mr. chairman , i want to remind members of the house that murders are already illegal . 
intentional murder subjects you to either the death penalty or mandatory life . 
racketeering and those other charges are illegal . 
the mandatory minimums in the bill apply to second-offense fist fights , and i guess if you are an illegal immigrant , you get an additional 5 years mandatory minimum . 
if that is not enough , mr. chairman , we have already said that , for those 25 to 29 in the african-american community , 1 out of 8 are already in jail today . 
apparently , that is not enough penalty , and we need to increase it . 
the sentencing commission has studied the impact of mandatory minimum sentences and have found that they not only violate the entire purpose of the sentencing commission , but they are also applied in a racially discriminatory manner . 
we also have found , mr. chairman , that the rand corporation has studied mandatory minimums and found that it is not a cost-effective sentencing scheme . 
they found that compared to a more intelligent scheme where the more serious criminals get more time and less serious get less time , mandatory minimums are less effective in reducing crime . 
they are also much less effective than drug rehabilitation for drug penalties . 
so we have the rand corporation designating mandatory minimums as a waste of the taxpayers ' money . 
the judicial conference of the united states , the chief justice of the united states presiding , has written us a letter saying , not only that trying juveniles as adults is bad policy but also the mandatory minimums , and they have maintained opposition to mandatory minimums since 1953 . 
they write : the reason is manifest . 
mandatory minimums severely distort and damage the federal sentencing system . 
mandatory minimums undermine the sentencing guideline regime congress so carefully established in the sentencing reform act of 1984 by preventing the rational development of guidelines that reduce unwanted disparity and provide proportionality and fairness . 
mandatory minimums also destroy honesty in sentencing by encouraging charge and fact plea bargains . 
in fact , the u.s. sentencing commission has documented that mandatory minimums have the opposite of their intended effect . 
far from fostering certainty in punishment , mandatory minimums result in unwarranted sentencing disparity . 
mandatory minimums also treat dissimilar offenders in a similar fashion , although these offenders can be quite different with respect to the seriousness of their conduct or their danger to society . 
finally , mandatory minimums require the sentencing court to impose the same sentence on offenders when sound policy and common sense call for reasonable differences and punishment . 
accordingly , we respectfully request that the expansion of the federal criminal justice system over juvenile offenders be seriously reconsidered , and that the mandatory minimum sentences provision in the bill be removed . 
mr. chairman , that is exactly what this amendment does , and i would hope that the amendment would be adopted . 
