mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , i think it is important for me to say on behalf of most of the members , if not all of the members of the congress of the united states of america , we are all against crime . 
we do not support criminals . 
we are indeed passionate about victims . 
we want hard-core criminals off the streets . 
what we do not support is using this terrible issue to get your law and order credentials on . 
we do not want you using this issue on the backs of young people who may be victims of gangs rather than criminals themselves . 
let me just say this : we are against mandatory minimum sentencing because it takes away the discretion of the judge . 
the judge may give more time , given all of the facts . 
and , yes , they may give less time , given all of the facts . 
we need to let judges be judges . 
we can not sit here in the congress of the united states and continue to take away the ability of judges to make decisions . 
so i stand here today with this amendment to say , let the judges make the decision . 
you do not know if there is a kid who happens to live in a neighborhood that is infested with gang members and they must pretend to be in the gang in order to survive . 
do you want that kid caught up in a situation where they are going to be given mandatory minimum sentencing , when they did not have an opportunity to have a judge understand what the extenuating circumstances were ? 
i do not think that is good legislating , nor is it good public policy . 
i would ask my colleagues to please support this amendment . 
