[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 109 (Friday, June 30, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9576-S9577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   HOUSE CUTS CRIME-FIGHTING DOLLARS

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise to offer my strong opposition 
to actions taken by the House Commerce/State/Justice Appropriations 
Subcommittee earlier this week. In passing the 1996 appropriation's 
bill the subcommittee Republicans have set off on a course which would 
cripple Federal, State, and local efforts to combat crime. If the 
subcommittee Republicans' plan is adopted: New FBI agents will not be 
hired; 20,000 State and local police will not be hired; thousands of 
wife-beaters will not be arrested, tried or convicted; new DEA agents 
will not be hired; 80,000 offenders released on probation will not be 
tested for drugs or subject to certain punishment; and digital 
telephony technology vital to law enforcement will not be developed.
  First, let me address the cuts to Federal law enforcement. The 
President requested an increase of $122 million for FBI agents and 
other FBI activities--but the subcommittee Republicans cut $45 million 
from that request.
  I would also point out that the subcommittee Republicans provides no 
dollars of the $300 million authorized for FBI in the Dole/Hatch 
counter-terrorism bill. This legislation has not passed into law, so 
some might say that is the reason that none of these dollars are made 
available. But, the subcommittee Republicans did find a way to add 
their block grant which passed the House, but not the Senate.
  So, I do not think there is any explanation for cutting the FBI other 
than a fundamental lack of commitment to Federal law enforcement by the 
subcommittee Republicans. I have heard time and again over the past 
several months from my Republican colleagues in the Senate that the 
President was not committed to Federal law enforcement. I have heard 
time and again from my Republican colleagues that they would increase 
funding for Federal law enforcement.
  Well, something just does not add up--House subcommittee Republicans 
will not give the President the increase he requested for the FBI, 
despite all the rhetoric I have heard over the past several months.
  The cuts to Federal law enforcement do not even stop there. The House 
subcommittee Republicans cut $17 million from the $54 million boost 
requested for DEA agents by the administration. That is more than a 30-
percent cut. The House subcommittee Republicans provide no dollars of 
the $60 million authorized for DEA in the Dole/Hatch counterterrorism 
bill.
  Let me review another area where the actions of these subcommittee 
Republicans are completely opposite the rhetoric I have heard from the 
other side here in the Senate.
  The Violence Against Women Act--having first introduced the Violence 
Against Women Act 5 years ago, I had welcomed the bipartisan support 
finally accorded the act last year. I would note the strong support 
provided by Senators Hatch and Dole.
  But, when we have gotten past the rhetoric and it came time to 
actually write the check in the Appropriations Subcommittee, the women 
of America were mugged. The President requested $175 million for the 
Justice Department's violence against women programs, and the House 
subcommittee Republicans have provided less than half--$75 million.
  While the specific programs have not been yet identified, that $100 
million will mean the key initiatives will not get the funding that 
everyone on both sides of the aisle agreed they should: $130 million 
was requested for grants to State and local police, prosecutors and 
victims groups; $28 million was requested to make sure that every man 
who beats his wife or girlfriend is arrested; $7 million was requested 
for enforcement efforts against family violence and child abuse in 
rural areas; and $6 million was requested to provide special advocates 
for abused children who come before a court.
  I keep hearing about how the Violence Against Women Act is a 
bipartisan effort. In all the new so-called crime bills I have seen 
proposed by Members of the other side, not once have I seen any effort 
to repeal or cut back on any element of the Violence Against Women Act. 
But, the actions of the House subcommittee Republicans tell a 
completely different story.
  To discuss yet another troubling aspect of the House subcommittee 
Republican bill--this bill eliminates the $1.9 billion sought for the 
second year of the 100,000 police program. That $1.9 

[[Page S9577]]
billion would put at least 20,000 more State and local police officers 
on the streets--and probably many more, for the $1.1 billion spent so 
far this year has put well over 16,000 more police on the streets.
  What happens to the $1.9 billion? In the House Republican bill, these 
dollars are shifted to a LEAA-style block grant for ``a variety of 
programs including more police officers, crime prevention programs, 
drug courts and equipment and technology,'' quoting the summary 
provided by the House Republicans on the subcommittee.
  In other words, not $1 must be spent to add State and local police 
officers. I keep hearing about support for State and local police from 
the other side of the aisle. But, just when it really matters, just 
when we are writing checks and not just making speeches, America's 
State and local police officers are being ripped-off. Instead of a 
guarantee that police officers and police departments get each and 
every one of these $1.9 billion, the House subcommittee Republicans 
propose empty deal--money in the same type of grants that failed in the 
1970's and under standards so lax that America's police could wait 
through all next year without a single dollar.
  Mr. President, I hope that the actions of the House Republicans on 
the subcommittee are reversed in the full Appropriations Committee. And 
if not there, then I hope these actions will be reversed on the floor 
of the House.
  But, if the House Republicans stand with the subcommittee and against 
Federal law enforcement, against FBI agents, against DEA agents, 
against the women of America, and against State and local police 
officers, I urge all my colleagues in the Senate to stand by the 
positions they have taken all year and stand up to the House 
Republicans.


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