Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. President, today I, along with Senators INOUYE and DOMENICI, introduce legislation which will reform the existing Native American Pass-Through Program administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [OJJDP], within the Department of Justice, and will create a grant program that will provide direct funding to eligible tribes for the purpose of addressing juvenile justice needs in Indian country.

Juvenile delinquency is an enormous problem faced by both State and tribal governments. A February 1997 report, issued by OJJDP, indicated that law enforcement agencies around the country made an estimated 2.7 million arrests in 1995 of persons under age 18. This accounted for 18 percent of all arrests made during that year. OJJDP also reported that while the total number of juvenile arrests for violent crimes decreased in 1995, the total number of arrests is considerably higher than they were in 1992 and 67 percent higher than the 1986 level.

Unfortunately, there are no complete and accurate sets of statistics available on the rate of juvenile delinquency among the American Indian and Alaskan Native population as a whole. In spite of this, I think it is fair and accurate to say that the threat of an increased rate of juvenile delinquency is great in Indian country due to the large and growing population of Indian youth under the age of 18.

In fact, in a hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on April 8, a representative of the Department of Justice stated that "while violent crime is falling in American cities, it is rising on American Indian reservations." Despite this, there are still about half as many police officers in Indian country on a per capita basis.

Currently, tribal governments which perform law enforcement functions are eligible to receive grants through the Native American Pass-Through Program, established through the 1988 amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. Under this program, States must make available to tribes a minimum amount of funding based, in part, upon the ratio of the number of Indian juveniles within a State's boundaries compared to the total number of juveniles within that State. This funding may go toward a variety of juvenile delinquency prevention, control, or reduction efforts.

Based upon the comments of representatives of tribal governments, State advisory groups, the National Coalition for Juvenile Justice, and State governments, it has become clear to me that the Pass-Through Program is simply not meeting the needs of tribes. First, the minimum amount of funding each State must make available to tribes is, on average, so minimal that it fails to appropriately address the needs of the tribes. While many States do award grants in excess of the requirement, the amounts tribes receive are often too small to initiate a program of any magnitude. In addition, many tribes do not even apply for these grants, because the cost of preparing a grant application would exceed the amount of funds awarded. More importantly, the Pass-Through Program exists in conflict with the Federal-tribal government-to-government relationship, by requiring tribal governments to depend upon the States. If a State chooses not to participate in the program or does not meet certain requirements, tribes located within that State's boundaries will not receive funds under the act. Because of these and other concerns raised by tribes and juvenile justice officials, I am introducing the Indian Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Improvement Act. This proposal seeks to eliminate the Native American Pass-Through Program and replace it with a discretionary grant program that will provide direct Federal grants to Indian tribes. Consistent with the Pass-Through Program, these funds will be used to plan and develop programs to prevent and reduce juvenile crime as well as to improve the tribal government's juvenile justice system.

More specifically, this legislation will require tribes to submit program plans as part of their grant application to the Administrator of OJJDP. Tribes must comply with certain core requirements in order to demonstrate an ability to administer and account for the quality of the juvenile justice programs. Finally, this legislation includes a reporting requirement similar to the one mandated in the Indian Self-Determination Act.

On the administrative side, the legislation directs OJJDP to take into account certain important factors when awarding grants such as a tribe's available resources and the population of Indian youth who reside within the tribe's jurisdiction. It is also important to note that this legislation in no way prevents tribes from entering into cooperative agreements with States or units of local government. Tribes are still able to enter into these agreements and apply for State funding should they desire to do so.

The prevention, control, and reduction of juvenile delinquency should be one of the top priorities of this Nation. With this legislation, we have the opportunity to provide a better mechanism to deliver funds to tribes for the purpose of addressing juvenile justice needs, a much better mechanism than we currently have.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.