[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13932-S13933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE POLICE CORPS PROGRAM

  Mr. LOTT. It is my understanding there are concerns with the Police 
Corps Program. It appears that funding from within the current fiscal 
year is not being made available to certain States.
  Mr. GREGG. I appreciate the minority leader's concerns with Police 
Corps. I have been told that OMB and the Department of Justice have 
rectified this situation. Both organizations have agreed that any funds 
available for Police Corps in fiscal year 2002 and unexpended balances 
from prior fiscal years will be made available for new programs if 
currently eligible participants have not used the funding provided for 
their State.

[[Page S13933]]

  Mr. STEVENS. I have the same understanding. OMB and Justice have 
decided that available funds can be used from the current balances. I 
am glad this issue has been worked out.
  Mr. KERRY. I very much appreciate the comments of Senators Lott, 
Stevens, and Gregg concerning the Police Corps program, which provides 
scholarships on a competitive basis to students who earn their 
bachelor's degrees, complete approved Police Corps training, and then 
serve for four years on patrol with law enforcement agencies in areas 
of great need. The Police Corps gives States funding to provide 
residential police training and to provide local and State agencies 
that hire Police Corps officers $10,000 a year for each of an officer's 
first 4 years of service. The fiscal year 2002 Senate Commerce, 
Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations bill, under the leadership 
of Chairman Hollings and Ranking Member Gregg, included $30 million for 
the Police Corps program. However, I was very disappointed that this 
amount was reduced to $14.435 million in the conference report, which 
included legislative language that the Police Corps program has 
sufficient unobligated balances available to allow the program to 
maintain its activities in fiscal year 2002 at the prior year level.
  I am very concerned that the Office of Justice Programs is not 
planning to provide appropriate funding for the Police Corps program in 
fiscal year 2002. It is my understanding that the Office of Justice 
Programs' plan for the Police Corps program could limit the ability of 
local law enforcement agencies to address violent crime by decreasing 
the number of officers with advanced education and training who serve 
on community patrol in high-crime areas. This could negatively affect 
the Police Corps program in my home State of Massachusetts, which is 
currently updating its training curriculum to provide the rigorous 
physical and moral police training that will help Police Corps recruits 
work effectively in high-crime areas within Massachusetts. As our 
nation remains on high alert due to recent terrorist attacks, the 
Police Corps program will play a crucial role in training future 
policemen and policewomen to stop terrorist activities before they hurt 
innocent Americans.
  It is my understanding that there are unobligated funds available to 
provide the Police Corps program with the funding necessary to increase 
the number of recruits above the modest demonstration level of 
approximately 25 trainees per state per year and to assist in resolving 
the current backlog of funding requests for the program.
  I believe that the Department of Justice should provide such funds as 
are necessary to maintain the current level of activity in Police Corps 
operations and to begin to resolve the current backlog of funding 
requests for the program. I look forward to working with Chairman 
Hollings, Ranking Member Gregg and others to assure that the Police 
Corps program is treated fairly by the Office of Justice Programs this 
year and in future years, and to insure that this important program 
receives adequate funding in the future.

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