I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2418 

To provide Federal coordination and assistance in preventing gang violence. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2009 

Mr. BACA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and 

Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Financial Services, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide Federal coordination and assistance in preventing 

gang violence. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Mynisha’s Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds— 

7 (1) with an estimated 24,500 gangs operating 

8 within the United States, gang violence and drug 

9 trafficking remain serious problems throughout the 


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1 country, causing injury and death to innocent vic2 tims, often children; 

3 (2) on November 13, 2005, a gang-related dis4 pute broke out in San Bernardino, California, and 

5 gunfire sprayed an apartment building, killing 11- 

6 year old Mynisha Crenshaw and seriously wounding 

7 her 14-year old sister as they ate Sunday dinner 

8 with their family; 

9 (3) this tragic shooting symbolizes the struggle 

10 that so many communities across the United States, 

11 like San Bernardino, face in combating gang vio12 lence, and serves as a reminder of the nationwide 

13 problem of protecting children from senseless vio14 lence; 

15 (4) according to the National Drug Threat As16 sessment, criminal street gangs are responsible for 

17 the distribution of much of the cocaine, meth18 amphetamine, heroin, and other illegal drugs 

19 throughout the United States; 

20 (5) the Federal Government has made an in21 creased commitment to the suppression of gang vio22 lence through enhanced law enforcement and crimi23 nal penalties; and 

24 (6) more Federal resources and coordination 

25 are needed to reduce gang violence through proven 


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1 and proactive prevention and intervention programs 

2 that focus on keeping at-risk youth in school and out 

3 of the criminal justice system. 

4 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION AS A COMPREHENSIVE GANG PRE5 VENTION AND RELIEF AREA. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—A unit of local government, city, 

7 county, tribal government, or a group of counties (whether 

8 located in 1 or more States) may submit an application 

9 to the Attorney General for designation as a Comprehen10 sive Gang Prevention and Relief Area. 

11 (b) CRITERIA.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

13 establish criteria for evaluating applications sub14 mitted under subsection (a) and for selecting areas 

15 for designation as Comprehensive Gang Prevention 

16 and Relief Areas. 

17 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing criteria 

18 under subsection (a) and evaluating an application 

19 for designation as a Comprehensive Gang Prevention 

20 and Relief Area, the Attorney General shall con21 sider— 

22 (A) the current and predicted levels of 

23 gang crime activity in the area; 


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1 (B) the extent to which violent crime in 

2 the area appears to be related to criminal gang 

3 activity; 

4 (C) the extent to which the area is already 

5 engaged in local or regional collaboration re6 garding, and coordination of, gang prevention 

7 activities; and 

8 (D) such other criteria as the Attorney 

9 General determines to be appropriate. 

10 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY GANG PREVENTION TASK FORCE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to coordinate Federal as12 sistance to Comprehensive Gang Prevention and Relief 

13 Areas, the Attorney General shall establish an Interagency 

14 Gang Prevention Task Force (in this Act referred to as 

15 the ‘‘Task Force’’), consisting of a representative from— 

16 (1) the Department of Justice; 

17 (2) the Department of Education; 

18 (3) the Department of Labor; 

19 (4) the Department of Health and Human 

20 Services; and 

21 (5) the Department of Housing and Urban De22 velopment. 

23 (b) COORDINATION.—For each Comprehensive Gang 

24 Prevention and Relief Area designated by the Attorney 

25 General under section 3, the Task Force shall— 


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1 (1) coordinate the activities of the Federal Gov2 ernment to create a comprehensive gang prevention 

3 response, focusing on early childhood intervention, 

4 at-risk youth intervention, literacy, employment, 

5 community policing, and comprehensive community6 based programs such as Operation Cease Fire; and 

7 (2) coordinate its efforts with local and regional 

8 gang prevention efforts. 

9 (c) PROGRAMS.—The Task Force shall prioritize the 

10 needs of Comprehensive Gang Prevention and Relief Areas 

11 for funding under— 

12 (1) the Child Care and Development Block 

13 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); 

14 (2) the Even Start programs under subpart 3 

15 of part B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381 et seq.); 

17 (3) the Healthy Start Initiative under section 

18 330H of the Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 254c–8); 

20 (4) the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et 

21 seq.); 

22 (5) the 21st Century Community Learning Cen23 ters program under part B of title IV of the Ele24 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 7171 et seq.); 


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1 (6) the Job Corps program under subtitle C of 

2 title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

3 U.S.C. 2881 et seq.); 

4 (7) the community development block grant 

5 program under title I of the Housing and Commu6 nity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et 

7 seq.); 

8 (8) the Gang Resistance Education and Train9 ing projects under subtitle X of title III of the Vio10 lent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

11 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13921); 

12 (9) any program administered by the Office of 

13 Community Oriented Policing Services; 

14 (10) the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant 

15 program under part R of title I of the Omnibus 

16 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

17 U.S.C. 3796ee et seq.); 

18 (11) the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice As19 sistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of part E 

20 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

21 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.); and 

22 (12) any other program that the Task Force 

23 determines to be appropriate. 

24 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 1 

2 of each year, the Task Force shall submit to Con3 gress and the Attorney General a report on the 

4 funding needs and programmatic outcomes for each 

5 area designated as a Comprehensive Gang Preven6 tion and Relief Area. 

7 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report under paragraph 

8 (1) shall include— 

9 (A) an evidence-based analysis of the best 

10 practices and outcomes among the areas des11 ignated as Comprehensive Gang Prevention and 

12 Relief Areas; and 

13 (B) an analysis of the adequacy of Federal 

14 funding to meet the needs of each area des15 ignated as a Comprehensive Gang Prevention 

16 and Relief Area and, if the Task Force identi17 fies any programmatic shortfalls in addressing 

18 gang prevention, a request for new funding or 

19 reprogramming of existing funds to meet such 

20 shortfalls. 

21 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

23 as may be necessary to meet any needs identified by the 


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1 Task Force as necessary to achieve the purposes of this 

2 Act. 

Æ 


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