[Pages H1403-H1406]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

TIFFANY JOSLYN JUVENILE ACCOUNTABILITY BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2019

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass
the bill (H.R. 494) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 to reauthorize the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant
program, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 494

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Tiffany Joslyn Juvenile
Accountability Block Grant Program Reauthorization Act of
2019''.

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF JUVENILE ACCOUNTABILITY BLOCK
GRANT PROGRAM.

Part R of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796ee et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 1801(b)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``graduated sanctions''
and inserting ``graduated sanctions and incentives'';
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``hiring juvenile court
judges, probation officers, and court-appointed defenders and
special advocates, and'';
(C) by striking paragraphs (4) and (7), and redesignating
paragraphs (5) through (17) as paragraphs (4) through (15),
respectively; and
(D) in paragraph (11), as so redesignated, by striking
``research-based bullying, cyberbullying, and gang prevention
programs'' and inserting ``interventions such as researched-
based anti-bullying, anti-cyberbullying, and gang prevention
programs, as well as mental health services and trauma-
informed practices'';
(2) in section 1802--
(A) in subsection (d)(3), by inserting after
``individualized sanctions'' the following: ``,
incentives,'';
(B) in subsection (e)(1)(B), by striking ``graduated
sanctions'' and inserting ``graduated sanctions and
incentives''; and
(C) in subsection (f)--
(i) in paragraph (2)--

(I) by inserting after ``A sanction may include'' the
following: ``a range of court-approved interventions, such
as''; and
(II) by inserting after ``a fine,'' the following: ``a
restorative justice program,''; and

(ii) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Incentives.--The term `incentives' means
individualized, goal-oriented, and graduated responses to a
juvenile offender's compliance with court orders and case
disposition terms designed to reinforce or modify the skills
and behaviors of the juvenile offender. An incentive may
include a certificate of achievement, a letter of
recommendation, a family or program activity, a meeting or
special outing with a community leader, a reduction in
community service hours, a reduced curfew or home
restriction, a decrease in required court appearances, or a
decrease in the term of court-ordered supervision.'';
(3) in section 1810(a), by striking ``$350,000,000 for each
of fiscal years 2006 through 2009'' and inserting
``$30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024'';
and
(4) by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 1811. GRANT ACCOUNTABILITY.

``(a) Definition of Applicable Committees.--In this
section, the term `applicable committees' means--
``(1) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and
``(2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives.
``(b) Accountability.--All grants awarded by the Attorney
General under this part shall be subject to the following
accountability provisions:
``(1) Audit requirement.--
``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term `unresolved
audit finding' means a finding in the final audit report of
the Inspector General of the Department of Justice that the
audited grantee has utilized grant funds for an unauthorized
expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed
or resolved within 12 months after the date on which the
final audit report is issued.
``(B) Audit.--Beginning in the first fiscal year beginning
after the date of enactment of this section, and in each
fiscal year thereafter, the Inspector General of the
Department of Justice shall conduct audits of recipients of
grants awarded by the Attorney General under this part to
prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by grantees. The
Inspector General shall determine the appropriate number of
grantees to be audited each year.
``(C) Mandatory exclusion.--A recipient of grant funds
under this part that is found to have an unresolved audit
finding shall not be eligible to receive grant funds under
this part during the first 2 fiscal years beginning after the
end of the 12-month period described in subparagraph (A).
``(D) Priority.--In awarding grants under this part, the
Attorney General shall give priority to eligible applicants
that did not have an unresolved audit finding during the 3
fiscal years before submitting an application for a grant
under this part.
``(E) Reimbursement.--If an entity is awarded grant funds
under this part during the 2-fiscal-year period during which
the entity is barred from receiving grants under subparagraph
(C), the Attorney General shall--
``(i) deposit an amount equal to the amount of the grant
funds that were improperly awarded to the grantee into the
General Fund of the Treasury; and
``(ii) seek to recoup the costs of the repayment to the
fund from the grant recipient that was erroneously awarded
grant funds.
``(2) Annual certification.--Beginning in the first fiscal
year beginning after the date of enactment of this section,
the Attorney General shall submit to the applicable
committees an annual certification--
``(A) indicating whether--
``(i) all audits issued by the Inspector General of the
Department of Justice under paragraph (1) have been completed
and reviewed by the appropriate Assistant Attorney General or
Director;
``(ii) all mandatory exclusions required under paragraph
(1)(C) have been issued; and
``(iii) all reimbursements required under paragraph (1)(E)
have been made; and
``(B) that includes a list of any grant recipients excluded
under paragraph (1) from the previous year.
``(c) Preventing Duplicative Grants.--
``(1) In general.--Before the Attorney General awards a
grant to an applicant under this part, the Attorney General
shall compare potential grant awards with other grants
awarded under this part by the Attorney General to determine
if duplicate grant awards are awarded for the same purpose.
``(2) Report.--If the Attorney General awards duplicate
grants under this part to the same applicant for the same
purpose, the Attorney General shall submit to the applicable
committees a report that includes--
``(A) a list of all duplicate grants awarded under this
part, including the total dollar amount of any duplicate
grants awarded; and
``(B) the reason the Attorney General awarded the duplicate
grants.''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of the Congress that the use of best
practices is encouraged for all activities for which grants
under part R of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 may be used.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR JUVENILE
ACCOUNTABILITY BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM.

Section 1001(a)(16) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(a)(16)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(16) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
projects under part R $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2020 through 2024.''.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.

General Leave

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include

[[Page H1404]]

extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, this is a very special bill to my heart and to my
constituents and to the many, many advocates dealing with the
reformation of the juvenile justice system and the importance of such.
I would like to take note of many of them, but, in particular, the
National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Council and
Coalition that represent decades of work all over the Nation,
organizations that recognize that the best place for our young
juveniles that have had some encounter with the system is not in a
detention-like jail.
I hope that as we move forward on criminal justice reform and
juvenile justice reform that we can reform the places and the attitudes
toward juveniles who run awry of the system all over the Nation.
This bill is named for Tiffany May Joslyn, a champion for criminal
justice reform, who formerly served as deputy chief counsel of the
Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations Subcommittee,
and whose life tragically was cut short on March 5, 2016, in a car
accident, which sadly also claimed the life of her brother Derrick. She
was just 33 years old.
Her family loved her. Her family still remembers how much she talked
about her work on the House Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on
Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations that I served on
at that time as the ranking member.
So passage of this bill last Congress in this body was both bitter
and sweet, but I would understand that Tiffany, in the place where she
is, would have been proud as she championed these causes fearlessly.
This moment is for both her and for all of the millions of young people
that will be helped by this bill.
We worked very hard on this bill, and it is a bipartisan bill. It
has, I believe, those who have an interest in doing the very best for
our Nation and for our young people.
The Tiffany Joslyn bill will help stem the epidemic of juveniles
within the criminal justice system by reauthorizing the juvenile
justice system and the juvenile accountability block grant program and
providing funding to State and local governments for the creation of
antibullying and antigang prevention programs and intervention.
It is clearly important to recognize that it is only us that can
begin to reframe the old-fashioned attitudes about ``lock'em up.'' We
know that there was a period of time, Mr. Speaker, when it was a shift
so that schools and the education system were saying: Get the bad
apples out of your classroom, not even into the principal's office or
not even into the auditorium for detention.
They leaped from the classroom into the hands of law enforcement
officers who then, as we have seen some of the untoward actions, had to
wrestle them down or there was emotional encounters, but they went
downtown, as many of us would say, to the county jail or to the
detention center.
We hope that we will provide other tools to be able to intervene on
behaviors by way of providing resources to some of our well-documented
groups and organizations and new ones that have creative ways of
intervening in a juvenile's life. How many of us have heard the story
of how a pilot, a lawyer, a doctor started out their life, and then how
they wound up as being contributing citizens because someone
intervened. This bill is about intervention.
In addition to reauthorizing the juvenile justice programs, the
Tiffany Joslyn Juvenile Accountability Block Grant, and the Bullying
Prevention and Intervention Act clarifies how to address the
occurrences of bullying through developmentally appropriate
intervention and prevention techniques, which center on evidence-based
models and best practices.
Best practices bring people together, because it doesn't matter
whether you are Republican or Democrat, it brings people together, and
that is best practices that rely on schools and communities rather than
the involvement from law enforcement and the justice system.
What we want is to put a big red stop sign in front of the life of
every juvenile that might be awry with the system, and procedures and
rules to be able to find an alternative way.
H.R. 494 is designed to help both the victims and perpetrators of
bullying. Research studies have shown that approximately 25 percent of
school bullies will be convicted of a criminal offense in their adult
years. Let's put a stop sign there. Let's not have that happen.

{time} 1300

We also recognize that cyberbullying has become an epidemic,
particularly for young people. Their life is centered around
technology. Many times they are in their home, bedroom, et cetera, only
with technology, and they use that in a way--because their brains are
not matured until 25 and over, they use it in a way that they don't
fully comprehend how vicious, how devastating this could be to the
receiver of that information, how exposing that could be to the
receiver of that information.
Let's get in their lives. Let's use this legislation to do so.
It also includes provisions for gang prevention programs which will
help guide our children toward socially beneficial paths. If we want
our children to learn, we must be able to maintain a safe and healthy
school environment.
Bullying is a massive issue in our Nation's schools. Over the years,
I have worked with young children as young as 10 or 12. Some of them
have organized their own antibullying organizations, looking to us to
affirm them, and I hope in this legislation we will have the
opportunity to do so. If we want our children to learn, that is what we
must do.
The National Center for Educational Studies shows that 14 percent of
12- to 18-year-olds surveyed reported being victims of direct or
indirect bullying. One out of four kids is bullied. Cyberbullying is in
the midst of that. That is why I urge my colleagues to support this
important legislation.
I also urge them to consider that we may have short memories on some
things, but I am sure many of us can go back and remember that middle
school, that early age leading up to 18 and then going off, some to
college and some on, at some point, to work. We remember that
indecisive moment. We remember wanting to have friends and wanting to
be liked. And then we remember the alternative of those who might take
advantage of that.
With that in mind, here we are with an opportunity to deal with best
practices and to help our young people in the best way possible.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support the ``Tiffany Joslyn Juvenile
Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and the Bullying Prevention
and Intervention Act'', which we passed in the last Congress, here in
the House.
This bill is named for Tiffany May Joslyn, a champion for criminal
justice reform, who served as Deputy Chief Counsel of the Crime
Subcommittee and whose life tragically was cut short on March 5, 2016,
in a car accident, which sadly also claimed the life of her brother,
Derrick. She was just 33 years old.
So passage of this bill last Congress in this body, was both bitter
and sweet. Tiffany would have been proud, as she championed these
causes fearlessly. This moment is for both her and for all the millions
of young people that will be helped by this bill.
The Tiffany Joslyn bill will help stem the epidemic of juveniles
within the criminal justice system by reauthorizing the Juvenile
Accountability Block Grant program (JABG) and providing funding to
state and local governments for the creation of bullying and gang
prevention programs.
It also includes provisions for gang prevention programs, which will
help guide our children towards socially beneficial paths.
If we want our children to learn, we must be able to maintain a safe
and healthy school environment. Bullying is a massive issue in our
nation's schools.
The National Center for Educational Studies reports show that 14
percent of 12- to 18-year-olds surveyed, reported being victims of
direct or indirect bullying. One out of 4 kids is bullied.
This is why I urge my colleagues to support this important
legislation.
It will authorize such appropriations as may be necessary, which is
anticipated to be at least $30 million per year.
In addition to reauthorizing juvenile justice programs, the Tiffany
Joselyn Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and

[[Page H1405]]

the Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act clarifies how to address
the occurrences of bullying through developmentally appropriate
intervention and prevention techniques, which center on evidence-based
models and best practices that rely on schools and communities rather
than involvement from law enforcement and the justice system.
H.R. 494 is designed to help both the victims and perpetrators of
bullying. Research studies have shown that approximately 25 percent of
school bullies will be convicted of a criminal offense in their adult
years.
Bullying is not just in a schoolyard anymore; it is a crisis that's
taking over our nation. Gone are the days that children can come home
and seek solace and escape from their bullies; technological advances
have made it easy for young people to be tormented on social networks
at any time from any place.
They are never out of harm's reach. This needs to end. Americans
children should be protected, and no child should be persecuted for
exercising their American right to be themselves.
It is time for us to come to a conclusive solution to America's
bullying crisis so that we may keep all of our children safe.
My bill, H.R. 494, provides the solution that we need.
This is why I support this bill and ask my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
I rise today in support of H.R. 494, the Tiffany Joslyn Juvenile
Accountability Block Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2019. The
bill reauthorizes the Justice Department's Juvenile Accountability
Block Grant--JABG--program, strengthens the program to reduce youth
crime, and contains vigorous accountability and oversight mechanisms to
ensure taxpayer dollars are efficiently and wisely utilized.
I would like to say thank you to the sponsor of this legislation,
Congresswoman Jackson Lee, for her hard work and, as she just explained
in great detail, the many things about this bill that are good for us
and why I would support this bill.
When young people commit crimes, it has a serious and long-lasting
detrimental impact. Our children represent the promise of a bright
future and the hope for continued prosperity. That means improving the
juvenile justice system and reducing juvenile crimes is crucial to
preserving and protecting the future of our children and our Nation.
The JABG program provides grants to States, Tribes, and localities to
strengthen juvenile justice systems and reduce recidivism among
offenders.
The program currently has 17 authorized purpose areas, including the
implementation of graduated sanctions for juveniles; support for
prosecutorial initiatives aimed at curbing drug use, violence, and
gangs; accountability-based school safety initiatives; the
establishment of juvenile drug courts; and bullying and cyberbullying
prevention.
The JABG has a long history of bipartisan support among members of
the Judiciary Committee and in Congress as a whole.
Again, I thank my colleague, Congresswoman Jackson Lee, for her hard
work on this legislation, and I would encourage my colleagues to
support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Let me, first of all, thank the ranking member for his kind support
of this legislation. I think we have been together long enough to know
how important this kind of work is; and a tribute to his father, who
certainly probably ran across a few juveniles in the course of his work
as a law enforcement officer. So I thank the gentleman so very much.
I want to thank the chairman of the committee, Mr. Nadler, for his
support of this legislation and continued work in this area.
Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield such time as he may consume
to the distinguished gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), the chair on
the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R.
494, the Tiffany Joslyn Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program
Reauthorization Act of 2019.
We cannot, as a nation, continue to condemn our children into the
criminal justice system. African American youth are significantly more
likely to be tried as adults. In 2014, although Black youth were only
14 percent of the juvenile population, they represented 52 percent of
the youth tried as adults in this country.
This legislation reauthorizes important programs that ensure
sentences for our young people are appropriate and not excessive, and
it funds accountability-based programs to intervene when youth are most
vulnerable in the system. I support this legislation, and I urge my
colleagues to do the same.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I have no other additional
speakers for this and would inquire of the gentlewoman from Texas if
she is ready to close on this piece of legislation.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman.
We are inquiring, and I am just going to say it publicly. We were
about to engage the ranking member, but we are inquiring to be sure
that the bill is complete. Its language was, ``and Anti-Bullying and
Intervention Act.'' That is what the bill has carried over a period of
time, so I was trying to get a ruling about that addition to the title.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Is it my understanding the gentlewoman is
asking for a correction to the short title? Is that what we are looking
for?
Ms. JACKSON LEE. That is clearly what we are trying to do. If I might
engage the gentleman in a dialogue: it reads, ``the Tiffany Joslyn
Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Program Reauthorization Act,'' and
it has always read, over the years, ``and Anti-Bullying and
Intervention Act.'' It is in my text here, ``and the Bullying
Prevention and Intervention Act.''
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I see the gentlewoman's concern here on lines
4, 5, and 6 of the bill. I mean, are we awaiting a ruling from----

Ms. JACKSON LEE. We are awaiting a ruling, and may have to--but I at
least want to get it on the Record. You see what I am saying?
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I understand.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. And that is the name that has been carried over the
years that we have had----
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Look, personally, from my perspective, to
continue our colloquy here, I have no problem with the name. I think it
was probably an oversight in drafting from a previous time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I believe so.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. But I am not sure how we would do it at this
point, unless we could agree.

Parliamentary Inquiries

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state his parliamentary
inquiry.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. From an inquiry position, is it possible here
that we could unanimous consent a change to this title?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman may withdraw her pending
motion and re-offer the motion with the amended text.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, continuing my parliamentary
inquiry, could it also be a possibility for the gentlewoman to
understand that this is the intent, and we have this into the Record;
that if she was to move ahead with this, that I am sure this will be
probably well-respected and well-founded in the Senate; that we could
make the change in the Senate and have it back over for us so that we
could make this, and not hold up the further proceedings today?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. That is not a proper parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Well, it is a proper question.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, if I might, I assume I can proceed.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Texas is recognized.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. First of all, I want to thank the ranking member for
his courtesies, and thank the committees for their courtesies.
I would not desire to not move forward H.R. 494. So any motion for
amending at this time, I would like unanimous consent to withdraw and
to emphasize what the bill is in my debate.

[[Page H1406]]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentlewoman seek to withdraw the
pending motion?
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I seek to not withdraw H.R. 494, just any request
for editing the legislation.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I yield to the gentleman.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. If I hear the gentlewoman correctly, what she
is asking is continuing as we were 5 minutes ago into this process and
continuing on. Is that the gentlewoman's intention?
Ms. JACKSON LEE. That is my desire at this time.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. Does the gentleman?
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. No, I do not.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
So I will close at this time asking for support of this legislation.
But as I do so, I cannot help but thank--I think we have had----
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Texas will suspend.
The gentleman from Georgia is recognized to close debate on his side,
and then the gentlewoman will close.
The gentleman from Georgia is recognized.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, obviously, the gentlewoman from
Texas has ultimate passion on this bill and I would not say anything
except that we support this legislation. We look forward to moving it.
I am sure that she will be able to make any changes she needs to.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I thank the gentleman from Georgia for engaging in the colloquy on
this important issue, and I think we have created a record that
indicates that this bill is the Tiffany Joslyn Juvenile Accountability
Block Grant Program Reauthorization Act, and it does cover bullying
prevention and intervention, and we will move forward with that
understanding and recognize the importance of those elements of the
bill.
I want to just take a moment in my closing to acknowledge again the
National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition and to
indicate their support for a bill that has gone unfunded now for 6
years, and to indicate in their letter that H.R. 494 updates the JABG
to reflect current research and practices; incentivizes States to use
graduated sanctions and incentives grounded in positive youth
development; enhanced antibullying measures, gang prevention programs,
and additional youth violence prevention and intervention services. It
also updates the JABG to include evidence-based practices such as
trauma-informed practices and mental healthcare.

I am excited about this legislation. And I close by saying bullying
is not just a schoolyard action anymore; it is a crisis that is taking
over our Nation.
Gone are the days that children can come home and seek solace and
escape from their bullies. Technological advances have made it easy for
young people to be tormented on social networks at any time from any
place. They are never out of harm's reach.
This needs to end. American children should be protected, and no
child should be persecuted for existing or exercising their American
right to just be themselves. It is time for us to come to a conclusive
solution to America's bullying crisis so that we may keep all of our
children safe. I think we are on the right path by passing H.R. 494 and
moving it to the Senate. That is why I support this bill and ask my
colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 494, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

____________________