[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7426-S7427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have long supported juvenile justice 
programs, and I have long supported runaway and homeless youth 
programs. During the 20 years I served as the top Democrat on the 
Judiciary Committee and in my current role as the vice chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee, I have championed bipartisan reauthorizations 
and supported funding for these programs, overcoming the House of 
Representatives, which zeroes out juvenile justice programs in its 
appropriations bills year after year. These programs make a real and 
lasting difference in the lives of the children and teens they serve. 
The two programs are funded separately in separate appropriations 
subcommittees, and their reauthorizations have traditionally moved 
separately.
  I am pleased the Senate today passed the long-debated Juvenile 
Justice Reform Act. This legislation makes needed, comprehensive, and 
long overdue updates to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 
Act. It mandates research to study, identify, and address 
disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system and 
separates young offenders from adult jails and prisons. It also 
reauthorizes funding for key juvenile justice programs. Funding for 
these vital programs is key to preventing youth from coming in contact 
with the juvenile justice system and ensuring youth have the 
opportunity to get the help they need to avoid repeating the cycle. 
Reducing recidivism is not just the moral thing to do; it saves future 
State and Federal dollars.
  The Grassley substitute amendment, which passed the Senate this 
evening, reauthorizes the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act at a lower 
level than I support, and a lower level than is supported by the 
providers and advocates in the field who know firsthand what the actual 
needs are to help these youths. It also fails to make important 
programmatic improvements that Senator Collins and I have been working 
on for years. These improvements include provisions to prevent and 
respond to human trafficking--to which runaway and homeless youth are 
particularly vulnerable--by requiring staff training to identify when a 
child entering their program has been a victim. Training program staff 
to identify young victims of trafficking helps ensure staff refers 
children and teenagers to appropriate services and takes steps to 
prevent their further traumatization. These young people have 
experienced major, unimaginable trauma, and we need to make sure they 
receive the right counseling and treatment to help them recover. Our 
reauthorization of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act also includes 
important nondiscrimination language to ensure all youth who try to 
access programs can do so regardless of their faith, race, or sexual 
orientation. Unfortunately, these improvements will have to wait.
  While we have much to celebrate with the passage of the Juvenile 
Justice Reform Act, I am disappointed that some Members on the other 
side of the aisle demanded the inclusion of an extension of the Runaway 
and Homeless Youth Act and lowering its authorization without the 
improvements contained in my legislation with Senator Collins. The 
House passed and the Democratic hotline cleared H.R. 6964, a clean 
version of the juvenile justice Reform Act with no reference to the 
Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans on 
the Judiciary Committee refused to run the hotline on the Republican 
side. This in effect held hostage these important juvenile justice 
reforms to leverage authorization cuts to a completely unrelated 
program.
  These two pieces of legislation have not moved in the same 
reauthorization bill in 30 years. They are funded through different 
appropriations bills, administered by difference departments, and their 
authorizations serve different purposes. Senator Collins and I have 
worked for years on a comprehensive bipartisan reauthorization

[[Page S7427]]

of the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and expressed our concern with 
including a lower reauthorization with no improvements as part of 
Juvenile Justice Reform. Unfortunately, members on the other side were 
willing to hold up passage of Juvenile Justice Reform for yet another 
Congress, over an unrelated program.
  In the interest of ensuring programmatic improvements and 
reauthorization of juvenile justice programs, Senator Collins and I 
agreed to a 2-year reauthorization of Runaway and Homeless Youth 
programs at an 8-percent reduction from its last authorized levels. 
Although I am disappointed that Runaway and Homeless Youth programs are 
reauthorized even in the short term without needed programmatic 
improvements, I look forward to working with members of the House and 
Senate to pass a bipartisan, comprehensive Runaway and Homeless Youth 
reauthorization in the 116th Congress.
  It is my understanding that the House Committee on Education and 
Workforce will prioritize a comprehensive reauthorization of Runaway 
and Homeless Youth next Congress, and I hope the Senate Judiciary 
Committee will do the same. If so, we have a chance to make a real 
difference in the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in our 
Nation. It is time we seize it.

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