mr. chairman , i stand today in strong opposition to h.r. 1279 , the so-called gang deterrence and community protection act . 
despite its deceptive title , its primary purpose is to punish more young people as adults . 
this bill would expand the use of the death penalty , treat juveniles as adults and impose mandatory minimum sentences . 
the research conclusively shows that prosecuting young people as adults does not reduce youth crime . 
if congress is serious about reducing youth violence , it should fund evidence-based programs that have proven effective . 
federal prosecutors are already armed with the continuing criminal enterprise , cce , and racketeer influences and corrupt organization act , rico , statutes to combat gang crimes . 
this bill would unnecessarily federalize a host of crimes currently and competently handled by the states ; penalize even non-violent crimes and misdemeanors as crimes of violence , including garden variety state offenses like resisting arrest ; expand without reason the definition of criminal street gang ; unwisely leave to the sole discretion of the government the unreviewable decision to try juveniles as adults ; impose unduly harsh and discriminatory mandatory minimum sentences ; and expand the use of the federal death penalty to new offenses . 
i agree that gang violence and youth crimes are serious concerns today . 
unfortunately , this bill does nothing in the way of jobs or education for at-risk youth . 
instead , this bill would lock up young people in adult prisons and take away judges ' discretion to review on a case-by-case basis crimes committed by youth . 
research shows that young people who are prosecuted as adults are more likely to commit a greater number of crimes upon release than youth who go through the juvenile justice system . 
locking young people up in adult prisons will actually compromise public safety . 
we know what works to prevent violent crime . 
research demonstrates the effectiveness of focused family interventions such as family therapy and multidimensional treatment foster care . 
certain school-based interventions such as the bullying prevention program and the project towards no drug abuse , and careful monitoring programs such as big brothers big sisters of america have also proven effective . 
instead of funding these programs whose empirical effectiveness can be demonstrated , supporters of this bill insist upon approaches that lack any evidence of actually deterring and reducing violent youth crime . 
furthermore , state juvenile justice systems are more appropriate and effective means for addressing youth offenses . 
studies have shown that comprehensive , locally tailored strategies are the most effective in preventing gang and youth violence . 
existing state legislation is more than adequate to comprehensively address youth violence -- increased federalization of juvenile crime is not the answer . 
the judicial conference of the united states , child advocacy groups , criminal justice groups , industry and business-oriented groups , religious , human rights and civil rights organizations all oppose this bill . 
it is the responsibility of congress to the young people of this nation and to all citizens to ensure public safety . 
i urge my colleagues to reject h.r. 1279 because it would only exacerbate youth violence in the united states . 
