[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 31, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1434-S1436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
        Specter, Mr. Biden, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Stevens, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. 
        Coleman, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Salazar, Mrs. 
        Murray, Mr. Brown, Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Dole, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. 
        Kohl, and Mr. Casey):
  S. 456. A bill to increase and enhance law enforcement resources 
committed to investigation and prosecution of violent gangs, to deter 
and punish violent gang crime, to protect law-abiding citizens and 
communities from violent criminals, to revise and enhance criminal 
penalties for violent crimes, to expand and improve gang prevention 
programs, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Hatch and 
a bipartisan group of at least 15 original cosponsors in introducing 
comprehensive antiaging legislation--the Gang Abatement and Prevention 
Act of 2007.
  This bill will provide a comprehensive approach to gang violence by: 
helping those on the front lines of enforcement, by adopting new 
criminal laws and tougher penalties against those who commit gang-
related and other violent acts; authorizing hundreds of millions of 
dollars for gang-related investigations and prosecutions, and new funds 
for witness protection; and identifying successful community programs, 
and investing significant resources in schools and civic and religious 
organizations to prevent teenagers and other young people from joining 
gangs in the first place.
  On January 10 of this year, officials in Van Nuys, CA, reported that 
two teenage boys were shot in a reported gang-related shooting.
  A few weeks earlier, on December 29, Visalia, CA, law enforcement 
officials reported two separate shootings and the wounding of two 
minors.
  On December 24, San Diego officials noted how a 16 year old was shot 
in the leg in gang violence.
  On December 22, a 9-year-old girl in Los Angeles was just washing 
dishes with her mom inside her home--until gang members exchanged fire 
across the street, and a bullet tore through the front wall of her 
house and struck her in the head.
  And that came 5 days after Cheryl Green, a 14-year-old black girl who 
was talking to friends, was shot and killed by two Hispanic gang 
members.
  The New York Times just reported on the Cheryl Green shooting, but 
unfortunately, I see gang violence in the news almost every day in 
California, with gang-related shootings of children almost too numerous 
to count. Perhaps the worst occurred last September, when Los Angeles 
experienced a new low.
  Three-year-old Kaitlyn Avila was shot point-blank by a gang member 
who mistakenly thought her father was a member of a rival gang. The 
gang member shot and wounded her father, then intentionally fired into 
little Kaitlyn's chest.
  It is the first time ever that law enforcement officials remember a 
young child being ``targeted'' in a gang-related shooting.
  Unfortunately, this shooting is only a symptom of the disease that 
has taken hold of our cities--gang violence. The violence perpetrated 
by gang members affects not only those associated with gangs, but also 
police officers and innocent bystanders. It impacts not only 
individuals, but also our communities.
  It stops mothers from allowing their children to play outside. It 
prevents

[[Page S1435]]

the elderly from taking walks in their neighborhoods. And it creates an 
environment of fear.
  It is past time for the Federal Government to provide a hand of 
assistance to state and local law enforcement. And it is past time to 
come to grips with our country's escalating levels of gang violence.
  Just last month the FBI released its Uniform Crime Report for the 
first half of 2006. The news was disturbing.
  The report showed an alarming increase in homicides, assaults, 
robberies and other violent crimes across the U.S.--a surge of nearly 
3.7 percent for the first 6 months of 2006.
  This, of course follows on the heels of the FBI's 2005 figures, which 
had showed a 2.5 percent jump in violent crime.
  At the time, those 2005 figures had represented the largest increase 
in violent crime in the U.S. in 15 years. But this newly announced 
increase for the first half of 2006 is almost 50 percent higher.
  Of course, a big part of this increase is due to gang violence. Just 
as we heard when the 2005 figures were released, criminologists point 
to the spread of violent street gangs as a major cause of the 2006 
increase in violent crime as well.
  The warnings we have received about the links between the increase in 
violent crime and gangs have been steady and consistent.
  When the FBI announced its 2005 figures last June, the Washington 
Post reported how criminal justice experts specifically identified ``an 
influx of gangs into medium-sized cities'' as a big reason for this 
increase. According to the Los Angeles Times, Houston police attributed 
their 2005 increase to gang members who evacuated New Orleans after 
Katrina.
  When the 2006 figures were announced, the Washington Post quoted 
criminologist James Alan Fox, who described how ``[w]e have many high-
crime areas where gangs have made a comeback.'' The L.A. Times noted 
how ``[e]xperts said the crime upsurge reflected an increase in gang 
violence, particularly in midsized cities.'' Cities like Houston, which 
experienced a massive 28 percent increase in violent crime.
  The headline for the Sacramento Bee, reporting on the FBI's 31 
percent reported increase in violent crime for that county, said it 
all: ``Gangs blamed for increase, which is part of [a] national hike in 
mayhem in '06.''
  Even among the cities that experienced a 2006 reduction in violent 
crime--such as Los Angeles, which moved into the ranks of the safest 
cities in the U.S.--Mayor Villairaigosa described gang violence as the 
``glaring exception.'' Gang crime was up by 14 percent in Los Angeles--
and up 40 percent in San Fernando Valley, and 57 percent of Los 
Angeles' 478 homicides for 2006 were attributed to gangs--up 50 percent 
from 2005. And 86 percent of those murder victims were African American 
or Latino.
  There can no longer be serious debate that gang violence is a big 
part of this problem.
  The problem of gang violence in America is daunting. According to the 
FBI, there are now at least 30,000 gangs nationwide, with 800,000 
members.
  In California, the State attorney general now estimates that there 
are 171,000 juveniles and adults committed to criminal street gangs and 
their way of life. That's greater than the population of 28 California 
counties.
  From 1992 to 2003, there were more than 7,500 gang-related homicides 
reported in California.
  In 2004, more than one-third of the 2,000 homicides in California--
698--were gang-related.
  And it is worse among teens and young adults. In that same year, 
nearly 50 percent of the murders of 18 to 29 year olds were gang 
related. And nearly 60 percent of the murders of teens under 18 were 
gang related.
  The list of people murdered by gangs includes some of our finest law 
enforcement officers:
  Oceanside Police Officer, Dan Bessant, gunned down from behind just 
last month, in an incident described as eerily similar to a similar 
killing in 2003, when Oceanside Police Officer, Tony Zepetella, was 
shot and killed by a known gang member.
  Los Angeles Police Officer Ricardo Lizarraga, killed while responding 
to a domestic violence call, by a man who drew a gun and shot him twice 
in the back. The suspect was a known member of the Rollin20s Bloods.
  Merced Police Officer Stephan Gray, a member of his department's gang 
violence unit. Gray was shot and killed when a suspect--a gang member 
he had encountered before--fired two bullets into his chest.
  Los Angeles Sherriff's Deputy Jeffrey Ortiz: As a member of his 
department's anti-gang task force, Ortiz had been going door to door in 
a gang-plagued neighborhood of L.A. He had just knocked on a door and 
was checking IDs when he was shot in the head at point-blank range. The 
alleged gunman is a suspected gang member wanted on an outstanding 
warrant for attempted murder.
  Burbank Police Officer Matthew Pavelka: Two gunmen whom he had 
stopped for driving without license plates got out and showered him 
with gunfire. They were allegedly affiliated with the Vineland Boys 
gang.
  California Highway Patrol Officer Thomas Steiner, killed after 
walking out of the Pomona courthouse after testifying in a series of 
traffic cases, by a 16-year-old intent on ``killing a cop'' to prove 
himself to the Pomona 12th street gang.
  San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza: The first San Francisco 
police officer slain on duty in more than a decade, killed when an 
apparent ``Westmob'' gang member fired 14 rounds from an AK-47 assault 
rifle.
  Gang killings also impact children and families. Unfortunately, 3-
year-old Kaitlyn Avila is not alone: There is also 11-year-old Mynisha 
Crenshaw of San Bernardino, CA, a little girl shot and killed in 
November 2005;
  Seven-week-old infant Glenn ``Baby G'' Molex, shot and killed on 
September 28, 2003, by one of the ``Down Below'' Gang after 28 bullets 
penetrated his family's apartment in San Francisco's Bayview District;
  Joseph Swift, a 13-year-old boy shot outside a home after attending 
church in Los Angeles in 2003; and
  Eight-year-old Sunny Elijah Peralez, shot in East Los Angeles by the 
Ghetto Boyz in 1999.
  And this problem extends far beyond California--as evidenced by 8-
year-old Kyron Butler, killed by a stray bullet during a Jersey Park 
Boys gang shootout in Smithfield, VA, in 2003, and 9-year-old Genesis 
Gonzalez, a little girl shot by a car of Crips gang members in Nevada 
in 2002.
  As gangs have continued to spread across our country, increasing in 
violence and power in every State, they are no longer just a big city 
problem. They have metastasized from Los Angeles and Chicago to the 
medium and smaller cities where they face less competition.
  The FBI now estimates that gangs are having an impact on at least 
2,500 communities across the nation.
  In the latest FBI statistics, violent crime and murder grew fastest 
in the midsized and smaller cities--not in our largest urban areas. The 
average midsized city, in fact, had a surge in overall violent crime of 
more than 5 percent in a single year.
  It is clear that gangs engage in drug trafficking, robbery, 
extortion, prostitution, gun trafficking, and murder. They destroy 
neighborhoods, cripple families and kill innocent people.
  Los Angeles Police Department Chief Bill Bratton put it bluntly:

       There is nothing more insidious than these gangs. They are 
     worse than the Mafia. Show me a year in New York where the 
     Mafia indiscriminately killed 300 people. You can't.

  Our national gang problem is immense and growing, and it is not going 
away. Our cities and States need help. The many law enforcement 
officers that have spoken to me and others in my office say one thing 
clearly--short-term infusions are great, but what they really need is a 
long-term Federal commitment to combat gang violence.
  A massive report just prepared for the City of Los Angeles even 
suggested that what is needed is a ``Marshal Plan'' initiative to 
combat gang violence.
  Senator Hatch and I have been introducing comprehensive Federal gang 
legislation for over a decade. Our gang bills have been modified and 
refined over the years, most recently in legislation that we negotiated 
with the House for possible inclusion in the DOD Authorization bill 
last year.
  The bill that we introduce today essentially takes that bill, but 
removes

[[Page S1436]]

all of its new death penalties. It has no mandatory minimums, and we 
have eliminated juvenile justice changes that previously proved to be 
an impediment to the larger bill's passage.
  The bill that we offer today will provide a comprehensive solution to 
gang violence, combining enforcement and prevention efforts in a 
collaborative approach that has proven effective in models like 
Operation Ceasefire, and in Modesto, CA.
  This bill would establish new Federal gang crimes and tougher Federal 
penalties.
  Today's Federal street gang laws are frankly weak, and are almost 
never used. Currently, a person committing a gang crime might have 
extra time tacked on to the end of their Federal sentence. That is 
because Federal law currently focuses on gang violence only as a 
sentencing enhancement, rather than a crime unto itself.
  The bill that I offer today would make it a separate Federal crime 
for any criminal street gang member to commit, conspire or attempt to 
commit violent crimes--including murder, kidnapping, arson, extortion--
in furtherance of the gang.
  And the penalties for gang members committing such crimes would 
increase considerably.
  For gang-related murder, kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse or 
maiming, the penalties would range up to life imprisonment.
  For any other serious violent felony, the penalty would range up to 
30 years--which in the Federal system means without parole.
  And for other crimes of violence--defined as the actual or intended 
use of physical force against the person of another--the penalty could 
bring up to 20 years in prison.
  The bill would also create a new crime for recruiting juveniles and 
adults into a criminal street gang, with a penalty of up to 10 years, 
or if the recruiting involved a juvenile or recruiting from prison, up 
to 20 years;
  Create new Federal crimes for committing violent crimes in connection 
with drug trafficking, and increase existing penalties for violent 
crimes in aid of racketeering;
  Enact a host of other violent crime reforms, including closing a 
loophole that had allowed carjackers to avoid convictions, increasing 
the penalties for those who use guns in violent crimes or transfer guns 
knowing they will be used in crimes, limiting bail for violent felons 
who possess firearms, and in a number of other respects cracking down 
harder on those who commit violent crimes; and
  Make a long-term Federal commitment to fight gangs, by authorizing 
over $1 billion in new funds over the next 5 years for enforcement, 
prevention, and witness protection.
  This would include $500 million for the development of High Intensity 
Interstate Gang Activity Areas, or HIIGAAs.
  These HIIGAAs would mirror the successful HIDTA--High Intensity Drug 
Trafficking Area model--under which Federal, State and local agents 
coordinate investigations and prosecutions. And this $500 million would 
also be split 50/50, so that for every dollar spent on law enforcement, 
a dollar would be spent on prevention and intervention.
  This balanced approach--of prevention and intervention plus tough 
penalties--will send a clear message to gang members: a new day has 
arrived. This bill will provide them with new opportunities, with 
schools and social services agencies empowered to make alternatives to 
gangs a realistic option. But if gang members continue to engage in 
violence, they will face new and serious Federal consequences.
  I am pleased to report that this bill has already been endorsed by 
the National Sheriff's Association, the International Association of 
Chiefs of Police, and the National Association of Police Officers.
  For more than 10 years now, Senator Hatch and I have been trying to 
pass Federal anti-gang legislation. There have been times when we have 
gotten close. Unfortunately, while Congress has failed to act, violent 
street gangs have only expanded nationwide and become more empowered 
and entrenched in other States and communities.
  I believe this bill can pass the Senate and be enacted into law, 
especially after these changes that we have made and our previous 
negotiations conducted with members of the House and Senate.
  The time has arrived for us to finally address this problem, and this 
bill is well-suited to help solve it. I urge my colleagues to support 
this legislation.
                                 ______