[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S9481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SARBANES:
  S. 1564. A bill to provide for the disposition of the Federal 
property located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, a portion of which 
is currently used by the District of Columbia as the Oak Hill juvenile 
detention facility; to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation to 
facilitate the orderly disposition of an 800 acre parcel of Federal 
property located in Laurel, Maryland, a portion of which is currently 
used by the District of Columbia as the Oak Hills Juvenile Detention 
and Commitment Center. The legislation is a companion to a measure 
which has been introduced in the House by Representative Benjamin 
Cardin.
  The Oak Hill Youth Center, located adjacent to the National Security 
Agency and the Baltimore-Washington parkway, is a detention facility 
for juvenile offenders from the District of Columbia between the ages 
of 12 and 21. It has been plagued by facility and management problems 
for many years. The buildings at the center are in deplorable condition 
and fail to meet health and safety standards. Overcrowding, 
mismanagement, escapes, drug use and abuse of detainees at the center 
have been the subject of numerous investigations, press reports and 
lawsuits over the years, and are of great concern to juvenile justice 
advocates, families of detainees and local residents, alike. Nearly two 
decades ago, a consent decree stemming from the lawsuit Jerry M. v. 
District of Columbia, required the District to make improvements at the 
facility and address the chronic neglect of its adolescent detainees. 
Since the decree, ``sixty judicial orders, 44 monitoring reports and 
almost $3 million in court imposed fines'' have been issued in 
connection with the District's Youth Services Administration failure to 
fully comply with the decree, according to a July 2001 article in the 
Washington Post. Last year a report issued by the District's Inspector 
General's office found that, ``many of the same types of problems that 
resulted in the 1986 Jerry M. lawsuit still exist today . . .'' The 
report documented numerous security problems, health issues, 
deficiencies in management, failures to effectively maintain the safety 
of female youth housed at the center, and drugs being smuggled into the 
facility on a continual basis.
  There is a consensus that the Oak Hill Youth Center should be 
shutdown. A Blue Ribbon Commission on Youth Safety and Juvenile Justice 
Reform, established by Mayor Williams in August 2000, recommended in 
its final 2001 report that the Oak Hill Juvenile Detention center be 
closed and demolished. The Justice for DC Youth coalition, whose 
members include parents and juvenile justice advocates, has adamantly 
supported closing the existing Oak Hill facility and replacing it with 
a smaller, more homelike facility that is closer to the youth's homes.
  This measure seeks to ensure the closure of the facility and the 
orderly disposition of the property, while addressing the concerns of 
Anne Arundel County, the NSA, the District of Columbia and all 
surrounding neighborhoods and residences. Above all, it would serve the 
youth currently being held at the facility by helping to place them in 
an environment that is more suitable for successful rehabilitation. I 
hope this measure can be acted upon quickly by the Congress and ask 
unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1564

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. DISPOSITION OF OAK HILL PROPERTY.

       (a) In General.--The Oak Hill property shall be disposed of 
     as follows:
       (1) The portion of the property which is located west of 
     the Baltimore-Washington Parkway shall be transferred to the 
     jurisdiction of the Director of the National Park Service, 
     who shall use such portion for parkland purposes.
       (2) Subject to subsection (b), the portion of the property 
     which is located east of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and 
     200 feet and further north of the Patuxent River shall be 
     transferred to the Secretary of the Army (acting through the 
     Chief of Engineers) for use by the Director of the National 
     Security Agency, who may lease such portion to the District 
     of Columbia.
       (3) The portion of the property which is located east of 
     the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and south of the portion 
     described in paragraph (2) shall be transferred to the 
     jurisdiction of the Administrator of General Services, who 
     shall in turn convey such portion to Anne Arundel County, 
     Maryland, in accordance with subsection (c).
       (b) Payment for Construction of New Juvenile Detention 
     Facility for District of Columbia.--As a condition of the 
     transfer under subsection (a)(2), the Director of the 
     National Security Agency shall enter into an agreement with 
     the Mayor of the District of Columbia under which--
       (1) the juvenile detention facility for the District of 
     Columbia currently located on the Oak Hill property shall be 
     closed; and
       (2) subject to appropriations, the Agency shall pay for the 
     construction of a replacement facility at a site to be 
     determined, with priority given to a location within the 
     District of Columbia.
       (c) Conveyance of Portion of Property to Anne Arundel 
     County.--
       (1) In general.--The Administrator of General Services 
     shall convey, without consideration, to Anne Arundel County, 
     Maryland, all right, title, and interest of the United States 
     in and to that portion of the Oak Hill property referred to 
     in subsection (a)(3).
       (2) Terms and conditions of conveyance.--The conveyance 
     under paragraph (1) shall be carried out under such terms and 
     conditions as may be agreed to by the Administrator and Anne 
     Arundel County, except that, as a condition of the 
     conveyance--
       (A) Anne Arundel County shall agree to dedicate a portion 
     of the property which is adjacent to the Patuxent River to 
     parkland and recreational use; and
       (B) Anne Arundel County shall agree to reimburse the 
     National Security Agency for the amounts paid by the Agency 
     under subsection (b) for the construction of a new juvenile 
     detention facility for the District of Columbia, but only if 
     the County makes 25 percent or more of the property conveyed 
     under this subsection available for purposes other than open 
     space or recreational use.

     SEC. 2. OAK HILL PROPERTY DEFINED.

       In this Act, the term ``Oak Hill property'' means the 
     Federal property consisting of approximately 800 acres near 
     Laurel, Maryland, a portion of which is currently used by the 
     District of Columbia as a juvenile detention facility, and 
     which is shown on Map Number 20 in the records of the 
     Department of Assessments and Taxation, Tax Map Division, of 
     Anne Arundel County.
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