mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time .  mr. speaker , i have worked with gangs at home in conjunction with our police department , and there is a way to start prevention .  i recognize that the crimes that have been mentioned here this morning are crimes that should be punished .  i believe if you do the crime , you do the time .  but i also believe that you can prevent this with young people .  i dialogued with members of a gang several years ago , shortly after i heard that the people are coming from los angeles to start gangs .  and in dialoguing with these young people , i first had to understand what they were saying .  that gang activity has been converted to something positive because i encouraged it .  i said , stay together but do not do crime stuff , do things positive .  that is what they have done .  they have even run people for office .  you have got to not give up on young people .  americans deserve a bill that would successfully combat gang activity and violence .  this bill does fall short of that .  this bill fails to address the root of the problem .  even though law enforcement is vital , we must try to prevent gang activities before they occur .  prevention programs can save many lives and many dollars .  it is a lot cheaper to prevent all this crime and prevent them going to jail and for them to stay in school .  of the $ 50 million appropriated in this bill , not one penny goes toward prevention .  you can call it play .  you can call it anything you want .  but in-school and after-school prevention programs successfully teach young people the skills they need to combat peer pressure .  they target environmental risk factors by teaching young people conflict resolution skills , cultural sensitivity and the negative aspects of gang life , if it is violent .  these young people want to be a part of something , and it might as well be a positive experience .  we must stop the violence at the source .  if we do not put forth that activity , that is when it gravitates to what he just discussed .  we must give our young people a path to success not just a path to prison .  