build overfished stocks; (2) avoid bycatch and minimize the mortality of unavoidable bycatch; and (3) identify, designate and protect essential fish habitat, including minimizing adverse effects on essential fish habitat caused by fishing and consulting with federal agencies proposing activities that may adversely affect such habitat.

For the fishery management councils to carry out their duties under the FCMA the Administration has requested an increase of $1.5 million. While this figure may not be adequate for the revision of 39 fishery management plans to bring them into compliance with the FCMA, it is a significant step in the right direction. The remaining $7.3 million increase will be used by NMFS to fulfill its new responsibilities under the Act including the extremely important Essential Fish Habitat provisions. While we support the increases, we do question the decreases of $550,000 proposed for International Fisheries Commissions and $400,000 proposed for Pacific Tuna Management and urge the Committee to maintain funding at current levels. In the Pacific, longline fleets from other nations are increasing their fishing power exponentially. In order to conserve this resource we must be able to meet in fishery management forums to discuss conservation measures.

We would like to highlight another issue that is not dealt with in the President's request and one we urge the Committee to take no action on. The issue is bycatch in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp trawl fishery and the need for this fishery to abide by the requirements of the FCMA just as all other fisheries must do. There is also an urgent need to protect the ecosystem of the Gulf and restore its depleted finfish fisheries. At its March meeting of this year the Gulf Fishery Management Council folded to political pressure from the shrimp industry and its political allies in Congress to back off on its previously approved requirement for shrimp trawls to use bycatch reduction devices (BRD's). The Council asked NMFS to delay implementation of this requirement by one year, effectively reversing its action of November of last year in voting to require the use of BRD's. The Council took this action reluctantly, in response to threats from Congress to impose a moratorium on the ability of NMFS to require BRD's in the Gulf and/or eliminate all funding related to this requirement unless implementation of BRD rules is delayed.

The causal relationship between shrimp trawl bycatch and the decline of red snapper, which are overfished, has been clearly established. Over many years $7.5 million of taxpayer money has been spent on bycatch characterization, BRD development, and social and economic research. Research done in cooperation with the shrimp industry shows clearly that BRD's can reduce shrimp trawl bycatch of red snapper by 66 percent while retaining 97 percent of shrimp on average.

CMC is currently urging NMFS to implement the BRD's requirements as required by the FCMA and urges the Appropriations Committee take no action to block the agency from carrying out its duty.

Protected Species Management

CMC appreciates the Administration's requested increase of $7.7 million and 45 additional staff positions for Protected Species Management, but we feel this increase is inadequate. We recommend an additional $8.5 million for the Marine Mammal Protection Act and $4 million for Endangered Species Act recovery plans. NOAA's justification document clearly spells out the need for additional funds. The agency states that for 80 percent of marine mammal populations it currently has insufficient information for which to make a negligible impact determination. Thus NOAA has to set more conservative take levels than may otherwise be necessary and which place additional restrictions on commercial activities. NOAA states clearly that it needs funds to gather the data necessary to make conservation decisions. In 1994 testimony before Congress NMFS stated that an annual appropriation of $18 million was required to implement the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). We recommend that the Committee provide $18 million for implementation of MMPA to ensure adequate stock assessment and take reduction plan implementation.

Most of the additional funds, $6.7 million, in the Administration's request are slated for actions needed to develop and implement recovery plans for Pacific salmon populations. While CMC does not oppose this increase, we are concerned that for the last several years this issue has drawn off the bulk of resources available within NMFS for Endangered Species Act plans and that the additional increase slated for whales and sea turtles is not adequate. We support NMFS's intention to direct funds to protect the critically endangered right whale from ship strikes and gear entanglement and to implement the Pacific sea turtle recovery plan. The need for these additional funds is made clear when NOAA states clearly that current funding is inadequate to respond to the Endangered Species Act requirements to protect marine species while minimizing economic impacts of conservation actions.

Unfortunately NMFS's ability to carry out protected species responsibilities has been hampered by Congressional attempts to further delay the protection of threatened and endangered sea turtles from the shrimp trawl fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. For the last two years Congress has included report language that required NMFS to conduct redundant activities to justify the need for Turtle Excluder Devices and divert needed funding from other protected species activities. One activity potentially affected is the badly needed Hawaii longline observer program. Pacific leatherback sea turtle populations are critically endangered and this program is essential to identifying ways to reduce takes to avoid the development of an ESA crisis.

We are providing the Subcommittee with numerous copies of CMC's report Delay and Denial: A Political History of Sea Turtles and Shrimp Fishing, which documents the long and tortured process by which TED's were required to protect threatened and endangered sea turtles. Nearly 24 years passed from the time that the Kemp's ridley sea turtle was listed as endangered and the time that TED's were required in all shrimp trawls. When Congress last inserted itself in this issue, in 1988, the National Academy of Sciences report Congress mandated strongly endorsed TED requirements to reduce sea turtle mortality in shrimp trawls.

Despite pressure from Congress not to do so NMFS has recently issued revised rules under the Endangered Species Act decertifying less effective soft TED's to protect threatened and endangered sea turtles in light of increased mortality over the last few years.

We strongly urge the Appropriations Committee and Congress to cease their interference and to allow the agency to do its job in protecting sea turtles in a manner that allows the shrimp fishery to continue operation.

Habitat Conservation

CMC supports the Administration's requested $1.8 million increase in Habitat Conservation in light of new authority granted NMFS and the regional fishery management councils to influence federal decisions affecting fisheries habitats. CMC also supports the agency's efforts at completing Habitat Conservation Plans to protect salmon spawning habitat on the west coast.

Enforcement and Surveillance

CMC supports the Administration's proposed $1.7 million increase for enforcement. The enactment of the new provisions of the FCMA will require greater enforcement effort from NMFS. In addition, the agency has recently finalized regulations to conserve Atlantic sharks and sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic. Also the recovery of New England groundfish stocks will require increased enforcement to ensure compliance with the requirements of Amendment 7 to the multispecies management plan. Of great interest in New England is NMFS' work to implement the use of advanced vessel monitoring systems to both make enforcement more efficient as well as less burdensome on fishermen. Acquisition of Data

CMC is very concerned about the Administration's proposed 6 percent cut in the acquisition of data. We urge the Committee to reject this cut of $1.74 million. It makes no sense to reduce days-at-sea of NOAA's fisheries research vessels when the agency is severely lacking data essential to the sound management of the Nation's living marine resources. Data are required for assessments of fish and marine mammal populations. The increased reporting on the status of fish stocks required to update 39 fishery management plans only increases the need for a greater number of days-at-sea to conduct assessments.

NMFS estimates that it needs a total of more than 4,400 days-at-sea and is currently able to support only 3,600 days at sea. These days-at-sea are provided by combination of NOAA vessels, charters and through state and foreign cooperation. Fleet Maintenance and Planning

CMC supports the Administration request of $11.8 million. We note that while NOAA is seeking no funds for the new vessel construction in fiscal year 1998 the agency is planning to begin design work for a new class of acoustically quiet fisheries research vessels. NOAA's dedicated fishery research fleet is aging and inefficient to operate. We recommend that replacement of the current fleet move forward in a manner that will allow the agency to utilize properly designed and equipped ships to complete its mission. It matters not whether these new vessels be owned and operated by NOAA. That determination can be made on the basis of cost to the taxpayer.

MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION

In addition to the marine conservation programs of NOAA, we urge the Committee to increase funding for the independent Marine Mammal Commission. We urge the Committee to provide $1.35 million in fiscal year 1998. A fully funded Commission is a source of rational and constructive scientific advice on marine mammal protection issues. Many of these issues could become contentious absent the Commission's analysis. The President has requested $1.24 million which is an increase of $51,000 over current funding. For the last two years the Commission has only been able to function at a minimal level, unable to carry out an independent research program. The funding level we are recommending would boost funding to a level approaching the Commission's fiscal year 1995 budget and enable it to conduct needed research.

TECH., INC.

Mr. Chairman, I respectfully submit testimony on behalf of ATTI, a small R&D Telecommunications Company located in Belleville, New Jersey. ATTI has for the last six years committed its resources toward its mission to help address a top concern of Americans-the incidence of crime and violence in our society. In the company's effort to combat violence, ATTI has worked with members of Congress and prison officials to provide cost-effective learning systems and programs to aid Corrections officials in reducing recidivism.

This testimony requests your support for the formation of a nine-state youth violence prevention network. Using the latest and most innovative computer and technology infrastructure, ATTI's network will connect nine or more of the largest cities in Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, California and Kentucky. ATTI's network will collaborate with state universities, colleges, teaching hospitals, libraries, churches, community centers, municipalities, YMCA's and YWCA's and other community organizations.

ATTI will offer network links to Youth Correctional Facilities to provide training to incarcerated youth and provide access to aftercare in conjunction with churches and other community based organizations. Much of the company's training efforts will be directed towards at-risk youth. ATTI's network will focus on foundation skills for these youth, especially dropouts. Working with community colleges and the local school districts, ATTI's Basic Skills component will cover reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics, listening, and speaking. Our Thinking Skills component involves various decision-making and problem-solving strategies through authentic tasks. ATTI's Personal Qualities component involves students learning re

sponsibility, self-esteem, self-management, integrity, sociability and behavioral modification skills. ATTI's program will be delivered to housing facilities in the targeted areas.

As Americans, ATTI and its collaborative partners' mission, is to intervene in the lives of at-risk youth; delinquents and youths involved in the criminal justice system-to help provide this targeted population with the skills competency that students need for success in the modern workplace and to become productive citizens. Mission Statement.-ATTI's mission is to save lives, reduce crime, violence, and save prison costs to taxpayers and to use human and capital resources to enhance and empower individuals with the essentials to take care of their families and to be good citizens.

Vision. To help eliminate poverty and to participate meaningfully in revitalizing urban areas and those in need.

Goal.—To empower individuals seeking to improve their life with assistance to become self-sufficient.

Objective. To work in partnership with the private, public and religious sectors to strengthen America and its inner cities.

Hence, we have identified several areas of intervention consistent with the May, 1996 Rand Study: Diverting Children From A Life Of Crime. ATTI's initiative, at an intervention of 2,000 individuals, can save each state approximately $330 million in crime and violence related costs over a period of 5 years.

According to a study released in April, 1995 by the Department of Justice (DOJ), 1.6 million individuals are incarcerated in the United States and another 1 million is involved in the criminal justice system. In terms of violence, a separate DOJ study estimates that the price of violence and crime cost Americans some $460 billion annually.

The Rand research brief, Diverting Children From A Life Of Crime: What Are The Costs And Benefits, states that although headlines show crime rates falling, in 1996, there was still likely one violent crime committed for every 130 U.S. citizensa rate several times that in other industrialized democracies. The report goes on to say that despite the seriousness of America's crime problem, most of the money and effort devoted to solving it are restricted to one approach-incarcerating persons who have already committed crimes. Much less attention has been paid to diverting youths that have not yet committed crimes from doing so.

This is what makes ATTI's comprehensive collaborative project so unique in helping to reduce crime among youth and to help make Americans safe. First, ATTI will not only deploy the most advanced cost-effective technology (through distance learning) initiatives and on-site training, but also, ATTI's network will tie-in to state operated youth facilities and at-risk youth sites in neighborhoods. In other words, ATTI's initiative will cover both the youths in and outside youth facilities.

The United States now leads the industrialized world in prison population. The prison buildup has not come cheaply. According to a February 7, 1994 Time Magazine report, the average annual cost per inmate is $23,500 and the average cost per bed in maximum-security facilities is $74,862. Ohio leads the pack with its prisons operating at 182 percent of capacity. This demonstration project is aimed at reducing costs, recidivism, and violence as previously mentioned.

As Founder of ATTI, I have committed over $600,000 to research and evaluation in over 20 states, to assess the problem and discover what works. The company's research reveals that almost all of the prisons lack mandatory education programs that lead to a GED in spite of clear statistics that show a direct correlation between illiteracy and crime. We also discovered that almost 90 percent of incarcerated individuals lack a high school diploma or a GED certificate, and it was indeed this group that was causing most of the crime and violence (illiterate repeat offenders). The statistics on violence, as you know Mr. Chairman, points to an emergency that threatens the future of this generation, our state, and our nation. The loss of human potential, the pain and suffering of families and acquaintances is enormous; and the spiraling, negative impact on the educational and health care systems, as well as businesses, demands our attention.

Teenagers commit almost a fifth of violent crimes. Consistent with this reality, a significant number of ATTI's programs, services, and research pertains to the youth population. This project will further address this issue by offering youth detention centers ATTI's comprehensive programs.

Violence prevention research is very much in its infancy. An overwhelming proportion of violence prevention efforts ongoing have not been evaluated nor has there been attention to what works best for whom. There is a need to attain a better understanding of risk and protective factors across populations, empirically establish the efficacy of preventive interventions, explore the individual, community, organizational, and cultural characteristics that moderate risk and intervention outcomes,

and evolve guidelines and strategies for successful implementation and dissemination.

ATTI, in collaboration with Harvard University Medical School, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and other prominent universities, proposes to develop, implement, and evaluate a multifaceted program designed to reduce crime, violence and delinquency. The collaboration will also address health and behavioral problems, enhance social skill competence, foster safer and healthier minds, increase education and create a renewed sense of hope and empowerment on the part of our targeted population from inner cities, especially youths at-risk. ATTI's initiative, with hospitals/academic partners, will also provide in-service teacher training to enable teachers to better deal with the epidemic of school-based violence and its associated causes. ATTI's connection to community policing initiatives disseminated to local school districts will help bring better cooperation between kids and law enforcement. A comprehensive system of school-based, schoollinked and community based services (including health professionals) will be put together based on an organizational assessment involving the collection of data from all levels of the community, including parents and teens located in high rise apartment complexes and crime riddled neighborhoods.

Funding for this demonstration program will accomplish and fulfill two very important needs. First, it will lead to the abatement of crime in targeted areas. It will also position this collaborative effort for private funding if Congress cannot appropriate for this initiative beyond the first year. ATTI's activities will involve a primary, but not exclusive, focus on violence prevention and control, given the fact that overall well-being impacts risk for violence. The interrelated services will emphasize the cognitive, effective, skills building and environmental elements of violence prevention, emphasizing the development of competencies essential not only to violence prevention but to the promotion of personal academic success as well. All components will be designed with the intent of strengthening the organizations' internal resources and linkages with existing and new community resources.

The Department of Education reports that approximately 200,000 high school students drop out each year. Research shows that large proportions of dropouts become juvenile delinquents and eventually invade our criminal justice system. Without effective countermeasures, like ATTI's proposal, this problem will exacerbate in light of Senator Hatch and Daschle's youth crime bills introduced early this year. States spend an estimated $10,000 per year to educate a student in ATTI's targeted areas. When incarcerated, states spend approximately $23,000 to $30,000 annually to care for these individuals, our program will save states about $26,000 per individual. Teacher and administrative salaries account for 90 percent of the educational cost among prison schools. Due to the acute rise in the prison population, educational programs are available to a limited number of inmates for budgetary reasons. The few that are enrolled in educational programs often have to delay completing their education due to funding cuts.

There are several other factors that may contribute to the lack of meaningful education programs in jails and prisons nationwide. Nevertheless, it would be disingenuous for one to believe that we can reduce recidivism and crime by rehabilitating the inmates when educational programs are unfunded. I have worked with members of Congress to gain support for an amendment to the recent crime bill. This amendment mandates that federal prisoners acquire at least a high school equivalency diploma (GED) before they can qualify for early release. This will fall on deaf ears unless we utilize innovative approaches as described above.

Studies by Colombia University and other institutions of higher education provide critical research that shows recidivism decreases with increased levels of education obtained by individuals in the criminal justice system and conversely, the lack of education by these individuals increases in the level of recidivism which translates into increased rates of crime and cost. Indeed, Congress itself has found that 90 percent (70 percent among youth) of the incarcerated individuals are without basic skills and that obtaining a GED while incarcerated would reduce their chances of becoming a recidivist.

A recent survey of Americans said that crime is a number one problem facing this country. Studies show that the industrialized world in prison population increased about 10 percent in 1995, but the U.S. prison population increased twice as much. The goals and objectives of ATTI's comprehensive interactive distance learning project will help address some of these problems and provide individuals with much needed education and training programs. ATTI's network will reduce the normal cost associated with educating the company's targeted individuals by more than half and at the same time provide 2 to 3 months of full scale comprehensive training. This approach will substantially reduce the cost to taxpayers, save lives and eventually cut into violence and crime in the targeted areas by assisting the criminal jus