Cornyn Hosts Meeting to Address Ongoing Efforts to Combat Gang Crime, Violence

Press Release

Cornyn Hosts Meeting to Address Ongoing Efforts to Combat Gang Crime, Violence

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn today visited San Antonio and met with local law enforcement, city officials and safety advocates to discuss challenges the community faces, local efforts to curb violence, and legislation he has introduced to help San Antonio eliminate gang violence and related crime. After a roundtable discussion with representatives from San Antonio Fighting Back (SAFB), the city council, and local police, Sen. Cornyn and participants hosted a press conference.

"After meeting with local law enforcement, San Antonio officials and area safety advocates, I am encouraged by the local sense of responsibility and commitment to keeping neighborhood streets and schools safe and gang-free. Together with law enforcement and city leaders, groups like San Antonio Fighting Back are making a positive difference for children and families in San Antonio," Sen. Cornyn said.

"I am particularly interested in local efforts to prevent crime. In recent years, our most effective focus has been on bringing criminals to justice and on punishment. These efforts have a strong deterrent value, but initiatives to stop crime before it occurs - before criminal acts are committed and before citizens are victimized by criminal behavior - are also worth attempting. I'm encouraged that community leaders are pursuing these ideas as well.

"In the U.S. Senate, I have and will continue to do my part to put policies in place that provide the necessary funding, tools and resources to Texas communities in the fight against crime and gang violence. But the crime-fighting measures that I work to implement on the federal level are only as strong as the commitment of local community members. Thankfully, San Antonio is in good hands. Local leaders are resolved to root out crime and gang violence and ensure that San Antonio continues to thrive and be an excellent place to live, work and raise a family."

Sen. Cornyn has been actively working to implement policies on the national level that complement and further the hard work of local Texas communities and organizations like SAFB in working to prevent gang violence to keep their streets and schools safe.

Sen. Cornyn is an original co-sponsor of the bipartisan Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007, legislation that recently passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, which establishes new criminal laws 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. In addition, Sen. Cornyn recently introduced the Violent Crime Control Act, a wide-reaching bill that builds on provisions in the Gang Abatement and Prevention Act to strengthen and expand criminal laws, such as tougher sentences and penalties for child sex offenders, human traffickers and other dangerous felons.

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.

The Gang Abatement and Prevention Act will do the following:

* 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.

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