mr. harper, you sound like a very well-intentioned young man.i said, i want to change this young man's life. he had the courage to write me this letter. it's a 16-year-old young man who's probably writing at a third or fourth grade level. you think about, did we fail brian, or did brian fail us? i didn't want to fail him. and the warden said, mr. harper, you're not going to be able to do much for this young brian. i said, i'm going to help him as soon as he gets out. he said, you must not understand something. you're going to be dead before brian ever gets out. i said, what do you mean? he said, he was tried as an adult. he committed a heinous crime. he's going nowhere. i won't be the harden anymore when he gets out and you won't be alive. that -- set me back in a way to realize there's so many brians and biannas out there. there's so many of them. and it's up to us to catch them before we actually lose them. to grab them before they're gone. before it's too late. and so i celebrate the youth promise act in that regard because it seeks to do tho

mr. conyers. now for equal time, we recognize hill harper. >> thank you, chairman. i was wearing my hoody and i got stopped on the way. you know, it's an honor to appear and speak on behalf of the youth promise act. when we talk about educational opportunities, mentoring, intervention, and all types of wrap around services for our youth, i'm the founder of a foundation called the man nest your des in addition. we seek to serve underprivileged youth in this country. we hope to empower them to give them access to college skills, academic programming, and also pass along lessons i learned coming out of the public school system and be able to go on, as the chairman said, to brown and harvard for grad school. i wouldn't have been able to make that transition if it wasn't for interventionist programs that served me and helped me overcome certain obstacles that i came across. i want to really start my remarks with a letter i received recently. you can see it's a handwritten letter from a young man. i get a lot of different types of mail coming to my office. it's fan mail.

mr. harper for five minutes. >> administrator jackson and welcome. good news, you're almost done. i think we're getting close. you've been very patient. i appreciate your attendance here and your insight as we look at these issues. one of the things that's very important to my state and my district certainly are the technical assistance grant program that the chairman has referred to earlier. i had filed a bill on that. some of the language that's in there is of great importance to our state as we look at that and how it affects small communities. and what all i want to do is make sure i think just follow up on what he said, which was to make sure that the criteria that is set forth by the epa actually tracks that appropriations language and we're covering all those bases. your agreement as i understood it would be to work with him and check with him to be sure -- >> this on the rural water -- >> yes. >> just want to take a double-check to make sure we're in compliance with that language. >> i believe this is a budget hearing. i know we've talked about many other things and things

mr. harper, you're not going to be able to do much. he said i'm going to help him as soon as he gets out. he said, you must not understand something. he was tried as an adult. he committed a heinous crime, and he's going nowhere. i won't be the warden anymore when he gets out, and you won't be alive. what that -- set me back in a way to realize that there's so many brians and briannas out there. there's so many of them. and it's up to us to catch them before we actually lose them. to grab them before they're gone, before it's too late. and so i celebrate the youth promise act in that regard because it seeks to do those things. and i promise that i will not stop fighting, that my foundation won't stop fighting to grab every brian, every brianna out there before it's too late. so i appreciate the work that's being done so far, but we have so much more to do. and the youth promise act represents a step in that direction. thank you. >> thank you. [applause] can i introduce the esteemed, amazing, the best, number one freshman congressperson

mr. hill harper, offered the account of in that letter. his entire life was gone one month after his 18th birthday and he asked me a question. he said why wasn't there anyone to tell me there was another way to go? and his question has haunted me. i am sorry to be here talking in support of the youth promise act. let me tell you why i'm sorry. i was here over three years ago talking in support of the youth promise act. why am i still here talking in support of this? why isn't it already funded? you are going to hear from panelist and you have heard from panelists who are telling the truth. they are armed with statistics, information, i can tell you what i am armed with from the streets. i am armed with these words, why isn't there another way? i am armed with the stories of people like a young woman i know named dark eyes who committed our first crime when she was 10 years old. her father belonged to a gang, her mother was a drug dealer, her brothers and sisters were all in gangs. why wasn't there another way? to ask that question, for the

mr. harper, for five minutes. mr. harper: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to acknowledge the work that tail lohr townsend, the reigning mississippi college is doing to combating human trafficking. tailor is compassionity about this. tyler townsend is lending her support for the blue heart campaign to bring awareness to human trafficking and the exploitation of people, especially children and teenagers. in addition to her work building awareness worldwide with the blue heart campaign, tailer townsend has been offering her -- tailor townsend has two bills pending before the mississippi legislature and is involved in educational efforts, bringing awareness to mississippiians. mr. speaker, young people, like taylor townsend, who help volunteer their time to make this world beater place, should be applauded. they should give us great hope for the future and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from tennessee, mr. cohen, for five minutes. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. i stand he

harper's presentation with an opportunity for equal time. i guess we'll provide the same opportunity for the representative. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you so much, hill harper, for your beautiful introduction. said just like my mother wrote it. no seriously. i am honored to not only be a part of this program today and to support the youth promise act, but equally as proud of you and your work not only on the screen, but equally as important in our communities. you have been a role model not just for me and lots of young black boys and girls, but all youth. and for that, your work should be commended. mr. chairman, i just want to say thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of this today. and also bringing attention to how important the youth promise act is. i think all of us would agree in the days after trayvon martin's incident, all of us need to be looking at our youth in a different way and trying to do all we can do to make sure they live up to their own promises. thanks. >> thank you. thank you. john pendergrass. >> thank you, congressman scott. for your leadership on these terribly-important issues. i'm humbled to

mr. hill harper offered the account in that letter. his entire life was gone one month after his 18th birthday. and he asked me a question. he said, why wasn't there anyone to tell me there was another way to go? and his question has haunted me. i am sorry to be here talking in support of the youth promise act. let me tell you why i am sorry. i was here over three years ago talking in support of the human promise act. why am i still here talking in support of this? why isn't it already law? why isn't it already funded? you're going to hear from panelists, and jefferson perilous you are telling the truth. they are armed with statistics. they are on with information. i can tell you what i am armed with from the streets. i in armed with these words, why isn't there another way? i am armed with the stories of people, like a young woman i know named dark eyes, who committed her first crime when she was 10 years old. her father belonged to a game. her mother was a drug dealer. her brothers and sisters were all in a game. why wasn't there ano

mr. speaker. just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum. >> that's illinois democratic bobby rush donning a hoodie and greg harperwas presiding over the chamber ordered rush escorted out for violating a house rule that prohibits wearing hats in chambers. afterwards, rush told reporters that decorum sometimes has to take a back seat to justice. joining us for analysis of how the martin case is becoming political is pollster david merman andar sure brazoni. thanks so much for coming in. there's been an awful lot obviously today and even tonight about this video regarding george zimmerman obviously, the stuff on the floor of congress, and the issue of race being so hot. i know, david you've got some data on what the polls are telling us. >> it's an unfolding story. things are going to shift day to day on things like this. the most recent poll that i've seen shows very large majorities of the country feeling that first of all mr. zimmerman should have been arrested, 73% believe that. 76% believe on neighborhood watch, you shouldn't carry a gun. that's the initial judgment of the voters. the outrage is justified it se

harper, the sweatshirt is a hat. illinois democratic congressman bobby rush took to the floor and this happened. >> racial profiling has to stop, mrt because someone wears a hoody does not make them a hoodlum. the bible teaches us, mr. speaker -- >> the member will suspend. >> the member will suspend. >> these words. may god bless -- >> the member is no longer recognized. the member is no longer recognized. the chair must remind member that is clause five of rule 17 prohibits the wearing of hats in the chamber when the house is in session. the chair finds that the dawning of a hood is not consistent with this rule. members need to remove their hoods or leave the floor. >> we also know no dress code in the world is powerful enough to stop people calling from justice. >> he has hired a lobbyist to make sure it clears whatever local zoning hurdles it might face. we know that matthew peterson has been paid $21,000 since 2008 to stay in the ear of local officials to smooth over their objections. we know it's an acute reminder of just how big money bends the wheel. >>> we know conservatives are turning away from science. according to a