madam chairman , i thank the gentleman from wisconsin for the time . 
i rise today in strong support of h.r. 1279 , and i commend the gentleman from wisconsin ( chairman sensenbrenner ) for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor for a vote today . 
madam chairman , gang violence is on the rise across the united states . 
areas once thought safe harbors from crime are now under the threat of expanding gang violence . 
my district is not home to a center city area . 
it is considered a suburban area . 
bucks county is a quiet pastoral suburb of the city of philadelphia , an area bordered by farms to the north , business centers to the south , residential areas to the west , and the delaware river to the east . 
however , the majority of crime in my district takes place in a very small , concentrated area . 
but the people of bristol , bucks county , are taking the lead in cleaning up their streets . 
the hard work of don billingsley and other neighbor leaders have made bristol a shining example of the department of justice 's weed and seed initiative to take back neighborhoods from crime . 
however , bristol is under threat from gangs migrating from cities just across the river in new jersey . 
madam chairman , three things are needed to make sure gangs do not infiltrate areas like bristol : people , money , and strong anti-crime laws . 
well , in bristol , we have the money and we have financial resources through the weed and seed program , but what we need are strong laws . 
h.r. 1279 is the bill that would dissuade gangs from taking up shop in my district . 
gang violence is an issue that must be dealt with immediately . 
the house committee on the judiciary reports that over 631 gang-related homicides occurred in 2001 , perpetrated by an estimated 750 , 000 active gang members . 
gangs are directly linked to narcotics trade , human trafficking , identification document fraud , violent maiming , assault and murder , and the use of firearms to commit deadly shootings ; but the problem does not stop there . 
organized crime syndicates like the ultra-violent ms-13 have reportedly agreed to smuggle terrorists over our southern borders . 
this is now a homeland security issue . 
h.r. 1279 will apply a rico-type approach to prosecuting modern street gangs . 
at the heart of this bill are provisions that allow prosecutors to go after the gangs as an enterprise . 
rather than trying to shoehorn such cases into the existing rico statute , the new gang crime statute is narrowly tailored to address the specific problem of gangs . 
gang investigations and prosecutions take time and resources , and those resources will be provided by this bill . 
organized crime , madam chairman , has been prosecuted in the same way with long and complex trials designed to take out a number of defendants in one single prosecution , and they were successful in ending their spread . 
madam chairman , let us give our police and prosecutors the freedom to end the spread of gang violence . 
