[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 108 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 108

            Supporting the Weed and Seed and COPS programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 30, 2007

Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida submitted the following resolution; which 
             was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
            Supporting the Weed and Seed and COPS programs.

Whereas Weed and Seed is an innovative, comprehensive, multi-agency approach to 
        law enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization;
Whereas Weed and Seed is foremost a strategy that aims to prevent, control, and 
        reduce violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity;
Whereas the four fundamental principles that underlie the Weed and Seed strategy 
        are collaboration, coordination, community participation, and leveraging 
        of resources;
Whereas the Weed and Seed strategy is a two-pronged approach, with law 
        enforcement agencies and prosecutors cooperating to ``weed out'' violent 
        criminals and drug abusers, while public agencies and community-based 
        private organizations collaborate to ``seed'' much needed human 
        services, including prevention, intervention, treatment, and 
        neighborhood restoration programs;
Whereas the United States Attorneys Offices play a leadership role in the Weed 
        and Seed strategy by organizing local officials, community 
        representatives, and other key stakeholders;
Whereas every Weed and Seed site is required to establish a Safe Haven, a multi-
        service center (often housed in a school or community center) where many 
        youth- and adult-oriented services are delivered;
Whereas promoting the long-term health of communities is an important goal of 
        Weed and Seed;
Whereas, despite the fact that the Weed and Seed program was not authorized 
        until January 5, 2006, in title II of the Violence Against Women and 
        Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, the program has been 
        receiving Federal funding through appropriations actions since fiscal 
        year 1993;
Whereas Weed and Seed received approximately $58,000,000 in Federal funding for 
        the period from fiscal year 2002 through fiscal year 2004, and 
        $62,000,000 in fiscal year 2005, an increase of 7 percent from fiscal 
        year 2004;
Whereas in fiscal year 2006, Federal funding for Weed and Seed decreased to 
        $50,000,000, a decrease of 19 percent from fiscal year 2005, and the 
        Administration requested a decrease to $49,000,000 for fiscal year 2007;
Whereas to maintain an effective program, the ``weeding'' and ``seeding'' 
        activities must complement each other, and should be part of an overall 
        strategy to reduce crime, increase public safety, and improve 
        neighborhoods;
Whereas a community-oriented policing component bridges the ``weeding'' and 
        ``seeding'' elements of the Weed and Seed strategy;
Whereas community-based strategies for solving crime problems foster a sense of 
        responsibility within the community and help develop cooperative 
        relationships between the police and residents;
Whereas community policing embraces the two key concepts of community engagement 
        and problem solving;
Whereas the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program was created by 
        title I of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, 
        and on January 5, 2006, was reauthorized through fiscal year 2009 in the 
        Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 
        2005;
Whereas, since its creation in 1994, the COPS program has been the driving force 
        in implementing a locally-defined vision of community policing in nearly 
        75 percent of the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the Nation;
Whereas the COPS program has funded more than 118,400 police officers and 
        sheriff's deputies, more than 104,150 of whom are on the beat;
Whereas the COPS program has funded large and small jurisdictions, with 87 
        percent of COPS grantees serving populations of less than 50,000;
Whereas appropriated funding for the COPS program was more than $1,000,000,000 
        for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 2002 (with the exception of 
        fiscal year 2000, when $595,000,000 was appropriated), but since fiscal 
        year 2002, appropriated funding for the COPS program has been 
        decreasing;
Whereas the decrease in funding for the COPS program began in fiscal year 2002, 
        when the program was again funded at just over $1,000,000,000, and 
        funding continued to decline to $929,000,000 in fiscal year 2003, to 
        $749,000,000 in fiscal year 2004, to $507,000,000 in fiscal year 2005, 
        and finally to $391,500,000 in fiscal year 2006; and
Whereas the Administration's request for the COPS program of $102,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2007, is 13 percent less than the amount requested in fiscal 
        year 2006, and the Administration requested a $127,500,000 rescission 
        for the COPS program for fiscal year 2007: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) encourages the establishment of more Weed and Seed 
        program sites; and
            (2) urges increased budget authority to fully fund any 
        request by a community for help from the Weed and Seed and COPS 
        programs.
                                 <all>