[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 14, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H1573-H1576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2017

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3249) to authorize the Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program, 
and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3249

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Project Safe Neighborhoods 
     Grant Program Authorization Act of 2017''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       For the purposes of this Act--
       (1) the term ``criminal street gangs'' has the meaning 
     given such term in section 521 of title 18, United States 
     Code;
       (2) the term ``gang crime'' means a felony or misdemeanor 
     crime, under State or Federal law, committed by one or more 
     persons who are a member of, or directly affiliated with, a 
     criminal street gang;
       (3) the term ``transnational organized crime group'' has 
     the meaning given such term in section 36(k)(6) of the State 
     Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 
     2708(k)(6));
       (4) the term ``transnational organized crime'' has the 
     meaning given such term in section 36(k)(5) of the State 
     Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 
     2708(k)(5)); and
       (5) the term ``firearms offenses'' means an offense under 
     section 922 or 924 of title 18, United States Code.

     SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT.

       The Attorney General of the United States is authorized to 
     establish and carry out a program, to be known as the 
     ``Project Safe Neighborhoods Block Grant Program'' or, in 
     this Act, as the ``Program'', within the Office of Justice 
     Programs at the Department of Justice.

     SEC. 4. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Block Grant 
     Program is to foster and improve existing partnerships 
     between Federal, State, and local agencies, including the 
     United States Attorney in each Federal judicial district, to 
     create safer neighborhoods through sustained reductions in 
     violent crimes by--
       (1) developing and executing strategic plans to assist law 
     enforcement agencies in combating gang crimes, including the 
     enforcement of gun laws and drug interdiction; and
       (2) developing intervention and prevention initiatives, 
     including juvenile justice projects and activities which may 
     include street-level outreach, conflict mediation, and the 
     changing of community norms, in order to reduce violence.

     SEC. 5. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

       (a) In General.--The Attorney General shall, not later than 
     60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, make rules 
     to create, carry out, and administer the Program in 
     accordance with this section.
       (b) Funds To Be Directed to Local Control.--Amounts made 
     available as grants under the Program shall be, to the 
     greatest extent practicable, locally controlled to address 
     problems that are identified locally
       (c) Regional Gang Task Forces.--30 percent of the amounts 
     made available as grants under the Program each fiscal year 
     shall be granted to established Regional Gang Task Forces in 
     regions experiencing a significant or increased presence of, 
     or high levels of activity from, transnational organized 
     crime groups posing threats to community safety in terms of 
     violent crime, firearms offenses, human trafficking, 
     trafficking and distribution of illegal opioids and heroin, 
     and other crimes.

     SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; CONSOLIDATION OF 
                   PROGRAMS.

       (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated for the Program under this Act $50,000,000 
     for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2021.
       (b) Consolidation of Programs.--For each of fiscal years 
     2019 through 2023, no funds are authorized to be separately 
     appropriated to the Department of Justice Office of Justice 
     Programs for--
       (1) competitive and evidence-based programs to reduce gun 
     crime and gang violence;
       (2) an Edward Byrne Memorial criminal justice innovation 
     program;
       (3) community-based violence prevention initiatives; or
       (4) gang and youth violence education, prevention and 
     intervention, and related activities.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.

[[Page H1574]]

  



                             General Leave

  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 3249, currently under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Comstock), the author of the bill.
  Mrs. COMSTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 
3249, the Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program Authorization Act of 
2017.
  I would like to thank Chairman Goodlatte and the entire Judiciary 
Committee for their efforts on this legislation and working through the 
process to bring this to the floor.
  I wanted to set out some recent headlines from the in-depth reporting 
by The Washington Post on the rise of the MS-13 gang problem in the 
Washington metropolitan area, which includes Maryland, D.C., and 
Virginia, and why this legislation is needed.
  ``MS-13 is `taking over the school,' one teen warned before she was 
killed.''
  ``She told the girl she'd see her in hell before stabbing her. Now, 
she's guilty of an MS-13 murder.''
  ``'People here live in fear': MS-13 menaces a community 7 miles from 
the White House.''
  ``Police: MS-13 members in Maryland stab man more than 100 times and 
decapitate him.''
  This is from my local paper, the Loudoun-Times Mirror:
  ``MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome murder of a Leesburg 
teenager.''
  In this particular case in Leesburg, Virginia, the teenage boy, 
Carlos Otero-Henriquez, was stabbed over 50 times and his body was 
dumped in a quarry miles away in West Virginia.
  The Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Tracy 
Doherty-McCormick, had this to say after the murderers were convicted: 
``The hallmark of MS-13 is extreme violence. This brutal kidnapping and 
murder is a tragic reminder of the impact MS-13 has on communities here 
in northern Virginia. My hope is that our efforts to investigate and 
prosecute this case will send a clear message: Violence will be 
aggressively prosecuted.''
  This, and many of these other cases, are why we need the Project Safe 
Neighborhoods Grant Program Authorization Act, which authorizes $50 
million, but targets 30 percent being directed toward already-
established regional gang task forces.
  As we know, MS-13 is a transnational gang that has been found not 
only here in the Washington metropolitan region, but in Los Angeles, 
Long Island, Houston, and other cities throughout the country.
  The Washington Post has highlighted how the 2014 border surge 
contributed to the MS-13 gang problem writing: ``The violent street 
gang is on the rise in the United States, fueled, in part, by the surge 
in unaccompanied minors.''
  The unaccompanied minors, who often fled their native country to get 
away from the gangs, arrive here only to find themselves targeted by 
those very same gang members they were fleeing.
  MS-13 preys upon these youngsters in their own community--and let me 
emphasize, it is their own community that they are victimizing--who may 
not have much of a family structure, and, in effect, MS-13 tries to 
become their family or threaten them with death if they don't.
  Last summer, when I went on a ride-along with our Northern Virginia 
Regional Task Force, I was able to see their good work right in front 
of us. There was a young man on the sidewalk of Sterling Boulevard in 
Sterling, Virginia, just miles from here. The gang task force noticed 
him and turned around and decided to stop him and see what he was up 
to. With years of experience, the officers knew the MS-13 indicators.
  The boy looked about 16 years old, from what I could tell, but it 
turned out he was actually a 22-year-old gang member. He was covered in 
MS-13 gang tattoos. When he lifted up his shirt when they asked him to 
do so, he showed all of the particular signs of MS-13, from his head to 
all over his feet.
  It turns out he had been jailed in El Salvador for murder when he was 
16 and had been deported from the United States twice for engaging in 
violent crime.
  As it turns out now, when they come to the border, we don't have the 
law to be able to stop them. Fortunately, this House did pass a law 
back in the fall, on a bipartisan basis--it is over in the Senate now--
to be able to stop these gang members from getting in the country in 
the first place and being able to deport them quicker. But in the 
meantime, we need to increase the work and the support for these 
regional gang task forces.

                              {time}  1545

  We also saw the technology they use. They can use something along the 
lines of an iPad or an iPhone where they put this gang member's 
fingerprint on there and immediately it comes to light, as shown in the 
international records, that he was a murderer and that he had been in 
jail. But they need more of those resources. They only had two of those 
that they were able to use, and they said every one of their cars needs 
that kind of resource.
  That same night that we were on the ride-along, three other suspected 
MS-13 gang members were also picked up. This isn't an aberration.
  At a town festival in Herndon, Virginia, in my district, the Northern 
Virginia Regional Gang Task Force told us that they had identified an 
estimated 200 to 300 suspected gang members who were milling about 
while our children were getting popcorn, getting on the rides, and 
there were people coming together to have a hotdog or a hamburger in a 
community festival.
  According to the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, an MS-13 
gang member put a hit out on his own brother because he refused to join 
the organization. Fortunately, because of the good, intensive work of 
the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, they spared this young 
man from being killed by his own brother.
  That is why we need to have these resources that we are voting on 
today. We need to help on a Federal level.
  The community policing involved with the Northern Virginia Regional 
Gang Task Force includes officers who speak Spanish, understand the 
gang culture, and help get the kids out of this. They get involved in 
the education, getting them into the schools. They understand where 
they are trying to target these young people, and they are familiar 
with their communities and have developed very good relationships with 
these communities.
  ICE officials complement these efforts by removing the dangerous gang 
members once identified and allowing the task force to work in our 
highest risk schools and communities to prevent gang violence.
  The Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program Authorization Act would 
direct this additional Federal funding toward these gang task forces so 
that our gang task forces--which are comprised in my area of 13 local, 
State, and Federal law enforcement agencies--can really make the best 
antigang efforts in this three-pronged approach that they engage in: 
education, intervention and prevention, and enforcement.
  Mr. Speaker, I have seen firsthand the good work these gang task 
forces can do to remove these gang threats from our community, so I 
urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I thank you for the 
opportunity to speak to this.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, to the distinguished manager and to the author of this 
legislation, there is certainly room for legislation that speaks to the 
needs of our children and speaks to those who obviously have joined 
vicious and violent gangs even though of young ages.
  I will always, however, reemphasize the message that, as we look at 
these efforts, as I speak about my Juvenile Block Grant Antibullying 
and Prevention Act, legislation that I would like to see go through the 
Judiciary Committee, we must be reminded that, in order to continue to 
be safe, this Congress cannot ignore debate and passage of gun safety 
legislation.
  Guns kill. AR-15s kill. The lack of raising the age from 18 to 21 for 
guns

[[Page H1575]]

hurts our children. Not having universal background checks hurts our 
children. But at the same time, we must find ways to stem the tide of 
gangs, and there are many gangs throughout the Nation.
  Just speaking with my law enforcement, the gang names that came to me 
were not just MS-13. We will find gangs in our particular jurisdictions 
that have many names. But whatever their names, their behavior is 
dastardly and it is injurious, and if we can find ways to keep our 
neighborhood safe, as H.R. 3249 intends to do, the Project Safe 
Neighborhoods Grant Program Authorization Act of 2017, which would 
provide additional resources to help local jurisdictions prevent and 
fight crime in their communities, then we should stand together to do 
so.
  The bill would authorize the Attorney General to establish and 
implement a program to be known as the Project Safe Neighborhoods Block 
Program within the Office of Justice Programs at the Department of 
Justice, thereby providing a formal authorization for the Project Safe 
Neighborhoods program currently implemented by DOJ. A portion of the 
funding awards under the program would be allocated to fighting gang-
related crime.
  While I support authorizing this program, I would like to highlight 
two concerns. The first is the Juvenile Block Grant Antibullying and 
Prevention Act, which would have reauthorized the juvenile block grants 
which would go to communities for a variety of reasons. That has been 
stalled in the Judiciary Committee under the pretense of not having an 
offset. And I see that this particular legislation does have, 
seemingly, a $70 million a year authorization without an offset.
  So I think we should work together, and as I support this 
legislation, I think we should support other legislative initiatives 
that can really intervene. It is clear that the perpetrator in Florida, 
there is some evidence, some newspaper reporting, that this individual 
was bullied and had a very difficult life. We see that that is 
certainly a reason that young people become gang members.
  So as we look to supporting this legislation, I think that we should 
look to broaden our support and work on the whole idea of steering our 
children away from the idea of gangs, guns, and violence.
  I would hope, first, a substantial portion of the funding of this 
bill will be dedicated to antigang task forces. I support preventing 
and fighting crime no matter who the perpetrator may be. But I also 
want to make sure that we look holistically at dealing with young 
people and that we have alternatives for them, which block-granting 
does in giving alternatives to communities to direct young people in 
other directions other than gangs.

  We must be vigilant in conducting oversight, also, of the use of 
program funds and in protecting those program funds so that they can be 
utilized for authorization of other efforts to help our young people.
  Let me also indicate that this program should be one facet of working 
with young people. The program will be one facet of DOJ's efforts to 
address gun and gang violence at the local, State, and Tribal levels.
  The Juvenile Accountability Block Grants, which provide other funds 
for a myriad of activities in our local communities, we should view it 
from the holistic perspective and as an effort to supplement but not 
supplant alternatives that may employ different but yet still effective 
approaches, which I am speaking of through the Juvenile Accountability 
Block Grants program. None of the funding prohibitions would serve the 
interest of public safety.
  For instance, the bill would eliminate the Byrne Criminal Justice 
Innovation Program, which, when implemented, helps local governments 
develop crime reduction strategies to address crime in hotspots that 
generate a significant amount of crime within larger communities or 
jurisdictions.
  The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program is a community-based 
strategy that aims to prevent and control violent crime, drug abuse, 
and gang activity in high-crime neighborhoods by providing funding to 
support partnerships between law enforcement agencies and community-
based organizations that balance targeted enforcement with prevention, 
intervention, and neighborhood restoration services. If you ask your 
local police, many of them will tout the Byrne program as being very 
successful.
  In the past, OJP has coordinated the efforts of this program with 
related efforts to promote neighborhood revitalization by the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of 
Education. We see no reason to eliminate the possibility of funding for 
this program which is very helpful.
  So along with the Juvenile Accountability Block Grants program and 
many others, I believe this legislation can be enhanced. I hope that as 
we make our way through the legislative process, we will not only work 
with H.R. 3249, but we will also work with other legislation that will 
holistically help the crime situation in our Nation and secure young 
people as they desire to be secured and, particularly, work on gun 
violence, which is severe in many of our communities.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  In closing, again, I want to acknowledge the author of H.R. 3249 for 
an important statement regarding gangs, and I would hope that we could 
continue to work on these issues. For instance, the bill would 
eliminate the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program, and I hope 
that we can restore that.
  As well, I hope that we can work very closely on other legislative 
initiatives that are going through the Judiciary Committee. A holistic 
approach is the best approach. And then I hope that we can restore the 
funding that is necessary for some of the programs that have been 
eliminated because of this legislation. Good as it may be, it is 
important to do a combination of efforts to deal with protecting 
children and steering children away from these vile actions.
  Mr. Speaker, I truly believe that there are programs dealing with 
bullying and prevention of bullying that can complement the work that 
is being done here and the Byrne program that has been utilized by the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, cleaning neighborhoods, 
making neighborhoods safe. I can see it in my congressional district 
and I can see it in other congressional districts, to come in and 
combine with those resources. And then, of course, are the resources 
that uplift our young people, steer them in the right direction and 
provide alternative support systems for them.
  As many people know, in years gone by, something that many people 
found humorous was midnight basketball. Today I hear law enforcement 
officers say: You know, that midnight basketball really worked so many 
years ago.
  We need to look at a collective approach to getting kids off the 
street, making sure our children are safe, and that they don't find, as 
their only relief, gangs, but they can also find clean, safe 
neighborhoods and neighborhoods that are free of guns as the only tool 
to settle their disputes.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from Texas is quite right. This bill's 
pay-for comes through consolidation of similar programs, and I think it 
is important to briefly go over that.
  Working with the Attorney General's Office, the author, Mrs. 
Comstock, went to great lengths to find programs that are essentially 
doing much the same thing in which, by consolidating, you pick up 
efficiencies. I particularly note that item two in the bill, the pay-
for, the Edward Byrne Memorial criminal justice innovation program, is 
but a small part of the overall so-called Byrne program.
  Many of the things the gentlewoman from Texas cited are good and are 
not being consolidated but, rather, a small amount. This targeted 
approach with our limited funds allows those funds to go further; and 
particularly as we look at community outreach, these funds, by being 
consolidated, are part of a community outreach and will be used in 
similar ways to the programs that they are taking from, but taking from 
it, in this case, in a consolidated way.

[[Page H1576]]

  So I want to thank a former staff member of the Oversight and 
Government Reform Committee, the committee that deals with efficiency 
in government, for looking through the details of these appropriated 
funds and finding a way to bring them together to give both flexibility 
and efficiency that I believe this will adhere to. It is the reason 
that this is a bipartisan bill.
  The reason that it is so widely accepted is that it has been narrowly 
targeted. And although I share with the gentlewoman from Texas, my 
friend from Houston, that in a perfect world we would be plussing-up 
funds, if we are not able to do that at this time, I would support and 
work with the gentlewoman any time to try to do something similar for 
some of the areas of her concern.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Crawford). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3249, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________