II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 144 

To provide Federal coordination and assistance in preventing gang violence. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 4, 2007 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

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 

10 country, causing injury and death to innocent vic11 tims, often children; 


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1 (2) on November 13, 2005, a gang-related dis2 pute broke out in San Bernardino, California, and 

3 gunfire sprayed an apartment building, killing 11- 

4 year old Mynisha Crenshaw and seriously wounding 

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

6 with their family; 

7 (3) this tragic shooting symbolizes the struggle 

8 that so many communities across the United States, 

9 like San Bernardino, face in combating gang vio10 lence, and serves as a reminder of the nationwide 

11 problem of protecting children from senseless vio12 lence; 

13 (4) according to the National Drug Threat As14 sessment, criminal street gangs are responsible for 

15 the distribution of much of the cocaine, meth16 amphetamine, heroin, and other illegal drugs 

17 throughout the United States; 

18 (5) the Federal Government has made an in19 creased commitment to the suppression of gang vio20 lence through enhanced law enforcement and crimi21 nal penalties; and 

22 (6) more Federal resources and coordination 

23 are needed to reduce gang violence through proven 

24 and proactive prevention and intervention programs 


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

2 of the criminal justice system. 

3 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION AS A COMPREHENSIVE GANG PRE4 VENTION AND RELIEF AREA. 

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

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

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

8 to the Attorney General for designation as a Comprehen9 sive Gang Prevention and Relief Area. 

10 (b) CRITERIA.— 

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

12 establish criteria for reviewing applications sub13 mitted under subsection (a). 

14 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing criteria 

15 under subsection (a) and evaluating an application 

16 for designation as a Comprehensive Gang Prevention 

17 and Relief Area, the Attorney General shall con18 sider— 

19 (A) the current and predicted levels of 

20 gang crime activity in the area; 

21 (B) the extent to which violent crime in 

22 the area appears to be related to criminal gang 

23 activity; 

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

25 engaged in local or regional collaboration reVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:18 Jan 07, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S144.IS S144

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1 garding, and coordination of, gang prevention 

2 activities; and 

3 (D) such other criteria as the Attorney 

4 General determines to be appropriate. 

5 SEC. 4. PURPOSE OF THE TASK FORCE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to coordinate Federal as7 sistance to Comprehensive Gang Prevention and Relief 

8 Areas, the Attorney General shall establish an Interagency 

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

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

11 (1) the Department of Justice; 

12 (2) the Department of Education; 

13 (3) the Department of Labor; 

14 (4) the Department of Health and Human 

15 Services; and 

16 (5) the Department of Housing and Urban De17 velopment. 

18 (b) COORDINATION.—For each Comprehensive Gang 

19 Prevention and Relief Area designated by the Attorney 

20 General under section 3, the Task Force shall— 

21 (1) coordinate the activities of the Federal Gov22 ernment to create a comprehensive gang prevention 

23 response, focusing on early childhood intervention, 

24 at-risk youth intervention, literacy, employment, 


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1 community policing, and comprehensive community2 based programs such as Operation Cease Fire; and 

3 (2) coordinate its efforts with local and regional 

4 gang prevention efforts. 

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

6 needs of Comprehensive Gang Prevention and Relief Areas 

7 for funding under— 

8 (1) the Child Care and Development Block 

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

10 (2) the Even Start programs under subpart 3 

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

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

13 (3) the Healthy Start Initiative under section 

14 330H of the Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 254c–8); 

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

17 seq.); 

18 (5) the 21st Century Community Learning Cen19 ters program under part B of title IV of the Ele20 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

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

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

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


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1 (7) the community development block grant 

2 program under title I of the Housing and Commu3 nity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et 

4 seq.); 

5 (8) the Gang Resistance Education and Train6 ing projects under subtitle X of title III of the Vio7 lent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

8 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13921); 

9 (9) any program administered by the Office of 

10 Community Oriented Policing Services; 

11 (10) the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant 

12 program under part R of title I of the Omnibus 

13 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

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

15 (11) the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice As16 sistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of part E 

17 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

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

19 (12) any other program that the Task Force 

20 determines to be appropriate. 

21 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

23 of each year, the Task Force shall submit to Con24 gress and the Attorney General a report on the 

25 funding needs and programmatic outcomes for each 


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1 area designated as a Comprehensive Gang Preven2 tion and Relief Area. 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report under paragraph 

4 (1) shall include— 

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

6 practices and outcomes among the areas des7 ignated as Comprehensive Gang Prevention and 

8 Relief Areas; and 

9 (B) an analysis of the adequacy of Federal 

10 funding to meet the needs of each area des11 ignated as a Comprehensive Gang Prevention 

12 and Relief Area and, if the Task Force identi13 fies any programmatic shortfalls in addressing 

14 gang prevention, a request for new funding or 

15 reprogramming of existing funds to meet such 

16 shortfalls. 

17 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

19 as are necessary to meet any needs identified by the Task 

20 Force or in any report submitted under section 4(d)(1). 

Æ 


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