madam chairman , i rise in opposition to h.r. 1279 , the gang deterrence and community protection act , because this bill fails to adequately deter youths from joining gangs and does not do enough to protect our communities . 
this bill fails to create a much-needed , comprehensive approach to fighting our national gang epidemic . 
instead of offering funding for proven intervention and prevention programs that effectively keep youths from joining gangs in the first place , this punitive bill simply imposes harsh and sweeping mandatory minimum sentences . 
locking up 16-year-olds for 10 years will not make gang crimes disappear . 
as any law enforcement officer will tell my colleagues , suppression is merely one of the avenues by which we can prevent gang violence . 
in fact , as many of my democratic colleagues have repeatedly stressed , imposing mandatory minimums on youths often results in a greater likelihood of repeat , and more violent , offenses . 
prevention and intervention programs , on the other hand , have a proven track record of keeping kids out of gangs ; but at the committee on the judiciary markup of this bill and in the committee on rules last night , amendments to include intervention and prevention programs in this bill were defeated along party-line votes . 
i joined my colleagues , the gentleman from california ( mr. schiff ) xz4003610 , the gentleman from california ( mr. cardoza ) xz4000650 , and the gentlewoman from california ( ms. watson ) xz4004230 , in submitting an amendment to expand the project safe neighborhoods program , to authorize the attorney general to make the fbi increase safe streets initiative efforts , to reauthorize the gang resistance education and training projects program and , more importantly , to double-funding for high-intensity interstate gang activity areas and require half of those funds to go to community-based anti-gang programs . 
i know from personal knowledge that our amendment would have reduced gang activity nationwide because i have seen community-based programs work in my very own district . 
the gang resistance in paramount , or grip , program has been educating kids about the dangers of gang participation for years . 
i spent some time inside a fourth grade class inside of paramount last year to see the grip program in action . 
i saw firsthand how the program caught the attention of the students , and it was amazing how the program engaged the students in learning and how quickly they saw the dangers in gangs . 
i urge my colleagues to oppose h.r. 1279 and instead work towards a comprehensive approach . 
