[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 18 (Thursday, February 12, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S1275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SCHOOL VIOLENCE AND COPS FUNDING

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago a 17-year-old student was shot 
and killed at Ballou High School in Washington, DC. This shooting was 
the second in a 4-month period at the school. Earlier this week, in 
Albany, NY, another school shooting took place, and while only minor 
injuries resulted, the incident is another example of the impact of gun 
violence on students.
  School violence, or even the threat of school violence, instills fear 
in our students, and limits their ability to learn. It also threatens 
and intimidates teachers and makes instruction more difficult. Violence 
in our schools puts the learning environment in jeopardy.
  That is one reason why I am troubled by President Bush's fiscal year 
2005 budget. The President's budget proposes a total elimination of 
funding for the COPS in Schools Program. As my colleagues know, the 
COPS in Schools program is designed to help law enforcement agencies 
hire school resource officers to engage in community policing in and 
around primary and secondary schools. COPS in Schools provides an 
incentive for law enforcement agencies to build collaborative 
partnerships with the school community and to use community policing 
efforts to combat school violence.
  Since 1994, in my home State of Michigan, police departments have 
received more than $210 million, hired more than 3,300 officers, and 
the COPS in Schools program has added 143 school resource officers, but 
with the President's cuts to the COPS program, additional Federal 
assistance would not be on the way. The President's $900 million in 
cuts to COPS funding would require local police departments around the 
country to stretch even further the limited number of dollars they have 
to protect our schools and communities.
  I urge my colleagues to support efforts to reinstate COPS funding so 
that we might ensure a safer environment for our children to learn.

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