if i may conclude , mr. chairman , according to the past president of the national district attorneys association , mr. robert p. mccullough , he said that `` prosecutors across the country believe that the issue of witness intimidation is the single biggest hurdle facing any successful gang prosecution. '' so i appreciate the chairman 's acceptance of this amendment . 
i look forward to these grants helping our young people avoid gangs or at least avoid intimidation . 
i believe when you talk about witness assistance programs for children , which this bill does , you have to talk about gangs because as many know youth witness intimidation generally comes at the hand of criminal gangs . 
my amendment adds language to the witness protection grants provided in this bill to allow their use by youths who are trying to leave a criminal gang or to prevent initial gang recruitment . 
unfortunately , my district like many others across the country has a problem with gangs , which is why i introduced this amendment . 
in san diego , police department records count no fewer than 3 , 750 gang members on the street . 
most are young -- pre-teens to mid-20s . 
during the first six months of this year , gang violence resulted in eight homicides in san diego , nearly a third of the total of 23 . 
however , do n't let these statistics mislead you , gang violence is not limited to california and or big urban areas -- that might have been true a while ago but it is no longer the case today . 
while big cities still have the majority of gangs their tentacles reach out from the cities into every aspect of our society . 
for example , mara salvatrucha , also known as ms-13 , has grown from a gang that once numbered a few thousand and was involved in street violence and turf battles in southern california into a gang that operates in at least 33 states , with an international membership in the hundreds of thousands . 
three thousand jurisdictions across the u.s. are estimated to have had gang activity in 2001 . 
in 2002 , 32 % of cities with a population of 25 to 50 thousand reported a gang-related homicide . 
furthermore , it is estimated that there are 840 , 000 active gang members in the u.s. operating in every state of the union . 
these gangs are effective because they bind their members to loyalty and create fear throughout the community in which they operate . 
this fear , most noticeable in children , prevents residents from cooperating with law enforcement officials and testifying against gang members . 
my amendment , while not a panacea for the gang problem , is a step in the right direction . 
it provides support to prevent initial gang recruitment and helps those young witnesses who are trying to leave criminal gangs . 
passage of my amendment will decrease youth witness intimidation by gangs and as a result lead to improved prosecution of gang members . 
according to the past president of the national district attorneys association , robert p. mccullough , `` prosecutors across the country believe that the issue of witness intimidation is the single biggest hurdle facing any successful gang prosecution. '' i could not agree with him more , which is why i am urging you to support my amendment . 
finally , as a matter of clarification , my amendment does not `` require '' states to provide such criminal gang witness assistance to be eligible for young adult witness assistance grants . 
mr. chairman , i yield back the balance of my time . 
