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There are a lot of messages that need to be sent to the criminal who is out there dealing in this on the streets of the United States. We need to send the message of swiftness and certain punishment.

We ought not to demonize a single gang member, and we ought not to romanticize a single gang.

The message has to be sent that if you commit a crime there has to be punishment.

I want the violence among young people in this country to stop - particularly gang violence.

Gang violence in America is not a sudden problem. It has been a part of urban life for years, offering an aggressive definition and identity to those seeking a place to belong in the chaos of large metropolitan areas.

Punishment can do a lot for criminals, and send a message to the rest of society.

We need to get serious about combating gang violence on Long Island, and the entire nation.

With the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the international community sent out a clear message that gender based violence will not be tolerated.

Violent statements and threats cannot provide a solution to the problem. They can only exacerbate feeling and make a clash of forces inevitable.

What a lot of people don't realize about gangs, in my opinion, is that a gang is not there to attack you. Eighty percent of the people in a gang are there to stop anyone from attacking them. You join a gang for protection, not to go out and hit someone.