Cornyn-Backed Bill To Combat Gang Violence Approved By Judiciary Panel

Press Release

Cornyn-Backed Bill To Combat Gang Violence Approved By Judiciary Panel

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved bipartisan legislation backed by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday to fight rising gang violence, advancing the bill to the full Senate for consideration. The Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007, S. 456, establishes new crimes and tougher penalties to deter and punish members of street gangs. It also provides more than $1 billion in funding for gang enforcement, prevention and intervention programs.

"Congress should act to crack down on gang violence, which increasingly hurts communities in big cities and small towns across Texas" said Sen. Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee. "By enacting new criminal laws and tougher penalties, this bill takes needed steps toward ending gang violence wherever it exists. It is encouraging to see this legislation move to the full Senate and I urge my colleagues to support it."

The Gang Abatement and Prevention Act would help those working on the front lines in the fight against gangs by adopting new criminal laws and tougher penalties against those who commit gang-related crimes. It would also authorize funding for investigations, prosecutions and witness protection programs, and invest in successful community programs to prevent young people from joining gangs in the first place. Sen. Cornyn introduced the bill along with a bipartisan group of Senators, including Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

"This bill gives federal prosecutors the tools they need to fight the rising gang epidemic," Sen. Cornyn said. "Our action is also necessary to address the growing involvement of gangs with international crime syndicates that smuggle drugs and traffic human beings across our borders."

Key provisions of the Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007:

* Designate more than $1 billion to fund gang enforcement, prevention and intervention programs over five years;
* Replace the current federal law's sentencing enhancement for gang-related conduct with a section that directly criminalizes and penalizes criminal street gang crime, as well as related conspiracies and attempts to commit crimes in furtherance of a criminal street gang;
* Create new criminal offenses to prohibit recruitment of minors to criminal street gangs and gang recruitment in prisons;
* Increase the penalties for racketeering and other existing offenses, create a new federal crime for violence committed in furtherance of drug trafficking and establish violent crime reforms needed to effectively prosecute gang members.

Sen. Cornyn serves on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Budget Committees. In addition, he is Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee's Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee's Airland subcommittee.

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