mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
i rise to offer an amendment to crack down on gangs comprised of illegal aliens , such as ms-13 , which newsweek recently called `` the most dangerous gang in america. '' in my congressional district alone , we have recently witnessed a disturbing rise in the level of gang activity as well as the number of illegal aliens participating in this gang activity . 
the fbi has recognized the existence of at least six separate gangs in the shenandoah valley , with the largest being the notorious salvadoran gang mara salvatrucha , or ms-13 . 
ms-13 is known for such heinous crimes as shootings , rapes and machete attacks , among others , and is estimated to have over 1 , 500 members in northern and northwestern virginia alone . 
the number of gang members and violent criminals who are illegal aliens and who have been previously deported is staggering . 
recently , at the immigration , border security , and claims subcommittee , commonwealth 's attorney marsha garst of rockingham county , virginia , testified that illegal aliens make up 50 percent of the membership of ms-13 and 75 percent of the membership of another gang in that area , surenos 13 . 
according to the fbi , ms-13 is a highly sophisticated gang of illegal and previously deported aliens that is committed to national expansion in the united states and is built on a infrastructure which transports new members or previously deported members across our borders with the intention and plan to expand their activities into new communities and enrich themselves all at the expense of our communities and our law-abiding neighbors . 
make no mistake about it : ms-13 is committed to a war by invading and taking over our communities , and deportation means nothing to them because they simply return to our country with yet another new identity , crossing our borders without any reservation and resuming their illegal activities , terrorizing our communities without fear of harsh punishment . 
it is now time for us to disable ms-13 and its vicious cycle of violence . 
my amendment does just that . 
it gives law enforcement the ability to tack on more severe punishments rather than simply returning ms-13 members to el salvador or other countries where they will turn around and sneak right across our borders once again . 
if faced with a choice of putting these gang members in jail or deporting them and having them return , the choice is clear : we must incarcerate them and bring freedom back to our neighborhoods . 
the growth in illegal alien participation gangs is not limited to virginia or just to ms-13 . 
across the nation , the number of illegal aliens joining gangs and the number of gang members who have re-entered the country after deportation is alarming . 
according to the testimony of heather macdonald of the manhattan institute , a confidential california department of justice study reported in 1995 that 60 percent of the 20 , 000-strong `` 18th street gang '' in southern california was illegal . 
immigration and customs enforcement conservatively puts the number of illegal aliens in ms-13 as a majority . 
sixty percent of the leadership of the `` colombia lil ' cycos '' gang , which uses murder and racketeering to control the drug market around los angeles ' macarthur park , consisted of illegal aliens in 2002 . 
and according to the los angeles times , the los angeles department arrests about my amendment would help to stop the entry and re-entry of gang members into the country by imposing strict penalties on illegal aliens who participate in gang activities and who have already shown they will commit violent crimes and drug-trafficking offenses . 
with stiff new penalties , we can deter these gang members from re-entering the united states with the intention of joining or resuming violent gang activities . 
specifically , my amendment would add 5 years of prison time to any sentence for violent crimes or drug-trafficking offenses when the violator is an illegal alien . 
it will also add 15 years of prison time to any such sentence if the illegal alien had been previously deported on the grounds of a criminal offense and had re-entered the country . 
in addition , the amendment would require the department of homeland security to send all the names of individuals who are subject to deportation orders or who have signed voluntary deportation orders to the national crime information center , the ncic , so that information on illegal alien gang members can be more easily accessed . 
we must shut down this revolving door of criminal illegal aliens . 
it is time to say to them , if they come here illegally and commit a gang crime , they will do the time . 
our children and our communities deserve nothing less . 
this amendment will give law enforcement additional tools in the fight against some of the most vicious gangs in america and will help deter violent criminals from entering the country to join gangs . 
i urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
