Bobby Scott

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, it is the unfortunate reality that the House of Representatives has seen its share of unethical behavior on the part of public officials elected to represent and serve their constituents. Moreover, this problem is not one confined to Democrats or Republicans. Rather, it is a problem that we all need to recognize and take steps to address. For these reasons, and with the interest of the American people in mind, we need a fair and just manner to investigate any allegations of unethical behavior by a Member of the House. With this goal in mind, the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano) introduced H. Res. 895, and I support his efforts. H. Res. 895 takes every possible step to ensure equality, fairness, and nonpartisanship in addressing questions of ethics. It establishes a new independent Office of Congressional Ethics within the House of Representatives to be governed by a board that will be comprised of six members jointly appointed by the Speaker of the House and the minority leader. To further ensure fairness and prevent preferential treatment, current Members of the House of Representatives and lobbyists are not eligible to serve as board members. Moreover, removal of a board member may only occur with the approval of both the Speaker and the House minority leader. The Office of Congressional Ethics could include former Members of the House, but all of the members of the board would be qualified by virtue of their exceptional public standing. This office has the potential to clean up politics and, in turn, restore the public's faith in politics in the political process. This has the support of Common Cause, U.S. PIRG, and two very well- respected scholars in government and politics, Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institute and Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute. I support H. Res. 895 and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this reform.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act. I would like to thank Chairman George Miller, Ranking Member McKeon, Chairwoman McCarthy, and Ranking Member Platts for their work on this bill. H.R. 2857 reauthorizes the national service programs for the first time in over 10 years and contains many positive changes and updates for these programs. During committee consideration of the bill, I added language to make many of these programs more accessible for court- involved youth and adults, including individuals who have previously been incarcerated. I believe that getting these individuals involved in service could be a positive first step to reintegrating these individuals into their communities and giving them an avenue to begin positively participating in society. Although I support this bill, I remained concerned about one provision, which requires the recompetition of grants under the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, RSVP. During committee consideration of this bill, Congressman Hare and I submitted an amendment that would have given existing RSVP grantees in good standing priority consideration for future grants. Since that time, we have worked with the committee to improve the provision that is in the bill, including giving existing programs technical assistance and additional time to prepare for recompetition. I appreciate this work towards a more fair system. However, I believe that existing programs in good standing should be given a stronger priority in the recompetition process, whether that is by only recompeting under-performing programs such as in the Head Start program or by utilizing a prior experience point system such as in the TRIO programs. Through serving their communities for many years and in some cases decades, these existing programs have established strong ties in their communities on which many seniors rely and from which many others benefit. I remain concerned that the language in the base bill will create a recompetition process that will essentially become a grant-writing competition without consideration for current RSVP programs' experience and effectiveness. Although I remain concerned about the recompetition process for RSVP programs, I intend to support the bill and urge my colleagues to support it as well.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to rise today to congratulate the NAACP on its 99th Anniversary. As the Nation's oldest civil rights organization, the NAACP has for 99 years fought to ensure the educational, social, economic and political equality of all persons, so that all may participate and share in this country's great Democracy. The NAACP was founded by a multi-racial group of activists who answered ``The Call'' to engage in a national conference to discuss the civil rights of African Americans in the summer of 1908. That year, the NAACP embarked on its mission to ensure equal rights for all citizens and to eliminate racial prejudice in the United States. Since then, the NAACP has worked tirelessly to accomplish its mission by continually looking for ways to improve the democratic process and by seeking the enactment and enforcement of Federal, State, and local laws that secure civil rights. The NAACP furthers its mission by making the public aware of the adverse effects of racial discrimination and by seeking its elimination. The NAACP also seeks to educate the public about their constitutional rights and goes to court to enforce those rights when necessary. Shortly after its founding in the early 1900s, the NAACP undertook an anti-lynching campaign and launched a public protest when segregation was introduced into the Federal Government. The NAACP was influential in President Harry Truman's decision to issue an Executive Order in 1948 ending discrimination by the Federal Government. In 1954, the NAACP helped bring an end to segregation in public schools in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. In 1964, it worked to raise support for the passage of the Civil Rights Act. In 1979, it helped expand voter participation through voter registration in high schools. And the list goes on. Today, the NAACP continues to eliminate racial prejudice when it rears its ugly head, and informs the public of its intolerable presence when it does. It continues to act as a watchdog to protect the constitutional and civil rights of all people. And it educates the public about civil rights so that future generations will know tolerance and equality as the norm, rather than the exception. I am proud to be a Diamond Life Member of the NAACP and to have once served as President of the Newport News, Virginia branch. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the NAACP on 99 years of service to our great country and its people, and I wish them another highly successful 99 years.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation that would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to sell or exchange National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration property to/ with the city of Norfolk, Virginia. Over the last decade, the city of Norfolk has experienced tremendous economic growth. Downtown Norfolk has reemerged as the urban center of the Hampton Roads region through revitalization and new commercial and residential development. For several decades, NOAA has been an important Federal partner in downtown Norfolk's development. NOAA's Atlantic Marine Operations Center and NOAA's Chesapeake Bay office are both located in downtown Norfolk. The bill that I am introducing today, along with my colleague Congresswoman Thelma Drake, would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to sell or exchange a small piece of underutilized NOAA property located at 538 Front Street in Norfolk, consisting of 3.78 acres, to the city of Norfolk. This land sale would allow Norfolk to continue its tremendous economic growth by developing the land for commercial and residential purposes. At the same time, the bill clearly states that NOAA may only sell or exchange the property if the Secretary of Commerce determines that the conveyance would be in the best interest of the Federal government. The bill does not delineate or support any particular agreement or contract; the details of any future agreement between NOAA and the city of Norfolk would have to be worked out. This legislation would simply permit that process to get started. In addition, any sale or exchange would have to have little to no impact on Federal revenue or the deficit. The bill requires that the property be sold at a value that is not less than the fair market value as determined by the Federal government. Furthermore, it authorizes NOAA to retain any proceeds from the sale or exchange. Madam Speaker, I hope that this bill will be considered by the full House of Representatives soon. I believe this bipartisan, non- controversial legislation protects both the interests of the Federal government and the citizens of Norfolk. I urge my colleagues to support this measure when it comes before the full House.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chairman, this amendment is a significant step forward in prevention and intervention efforts to reduce juvenile and gang crime. For far too long, the Congress has focused its crime policy on waiting for crimes to occur before anything is done. This has contributed to what the experts at the Children's Defense Fund call the ``cradle to prison pipeline.'' Since 1970, the number of individuals incarcerated in the United States has risen from over 300,000 to over 2 million. Initiatives such as this, along with initiatives such as the Youth Promise Act, will create investments in strategies that deal with the root cause of crime, resulting in greater crime reduction and a cost savings to taxpayers. We must begin making meaningful investments in our Nation's youth, and this amendment is a strong step in that direction. I thank Representatives Hastings and Sanchez for their leadership and encourage my colleagues to support the amendment.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007. I would like to thank Chairman George Miller, Ranking Member McKeon, Chairman Hinojosa, and Ranking Member Keller for their work on this bill, which goes a long way toward making higher education attainable for all. The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 contains several helpful provisions for students. First, the bill increases the authorized maximum Pell Grant award from $5,800 to $9,000. In addition, the bill further decreases student interest rates. The bill also includes a feasibility study on giving students more flexibility in refinancing their loans by making student loans more like home mortgages, in which borrowers can switch back and forth from variable rates to fixed rates as the market's conditions change. H.R. 4137 increases support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions. This bill also helps schools affected by a disaster. An Education Disaster and Emergency Relief Loan Program is created to provide emergency loan funds to schools after a Federal declared major disaster or emergency, including those schools affected by the 2005 Gulf Hurricanes. Additionally, the bill requires the Secretary to create a disaster relief plan for schools and LEAs adversely affected by disasters. The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007 also addresses several additional critical issues. The bill provides loan forgiveness for areas of national need, including early childhood educators, child welfare workers, school counselors, and mental health professionals. In addition, the bill creates a grant program, to help nonprofit organizations, in collaboration with higher education institutions and their students, that seek to promote cultural diversity in the entertainment media industry. Finally, the bill creates a new competitive grant program to strengthen and develop college-level programs in the rapidly growing field of modeling and simulation. I am pleased that the bill also includes a study to be performed by GAO on whether any race, ethnicity, or gender biases are present in the design of standardized tests used for admission to institutions of higher learning. This language should enable GAO to acquire data from the testing companies because of the link between the tests and the federal money that the schools receive who use these admissions tests. H.R. 4137 also seeks to make campuses more safe by creating a National Center for Campus Public Safety to train campus public safety agencies, encourage research to strengthen college safety and security, and serve as a clearinghouse for the dissemination of relevant campus public safety information. The bill also requires the Department of Education to conform hate crime reporting requirements to FBI guidelines to more accurately report incidents of hate crimes on our campuses. Finally, the bill includes several positive changes to the TRIO programs, which provide assistance to low-income and first generation college-going students. The bill eliminates unreasonable evaluation requirements imposed on Upward Bound programs by the Department of Education without requiring a recompetition. In addition, the bill creates an appeals process for TRIO programs to ensure that the grantmaking process is fair and equitable. One item not addressed in H.R. 4137 is the provision under current law that prohibits students who are convicted of certain drug offenses from receiving federal student financial aid. This provision unfairly targets poor and minority students, increases long-term costs to society, creates double jeopardy for students who have already paid their debt to society, and lacks evidence of effectiveness. For these reasons and others, I hope that we can address this critical access issue as this bill moves through the legislative process. For the foregoing reasons, I support the bill and urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, H.R. 3971 is entitled the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2008. It will reauthorize the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 which actually expired on December 31, 2006. This is a bipartisan effort which I introduced with my colleague from Virginia, Representative Randy Forbes, and who was, at that time, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime. Its purpose is to provide continued and improved oversight over the conduct of law enforcement officials during arrest and imprisonment of fellow citizens. Before the enactment of the Death in Custody Act of 2000, States and localities had no uniform requirements for reporting the circumstances surrounding the deaths of persons in their custody, and some had no system for requiring such reports. The lack of uniform reporting requirements made it impossible to ascertain how many people were dying in custody and from what causes, although estimates by those concerned suggested that there were more than 1,000 deaths in custody each year, some under very suspicious circumstances. Consequently, an environment of suspicion and concern arose surrounding many of those deaths. Some that were ruled suicides or deaths from natural causes were suspected of being homicides committed by officers, fellow prisoners or others. Indifference to prisoner rights and the safety of those in custody made scrutiny of suspected deaths a low priority, so such questionable causes were rarely investigated. In the mid-1980s, researchers, reporters, prison and jail accreditation organizations, prison reformers, activists, and others began to give more scrutiny to the death rate in our Nation's jails and prisons and to the fact that such deaths were not being routinely reported to anybody. In fact, by 1986, only 25 States and the District of Columbia even had jail inspection units. Moreover, even the States that did report deaths did it on the basis of different reporting standards. The insufficient data and the lack of uniformity of the data collected made oversight of prisoner safety woefully inadequate. However, the interest in oversight that emerged shed light on the conditions in State and local jails, which began a rising tide of wrongful death litigation. The increasing litigation forced some measure of accountability, and conditions somewhat improved. Moreover, activism and news of the litigation spurned by media interests, and that shed further light on the conditions in our present jails and prisons. The watershed moment for bringing the death in custody rate to national attention occurred in 1995. After a 1-year investigation by journalist Mike Masterson into prison conditions and the death rate of persons in custody, the Asbury Park Press of New Jersey ran a series of award-winning editorials that brought the seriousness of the lack of reporting to the Nation's attention. The editorials went on to detail abuses, including racially motivated violence, overzealous police investigations, cover-ups and general law enforcement incompetence, which prompted Congress to take action. Following successive introduction of bills in several Congresses by my colleagues from Arkansas, first Representative Tim Hutchinson, then later Representative Asa Hutchinson, the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 was passed. The law required States receiving certain Federal grants to comply with reporting requirements established by the Attorney General. Since the enactment in 2000, the Bureau of Justice Statistics has compiled a number of statistics detailing the circumstances of prisoner deaths, the rate of deaths in prison and jails, and the rate of deaths based on the size of various facilities and so forth. But the most astounding statistic reported since the enactment of the bill before is the latest Bureau of Justice statistics report dated August 2005, which shows a 64 percent decline in suicides and a 93 percent decline in homicides in custody since 1980. Those statistics showing a significant decline in the death rate in our Nation's prisons and jails since stricter oversight has been in place suggest that the oversight measures, such as the Death in Custody Reporting Act, play an important role in ensuring the safety and security of prisoners who are in the custody of State facilities. In considering the reauthorization of the bill, the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security examined the statistics and heard testimony from witnesses whose testimony also supported the suggestion that oversight has actually improved conditions. Convinced of the effectiveness of the Death in Custody Act, we resolved to not only reauthorize it but also improve it. To ascertain the most effective use of the statistical data, H.R. 3971 differs from the original bill in that it authorizes $500,000 for a study to determine which policies and procedures have, in fact, led to or at least assisted the decreasing death rate among prisoners. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my good friend, Mr. Forbes, for his support of the bill. I encourage my colleagues to support it. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3971) to encourage States to report to the Attorney General certain information regarding the deaths of individuals in the custody of law enforcement agencies, as amended.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I have no other speakers, and I urge my colleagues to support the legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlelady from Texas, a member of the Judiciary Committee, Ms. Jackson-Lee.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3992) to amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide grants for the improved mental health treatment and services provided to offenders with mental illnesses, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3992, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2007. Since the 1960s, State mental health hospitals have increasingly reduced their populations of mentally ill individuals in response to a nationwide call for deinstitutionalization. The move toward deinstitutionalization was based on the fact that mentally ill individuals are constitutionally entitled to refuse treatment, or at least to have it provided in the least restrictive environment. Unfortunately, neither the local governments for the States nor the Federal Government have invested the necessary resources to meet the needs for community-based mental health treatment and services created and needed by deinstitutionalization. A 2006 report by the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics entitled ``Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates'' suggests that the criminal justice system has become, by default, the primary caregiver of the most seriously mentally ill individuals. The bureau reports that over one-half of the prison and jail population of this country is mentally ill. More specifically, 56 percent of State prisoners, 45 percent of Federal prisoners, and 64 percent of jail inmates have some degree of mental illness. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill reports that, on any given day, there are at least 284,000 seriously mentally ill people in hospitals and jails in this country, such as people suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or serious depression. However, only 187,000 of them are in mental health facilities. This issue is of particular concern in Virginia, my home State. In August of 2007, the Virginia General Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission released a 200-page report on the state of mental health services in Virginia. The report revealed a number of disturbing facts, among them that there are more people with mental illness behind bars in Virginia than there are in mental health facilities, with hospital care accounting for only a fraction of the needs of our State's estimated 400,000 mentally ill individuals in Virginia. Since deinstitutionalization in Virginia, the daily number of mentally ill adults in State hospitals has dropped from 11,532 to 1,452, a drop of 87 percent. Of the 6,350 mentally ill individuals in hospitals and jails on a given day, 60 percent were actually in jails because regional mental health facilities are not providing inpatient mental health services. Since 1991, the number of psychiatric beds available has dropped by 800, or 31 percent, and the beds that are available are concentrated in one area of the State. In fact, there are no freestanding, profitable psychiatric hospitals west of Richmond. These findings in Virginia are similar to those across the Nation that were discussed at a hearing that we held this spring in our subcommittee which revealed that our criminal justice system is serving as the primary caregiver for our mentally ill individuals. One piece of good news in all of this focus on mental health in the criminal justice system is that mental health courts have proven to be a helpful tool for helping mentally ill individuals in several communities that have such programs. H.R. 3992 will assist further in this regard. First, it will reauthorize the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction grant program, increasing the current authorization from $50 million to $75 million. It will also reauthorize the mental health courts program, and will expand the permissible use of funds to include pretrial services and funding for alternatives to incarceration. Additionally, H.R. 3992 creates four new grant programs. One will provide grants to States and other law enforcement agencies to help officers learn how to access individuals with mental health illnesses and to work with the local agencies to provide the most effective placement for a person in custody. Another program will provide grants to help correctional agencies learn how to identify and screen mentally ill prisoners so they can get help while incarcerated, or even be placed in alternatives to incarceration. These grants will also help correctional services plan for reentry into the community. Another program provides grants to States to coordinate and improve the treatment of mentally ill offenders, including facilitating information sharing between agencies. The grant will also encourage States to promote evidence-based practices to improve treatment and services. Lastly, a new program will provide States and units of local government to improve the treatment of female offenders with mental illnesses and create family support services and intensive case management. The total cost for the new programs will be $35 million for fiscal years 2008 through 2013. That amount is much less than we are currently spending on incarcerating mentally ill offenders who often have to be placed not only in isolated cells, but also in isolated areas to avoid disturbance of other inmates. Despite common misconceptions, the majority of mentally ill people who are arrested and incarcerated are low-level, nonviolent offenders. These programs will help jurisdictions to assist mentally ill persons and help keep them from unnecessarily going to jails and prisons. I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I include for the Record a letter from the Council of State Governments Justice Center in support of this legislation. Justice Center, The Council of State Governments, Bethesda, MD, October 24, 2007. Hon. Robert c. Scott, Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC. Hon. Randy Forbes, Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Congressman Scott and Forbes: On behalf of the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, we want to thank you for introducing the ``Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2007''. We are grateful to you for your leadership and continued support of the program. The CSG Justice Center serves all states to promote effective data-driven practices--particularly in areas in which the criminal justice system intersects with other systems, such as mental health--to increase public safety and strengthen communities. Consistent with this mission, we have committed for some time to convening and supporting leaders in the criminal justice and mental health systems to improve the criminal justice system's response to people with mental illness. Since the authorization of the Mentally Ill Offender Act, the program has helped states and counties design and implement collaborative efforts between the criminal justice and mental health systems. The grants can be used for a broad range of activities, including mental health courts, mental health and substance abuse treatment for incarcerated mentally ill offenders, community re-entry services, and cross-training of criminal justice, law enforcement, and mental health personnel. As you know, approximately 16 percent of the adult jail and prison population (350,000 individuals) has a serious mental illness, according to a study by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. The DOJ also estimates that the prevalence of emotional disturbances among youth in our juvenile justice facilities is even higher. Many of these individuals have not been charged with violent crimes, but rather low level misdemeanors. Treating offenders with mental illnesses in the community can save money by avoiding the high cost-per-day of jail and prison stays and expensive psychiatric services during incarceration. The Mentally Ill Offender program provides assistance to states and communities to develop new--or expand existing--programs that can both increase public safety and help these individuals return to productive lives. We are very grateful for your continued leadership on this important issue. We look forward to working with you in support of the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization Act. Its enactment is one of our top federal priorities. Sincerely, Michael Festa, Executive Secretary of Elder Affairs, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Thomas Stickrath, Director. Ohio Department of Youth Service. Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas. Pat Colloton, Kansas House of Representatives. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their leadership on this issue and I urge the House to support this important legislation. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H. Res. 852, joining the strong bipartisan effort to raise awareness in the toll that stalking takes on our society. Every year, stalking affects approximately 1.4 million Americans of both genders, all races, ages, sexual orientation, disabilities, and economic status. The consequences of stalking are serious. Stalking can paralyze the victim with fear, which is well founded, because stalking often leads to physical attacks from the victim. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of States, the District of Columbia, and the Federal Government not only recognize stalking as a crime, but categorize it as a felony. Stalkers cause their victims severe emotional distress, including anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction and depression, all of which can affect all aspects on a person's life, including family, social activities and work. In fact, the emotional distress is so disabling that 11 percent of stalking victims have been forced to relocate their homes, 30 percent report seeking psychological counseling, and 74 percent report being stalked in a way that interferes with their employment. Of course, the ultimate threat of stalking is to the victim's very life. Over 75 percent of women murdered by an intimate partner had been stalked by that partner, and 54 percent of female murder victims had reported being stalked to police before being killed by their stalkers. With the rapid advancements in technology, stalkers have ever-increasing access to personal information of their victims, raising their victims' vulnerability to an all-time high. For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 852 and recognizing January 2008 as National Stalking Awareness Month. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 852) raising awareness and encouraging prevention of stalking by establishing January 2008 as ``National Stalking Awareness Month,'' as amended.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 261, introduced by my friend and colleague from Virginia's Second Congressional District, Congresswoman Thelma Drake, to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the sailing of the Navy's ``Great White Fleet'' from Hampton Roads, Virginia. On December 16, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt dispatched sixteen new battleships at the 1907 Jamestown Exposition on a global deployment to show the world that the United States had emerged as a global naval power. These sixteen ships were painted white, with gilded scrollwork on their bows, and became known as the ``Great White Fleet.'' Made up of four squadrons of four battleships each and manned by 14,000 sailors, the ships sailed 43,000 miles and made 20 port calls on six continents in 14 months. The fleet helped shore up American diplomatic efforts and friendships around the world, proving the success of pragmatic diplomatic policy. The fleet was greeted enthusiastically in nearly every port, where people in the thousands turned out to see America's new fleet. The fleet also responded to one of the worst earthquakes in European history by diverting to Sicily to offer humanitarian aid to the people of Italy. On February 22, 1909, President Roosevelt returned to Hampton Roads, Virginia to witness the triumphant return of the ``Great White Fleet.'' President Roosevelt saw the fleet's successful global voyage as one of his administration's major accomplishments by enhancing the role of the United States in international affairs. Few can deny the historical importance of President Roosevelt's decision to deploy the ``Great White Fleet'' around the world. Seven of the 16 great battleships that constituted the ``Great White Fleet'' were built in my hometown of Newport News, Virginia at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, today known as Northrop Grumman Newport News. Although the ``Great White Fleet'' demonstrated that America was an emerging seapower, the success of the ``Great White Fleet'' made Newport News and the Hampton Roads area a powerhouse for shipbuilding. One hundred years later, Northrop Grumman Newport News is still leading the way in the shipbuilding industry by building some of the most powerful and advanced ships for the United States Navy. Northrop Grumman Newport News has already begun work on the U.S.S. Gerald Ford, the newest and most advanced generation of air craft carrier, to lead the U.S. Navy into the 21st century. Mr. Speaker, the voyage of the ``Great White Fleet'' has proven to be a pivotal event in the history of this great Nation. While impacting the entire United States, the impression of the ``Great White Fleet'' can be most felt in Hampton Roads, Virginia. In addition to being home to one of the Nation's most important shipbuilding facilities at Newport News, the world's largest naval base is located just across the Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Virginia. The citizens of Hampton Roads should feel very proud about the role of our region in one of the most important nautical voyages in American history. I urge my colleagues to support this important concurrent resolution.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the slaughtering of individuals simply because they are a member of a certain ethnic or racial group has occurred throughout history, and, regrettably, continues today. As we witnessed, as many as 800,000 of the Tutsi minority, men, women and children, were murdered in Rwanda. Mass violence has occurred against civilians in Bosnia, where up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys were systematically executed. The obligations of the United States under the Genocide Convention are in the criminal code in title 18 beginning at section 1091. Genocide is defined as having the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. The code offers severe punishment for anyone who commits genocide within the United States. The law also makes it a Federal crime for a U.S. national to commit genocide anywhere in the world. Fortunately, there has not been a need to use the law against anyone now covered by it. However, by only covering genocide if it is committed in this country or committed by a U.S. national, we leave a gap which allows non-U.S. persons who commit genocide elsewhere to come to this country with impunity under our laws. To this end, the Senator from Illinois, Senator Durbin, and the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) introduced identical legislation designed to amend title 18 of the United States Code to expand jurisdiction of genocide over the following categories of people who have committed genocide outside of the United States: (1) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence; (2) a stateless person whose habitual residence is in the United States; or (3) an individual physically present in the United States. Similar to the legislation before us, many other Federal laws, including those laws that criminalize torture, allow for the extraterritorial jurisdiction over crimes committed outside the United States by those present in the United States. Genocide continues to be a threat in the world and we should attack it wherever we find it. In Darfur, we see the tragic replay of suffering and death. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people who have been killed, raped, tortured, or forced to flee, and over 2 million people have been driven from their homes. For them, the commitment of ``never again'' after the Holocaust rings hollow. The United States should have the ability to prosecute those who find safe haven in the United States for their acts of genocide. The Genocide Accountability Act would end this impunity gap in the genocide law. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to adopt this important legislation.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, arson is indeed a very serious problem, costing over $1 billion in property damage annually and endangering the lives of citizens and especially our firefighters. Arson has also one of the lowest arrest and conviction rates, and law enforcement needs new tools to enhance their capabilities to solve arson crimes. Unfortunately, the evidence presented in committee was that the State of California already has a registry similar to the one contemplated in the bill and no arsons have been solved by that database. Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, I would need to point out another concern I have with H.R. 1759 in its current form. That concern relates to the treatment of juveniles under the proposed bill. Juveniles who are charged and convicted as adults for arson offenses would be required to register in the newly created arson offender registry. As research clearly indicates, of all offenders, juveniles are the least culpable due to immature brain development, and they have the greatest capacity for rehabilitation. Branding them as an offender in a State or national register is not only improper, it's counterproductive. Requiring young offenders to register in a State or national offender database counters the concept of ensuring the proper development of juveniles because it is inconsistent with rehabilitative efforts. Although H.R. 1759 properly ensures that only law enforcement will have access to information on the registries, law enforcement officers will undoubtedly use the information to label and target youth for further arrests. Once law enforcement has certain youngsters on their radar, those youngsters would be targets and more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for even minor nonviolent conduct because law enforcement officials have their names on a list. In summary, I agree that law enforcement needs effective tools to combat the devastation of arson causes, and I want to thank the gentlewoman from California for her hard work in developing the bill and making many improvements in the bill from its original form. However, I still have concerns about the cost effectiveness of the proposal in the bill as well as concerns, the impact the legislation will have on juvenile offenders.

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007. Human trafficking for exploitive labor, sex or other exploitive reasons, is equivalent to modern-day slavery in many instances and requires a concerted effort among the nations of the world not only to control it, but eventually to end it. I am pleased that the United States is leading an effort to root out this dreadful form of misery and suffering, and I am proud to be part of that effort. Of course, we need to make sure that we do what we can to stop and prevent it here in the United States. In this regard, I am particularly pleased with the provisions in the bill which strengthen the ability of the Department of Justice to deal with abusive commercial sex traffickers who have been able to victimize women and children with relative impunity because of the difficulty of getting victims to testify as to force, fraud or coercive tactics or to show that they were trafficked across State lines. The bill also strengthens the ability of the Department of Justice to address domestic sex trafficking by transferring the responsibility of the prosecuting domestic sex trafficking cases from the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice to the Criminal Division, both when it is commercial sex trafficking, where force, fraud and coercion can be proved, and when it is trafficking where force, fraud and coercion cannot be proved. The Civil Rights Division continues to have jurisdiction in cases where slavery is involved, but the existence of force, fraud or coercion in commercial sex trafficking cases in and of itself does not constitute the conditions of slavery which the Civil Rights Division prosecutes as a civil rights violation. For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I support the bill and urge my colleagues to support it.