[To accompany the nomination of Robert W. Sweet, Jr., to be Administrator for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention] The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the nom- ination of Robert W. Sweet, Jr., to be the Administrator for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, reported the nomination to the full Senate on March 30, 1990, with a favor- IV. Additional views of Senators DeConcini, Heflin, and Kohl 7 The Committee received the President's nomination of Robert W. tice, on October 13, 1989. The hearing relative to Mr. Sweet's nomination was held before the committee on March 1, 1990. Senator Humphrey (R-NH) introduced the nominee and strongly urged the committee to approve his nomination. A statement of support for the nominee was also entered into the record from Senator Armstrong (R-CO), for whom Mr. Sweet worked on the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Senator Humphrey, who has personally known Mr. Sweet for over 12 years, stated he has "complete and full confidence in his ability to do an outstanding and conscientious job" as the Administrator for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Mr. Sweet appeared at the hearing and answered all questions asked of him. Mr. Sweet was thoroughly queried by the chairman and members of the committee. In addition, Senator Kerry (D-MA) expressed an interest in this nominee and requested to appear with the committee and ask the nominee questions. Senator Kerry's request was granted and the Mr. Sweet responded to extensive questioning from Senator Kerry as well. Two witnesses who appeared in support of Mr. Sweet were Mr. Robbie Callaway, Director of Government Relations, Boys Clubs of America, and Dr. Ralph Bledsoe, who worked closely with Mr. Sweet during his various assignments on the White House staff during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan. Mr. Callaway noted that the Boys Clubs of America were a prominent early supporter of the legislation creating OJJDP and that they had a major interest in the qualifications of the nominee to head that agency. Mr. Callaway testified to the extensive "grilling" of Mr. Sweet by BCA and that Mr. Sweet had made a highly favorable impression. Mr. Callaway testified that BCA enthusiastically supported Mr. Sweet's confirmation. Two witnesses who appeared in opposition to the nomination were Mr. Robert E. Shepherd, Jr., chairperson, Virginia Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention;_and Mr. William Treanor, director, American Youth Work Center. Both of these witnesses expressed concerns regarding Mr. Sweet's background qualifications with respect to certain aspects of OJJDP programs. Following the hearing, additional written questions were submitted to Mr. Sweet, which he promptly answered and returned to the committee. Mr. Sweet's nomination was listed on the agenda for the committee's executive session for March 8, 1990. However, consideration of his nomination was deferred until the next scheduled business meeting in order to permit the nominee to meet with a member of the committee at that member's request. On March 22, 1990, the Judiciary Committee met in executive session and, a quorum being present, approved a motion to report the nomination to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation by a vote of 9 to 5. The vote on the nomination was as follows: AYES Mr. DeConcini Mr. Heflin Mr. Kohl NAYS Mr. Kennedy Mr. Sweet graduated from the University of Maine in 1960 with a B.A. degree in English. He served in the United States Naval Reserves from 1954 until 1962. Mr. Sweet performed postgraduate studies in chemistry at the University of New Hampshire on a National Science Foundation Scholarship, and pursued additional postgraduate studies at Brandeis University. In 1987, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Indiana Christian University. Throughout his career, Mr. Sweet has been significantly involved in educational and school-related activities which have a significant impact on youth development and juvenile delinquency prevention. Mr. Sweet began his career as a high school teacher in Albion, Maine, a position in which he served for 3 years. From 1961 to 1970, he performed volunteer work each summer as a youth camp counselor in New Hampshire, where he worked with junveniles of all income levels in a variety of character-building programs. He also worked for several years as an educational textbook salesman and conducted elementary and secondary teacher training seminars in educational methodology and material utilization. In 1972, he was elected to serve on his local school board where he served until 1978. From 1970 to 1980, Mr. Sweet served on the Governor's Commission on Public Education for the State of New Hampshire. He also served as chairman of the Board of the New Hampshire Regional School Board for 2 years and as president of the Dublin, New Hampshire, PTA. Mr. Sweet ran for Congress in New Hampshire's Second Congressional District in 1980, where he lost in the primary to New Hampshire's current Governor, Judd Gregg. In 1981 he was appointed to be a Special Assistant with the U.S. Department of Education where he served until March of 1982. He was subsequently appointed to be the Deputy Director of the National Institute of Education, where he served until he was appointed Acting Director of N.I.E. In January of 1983, he was appointed to be the Executive Director of the National Council on Educational Research. In March of that same year, he accepted a position on the White House Staff as a Senior Staff member for the Office of Policy Development where he served until 1985. After which, Mr. Sweet was appointed to the position for Deputy Executive Secretary of the Domestic Policy Council, where he served until 1989. During his years on the White House Staff, Mr. Sweet performed important assignments on a variety of special task forces and working groups, including Chairman of the Working Group on Handicapped Policy; Chairman of the Working Group on the Parental Role in Educa tion; and member of the Task Force on Adoption and the Working Group on the Family. Mr. Sweet was also involved in the development of administration anti-drug policy during his service on the White House Staff. The committee notes that Mr. Sweet received extensive commendations for his work in these and other areas. Among the many groups and prominent individuals commending Mr. Sweet's past work and supporting his confirmation as Administrator of OJJDP were the following: Boys Clubs of America; the Crime Prevention Association of Philadelphia; the Family Research Council; Mr. John Walsh, a prominent leader of the Missing and Exploited Children Program and host of the television show, "America's Most Wanted"; Robert S. Muller, National Council on Disability; Judge Leonard Staisey, Member, United States Committee on the International Year of Disabled Persons; Justin Dart, Chairman, the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities; Paul Jochim, Chairman of the Board, International Rett Syndrome Association; Arnoald Burns, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States and Vice President, Boys Clubs of America; Concerned Women for America; Coalitions for America; Save America's Youth Foundation; Mr. Lex Frieden, Institute for Rehabilitation and Reseach Foundation; and Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family. Currently, Mr. Sweet is a Senior Staff Member on the Senate Republican Policy Committee, In this capacity, he authored a major policy report entitled, "Illiteracy: Incurable Disease or Education Malpractice," which has been distributed to over 10,000 organizations, governors, state legislators, and educators. Senator Armstrong, Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, states that Mr. Sweet's literacy report has received extensive favorable response from recipients. III. DISCUSSION During the committee's consideration of the nomination, some members raised concerns as to whether Mr. Sweet had sufficiently specialized qualifications in the areas covered by OJJDP programs. Some members raised the question as to whether Mr. Sweet satisfied the section of the OJJDP legislation, 42 U.S.C. 5611(b), which provides that the OJJDP Administrator is to be appointed "from among individuals who have had experience in juvenile justice programs." The OJJDP statute does not define the term "juvenile justice programs." However, the statute does define the term "juvenile delinquency programs," which constitute a subcategory of "juvenile justice programs." 42 U.S.C. 5603(3). That term is broadly defined to include "any program or activity related to juvenile delinquency prevention, control, diversion, treatment, rehabilitation, planning, education, training, and research, including drug and alcohol abuse programs; the improvement of the juvenile justice system; and any program or activity to help prevent juvenile delinquency." (Emphasis added.) A fair construction of the statute would indicate that experience in "juvenile delinquency programs," as defined by the statute, also |