crime in furtherance of or 
for the benefit of the gang, and three, recruitment and retention of 
gang members. There are increased penalties for those who target minors 
for recruitment in a criminal street gang.
  Third, the bill requires a comprehensive report on the current 
treatment of juveniles by the States, and the capability of the Federal 
criminal justice system to take on these additional cases and house 
additional prisoners, so that Congress can make an informed decision 
about whether or not to expand the Federal role in prosecuting juvenile 
offenders.
  Some have suggested that the Federal Government has been unable to 
proceed effectively against gang crime because of Federal law's 
protections for juvenile offenders. I have not seen sufficient evidence 
to support his claim, but I think that Congressional consideration of 
this issue would benefit greatly from a comprehensive General 
Accounting Office study on this topic. We need to know both whether 
justice would be served by increasing the Federal role, and whether the 
Federal system--including both our prosecutors and the Bureau of 
Prisons--is prepared for such a step.
  Fourth, the bill promotes the recruitment and retention of highly-
qualified State and local prosecutors and public defenders by 
establishing a student loan forgiveness program modeled after the 
current program for Federal employees.
  We have worked very hard in crafting this legislation not to further 
blur the lines between Federal and State law enforcement 
responsibilities or to add more burdens to the FBI as the primary 
Federal investigative agency. Federal law enforcement has been faced 
with a unique challenge since the September 11 attacks. The FBI is no 
longer just an enforcement agency, but also has a critical terrorism 
prevention mission. This mission is a daunting one, and our Federal law 
enforcement resources are not limitless. I, for one, do not want the 
FBI or U.S. Attorneys to focus these limited resources on cases that 
are best handled at the local level.
  Combating gang violence should not be a partisan battle. The tragedy 
of gang violence affects too many. No community can afford to lose a 
single youth to the arms of a waiting gang. No gang should be allowed 
to flourish without consequence in our communities. I urge your support 
for this important bill.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am pleased to support S. 2358, the 
Anti-Gang Act. This critical legislation will provide State and Federal 
law enforcement with the tools and resources needed to successfully 
fight the expanding presence of violent gangs that bring drugs like 
methamphetamine into our communities.
  Time and time again, we in Congress have heard the call of 
prosecutors and law enforcement for more resources to combat the 
problem of gang violence. The Anti-Gang Act gives local prosecutors and 
law enforcement what they have asked Congress for most--targeted 
financial assistance. The bill will help combat the growth and 
proliferation of violent gangs by authorizing funds for the cooperative 
prevention, investigation, and prosecution of gang crimes. In addition, 
grant money will be made available for the protection of witnesses and 
victims of gang violence. These funds will not be tied to restrictive 
formulas that would keep the majority of the assistance from reaching 
suburban and rural communities. This money will be able to go to the 
communities in Wisconsin and the rest of the country where rural and 
smaller law enforcement agencies are financially limited in their 
ability to deal with the exploding increase in gang violence associated 
with methamphetamines and other narcotics.
  The Anti-Gang Act also promotes hiring and long-term service of 
highly qualified prosecutors and public defenders by establishing a 
student loan forgiveness program. Prosecuting gangs is some of the most 
demanding and challenging work a prosecutor will tackle. Loan 
forgiveness will allow Assistant District Attorneys and Assistant 
Attorney Generals to remain in public service and allow them to take 
their wealth of experience and use it to combat gang violence.
  The Anti-Gang Act also replaces the current Federal RICO statute that 
was never intended to be used against violent street gangs with a tough 
statute that not only criminalizes participation in criminal street 
gangs, but addresses the serious problem of the recruitment and 
retention of gang members. The Anti-Gang Act targets gang violence and 
gang crimes in a logical, straightforward manner. The bill also 
recognizes that the vast majority of gang investigations and 
prosecutions have been and will continue to be done at the State and 
local level. The bill requires that Federal prosecutors consult with 
State and local law enforcement before seeking an indictment and that a 
Federal prosecution is in the public interest and necessary to secure 
substantial justice.
  Finally, the Anti-Gang Act will provide Congress with the data 
necessary to decide whether to expand the Federal role in prosecuting 
juvenile offenders by requiring a comprehensive report on the current 
treatment of juveniles by the States and the capability of the Federal 
criminal justice system to take on more juvenile cases and to house 
additional prisoners. Some have proposed indicting and prosecuting more 
juveniles in Federal courts as a way of combating gang violence without 
being able to tell us why this is necessary and what effect it might 
have on the criminal justice system. With this review, Congress can 
intelligently consider whether to expand the Federal role in 
prosecuting juveniles.
  Our citizens should be able to send their children to school, use 
their parks and walk their streets without fearing that ever-spreading 
gang violence will grow unfettered in their community. The Anti-Gang 
Act is an important step towards making all of our neighborhoods safe 
and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it's a privilege to join my colleagues 
Senator Durbin, Senator Leahy, and Senator Feingold in introducing this 
important legislation, the ANTI-GANG Act.

[[Page S4501]]

  Gang violence is a serious problem in many communities across the 
nation, and it deserves a serious response by Congress. The key to 
success is an effective strategy that rejects partisanship and ``lock-
em-up'' sound bites in favor of tough, targeted law enforcement; 
aggressive steps to take guns out of the hands of criminal gang members 
and other violent juvenile offenders; and heavy emphasis on prevention 
programs that discourage gang membership and provide realistic 
alternatives for at-risk youth.
  The past decade saw a dramatic reduction in violent juvenile crime, 
in large part because of these crime-fighting strategies. Many of us 
remember the dire ``juvenile superpredator'' predictions that were 
common before that reduction took place. In 1996, William Bennett and 
John Walters wrote that America was a ``ticking crime bomb,'' faced 
with the ``youngest, biggest, and baddest generation'' of juvenile 
offenders that our country had ever known. Fortunately, these 
predictions were wrong. From 1993 to 2001, arrest rates for violent 
juvenile crime fell by more than two-thirds. We're still reaping the 
benefits of this lower crime rate today.
  The decrease in crime is explained partly by the sensible measures 
taken by Congress on gun safety in the early 1990's, including the ban 
on assault weapons. In 1999, the National Center for Juvenile Justice 
concluded that all of the increase in homicides by juveniles between 
the mid-1980's and mid-1990's was firearms-related. The Surgeon General 
concluded that guns were responsible for both the epidemic in juvenile 
violence in the late 1980's and the decrease in violence after 1993. 
``It is now clear,'' the Surgeon General wrote, ``that the violence 
epidemic was caused largely by an upsurge in the use of firearms by 
young people. . . . Today's youth violence is less lethal, largely 
because of a decline in the use of firearms.'' The current ban on 
assault weapons is scheduled to expire in September, and given its 
proven results against crime, it is reckless for anyone to oppose its 
continuation.
  Another factor that contributed to the remarkable decrease in 
juvenile violent crime was the innovative, cooperative crime-fighting 
strategy developed in Boston and other communities across the nation. 
The Boston strategy was neither a ``liberal'' nor a ``conservative'' 
approach. It engaged the entire community, including police and 
probation officers, clergy and community leaders, and even gang members 
themselves in a united effort to crack down on gang violence, 
strengthen after-school prevention programs, and take guns out of the 
hands of juvenile offenders. This strategy was very successful--
juvenile homicides dropped 80 percent from 1990 to 1995--and it 
succeeded without prosecuting more juveniles as adults, without housing 
nonviolent juvenile offenders in adult facilities, and without spending 
huge sums of money on new juvenile facilities.
  The call for expanding federal prosecution of juveniles as adults was 
already controversial in those years when juvenile violent crime was at 
its peak. It makes no sense today, when juvenile violent crime rates 
have fallen to historic lows.
  Unfortunately, an expansion is exactly what is sought by the 
supporters of S. 1735, the Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence 
Act. Their bill responds to the problem of gang violence in the wrong 
way. They want the expanded federal prosecution of juveniles as adults. 
They want to federalize a broad range of street crimes now being 
prosecuted effectively at the local level. They want to create an 
unnecessary bureaucratic morass by duplicating law enforcement efforts 
now taking place on drug trafficking. They support a one-size-fits-all, 
Washington-knows-best approach to juvenile crime that ignores the 
achievements of the past decade and will only make the current problem 
of gang violence worse.
  Our bill, the ANTI-GANG Act, avoids the most serious defects of S. 
1735 by recognizing, first and foremost, the primary role of state and 
local law enforcement in responding to violent crime. The American Bar 
Association and the Judicial Conference have both called on Congress to 
consider the risks of federalizing offenses that have traditionally 
been the responsibility of state criminal justice systems. Many of us 
support the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (S. 966), to deal 
with hate crimes. It would require the Justice Department to certify 
the need for federal involvement before commencing federal prosecution 
of a hate crime. We also oppose the enactment of federal ``concealed 
carry'' laws, which would undermine state and local gun-safety laws.
  Instead of ignoring the primary role of state and local governments 
in fighting violent gang crimes in their communities, our ANTI-GANG Act 
strengthens that role, by giving local law enforcement and prosecutors 
the resources they need. It authorizes $52 million for cooperative 
prevention, investigation, and prosecution of gang crimes. It 
authorizes $20 million for technology, equipment, and training, so that 
state and local sheriffs, police agencies, and prosecutors can improve 
their identification of gang members and maintain databases with 
information to facilitate coordination among law enforcement and 
prosecutors. It authorizes $60 million for the protecting and 
relocation of witnesses and victims of gang crimes, and $40 million for 
grants for gang prevention, research, and intervention services.
  The resources in our bill for witness relocation and protection are 
particularly important. At a Judiciary Committee hearing last 
September, state and local prosecutors specifically asked for 
Congress's help in protecting witnesses of gang crimes. Our bill 
responds to this need by authorizing $60 million in assistance. By 
contrast, the most recently revised version of S. 1735 authorizes only 
$12 million.
  In addition, our bill amends the current law on governing federal 
witness relocation and protection to make clear that the Attorney 
General can use these provisions to support witnesses in state gang, 
drug, and homicide cases. We also allow states to obtain the temporary 
protection of witnesses in gang cases, without any requirement of 
reimbursement. The current complex reimbursement procedures deter state 
and local prosecutors from obtaining witness protection assistance from 
the federal government, even in emergencies. Our bill offers 
needed relief to state prosecutors undertaking difficult prosecutions 
of gang offenders, but no such relief is included in S. 1735.

  The ANTI-GANG Act respects the primary role of state and local 
governments in fighting street crime, but it also recognizes that 
violent gangs can be a substantial impact on federal interests. 
According to the most recent National Drug Threat Assessment, criminal 
street gangs are responsible for the distribution of much of the 
cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and other illegal drugs being 
distributed in communities throughout the United States. Gang activity 
interferes with lawful commerce and undermines the freedom and security 
of entire communities.
  The current provision on criminal street gangs in federal law is a 
seldom-used penalty enhancement. To address these legitimate federal 
interests, the ANTI-GANG Act replaces that provision with a stronger 
set of measures criminalizing participation in criminal street gangs, 
recruitment and retention of gang members, and witness intimidation. It 
also increases penalties for gang members who target minors for 
recruitment. It targets gang violence and gang crimes in a sensible 
way, avoiding the confusing and counterproductive approach taken in S. 
1735. Before any federal prosecution can take place under our bill, a 
high-level representative from the Justice Department, after 
consultation with state and local prosecutors, must certify that the 
federal prosecution is in the public interest and necessary to achieve 
substantial justice.
  The Act strengthens the ability of prosecutors at all levels--
federal, state and local--to prosecute violent street gangs, and it 
does so without increasing any mandatory minimum sentences or 
unnecessarily expanding the federal death penalty to include state 
murder offenses.
  An increasing number of judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and 
other criminal justice authorities now agree that mandatory minimum 
sentences are, in the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy, ``unfair, 
unjust, and unwise.'' They are inconsistent with and undermine the 
sentencing guidelines that Congress established in the Sentencing

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Reform Act of 1984. The supporters of S. 1735 have commendably removed 
some of the mandatory sentencing provisions in their original bill, but 
even a single increased mandatory minimum is counterproductive and 
unjustified.
  The ANTI-GANG Act also requires the General Accounting Office to 
conduct a comprehensive study and report on the current treatment of 
juveniles by states and local governments and the capability of the 
Bureau of Prisons and other parts of the federal criminal justice 
system to take on the additional cases that would result from an 
expansion of the federal prosecutions of juvenile offenders as adults. 
This report will enable Congress to make a better informed decision on 
this criminal issue.
  Finally, the Act encourages the recruitment and retention of highly-
qualified prosecutors and public defenders by establishing a student 
loan forgiveness program modeled on the current program for federal 
employees. According to the National District Attorneys Association, 
this provision ``would allow prosecutors to relieve the crushing burden 
of student loans that now cause so many young attorneys to abandon 
public service.'' The provision is also strongly supported by the 
National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the American Council of 
Chief Defenders.
  I commend my colleagues for their leadership in developing this 
important legislation to protect American communities from gang 
violence without undermining fundamental principles of fairness and 
federal-state relations. I urge the Senate to approve it.
                                 ______