[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 54 (Thursday, April 28, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4562-S4565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Bingaman, Mrs. Clinton, 
        Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Levin, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
        Lieberman, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Ms. Mikulski, 
        Mr. Bayh, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Corzine, Mr. 
        Jeffords, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Smith, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Akaka, 
        Mr. Reed, Mr. Harkin, Mrs. Boxer, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Reid, Mr. 
        Salazar, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. 
        Schumer, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Specter, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Lautenberg, and 
        Mr. Obama):
  S. 945. A bill to provide reliable officers, technology, education, 
community prosecutors, and raining in our neighborhoods; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today, I rise to introduce legislation to 
reauthorize the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented 
Policing Services (COPS). This program has achieved what my colleagues 
and I hoped for back when we were debating the 1994 Crime Bill. Prior 
to the final vote, in August of 1994, I stated that ``I will vote for 
this bill, because, as much as anything I have ever voted on in 22 
years in the U.S. Senate, I truly believe that passage of this 
legislation will make a difference in the lives of the American people. 
I believe with every fiber in my being that if this bill passes, fewer 
people will be murdered, fewer people will be victims, fewer women will 
be senselessly beaten, fewer people will continue on the drug path, and 
fewer children will become criminals.''
  Fortunately, with the creation of the COPS program, we were able to 
form a partnership amongst Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
and create programs that helped drive down crime rates for eight 
consecutive years. In 1994 we had historically high rates of violent 
crimes, such as murders, forcible rapes, and aggravated assaults. We 
were able to reduce these to the lowest levels in a generation. We 
reduced the murder rate by 37.8 percent; we reduced forcible rapes by 
19.1 percent; and we reduced aggravated assaults by 25.5 percent. 
Property crimes, including auto thefts also were reduced from 
historical highs to the lowest levels in decades.
  How were we able to achieve such great results? Well, we all know it 
was a combination of factors, but most law enforcement officials credit 
the Office of Community Oriented Policing with a pivotal role. Indeed, 
in the words of Attorney General Ashcroft the Community Oriented 
Policing program (``COPS'') has been ``a miraculous success.'' Just a 
few months ago, Attorney General Gonzalez reached the same conclusion, 
stating that ``we put additional officers on the street and now we have 
crime at an all-time low.'' In addition, this program has been endorsed 
by every major law enforcement group in the Nation, including the 
International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National 
Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), the National Sheriffs 
Association (NSA), the International Brotherhood of Police 
Organizations, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement 
Officials (NOBLE), the International Union of Police Associations 
(IUPA), the Fraternal Order of Police, and others. The bottom line is 
that from the Top Cop in the United States to the beat officer 
patrolling a local community, the impact of this program is clear.
  Rather than support this program, the Bush Administration and 
Republican leadership is set on eliminating

[[Page S4563]]

it. President Bush has proposed cuts each year he has been in office, 
and while we have fought to maintain funding for COPS, we are fighting 
an uphill battle. Funding for State and local law enforcement programs 
run out of the Department of Justice is down 75.6 percent since fiscal 
year 2002. This year, funding for State and local law enforcement is at 
$118 million for the entire Nation, with no funding for hiring.
  These cuts are coming at the worst possible time. Local law 
enforcement is facing what I have called a perfect storm. The FBI is 
reprogramming its field agents from local crime to terrorism. 
Undoubtedly, this is necessary given the threats facing our Nation. 
But, this means that there will be less Federal assistance for drug 
cases, bank robberies, and violent crime. Local law enforcement will be 
required to fill the gap left by the FBI in addition to performing more 
and more homeland security duties. Due to budget restraints at the 
local level and the unprecedented cuts in Federal assistance they will 
be less able to do either. Articles in the USA Today and the New York 
Times highlighted the fact that many cities are being forced to 
eliminate officers because of local budgets woes. In fact, New York 
City has lost over 3,000 officers in the last few years. Other cities, 
such as Cleveland, Minnesota, and Houston, TX, are facing similar 
shortages. As a result, local police chiefs are reluctantly pulling 
officers from the proactive policing activities that were so successful 
in the nineties, and they are unable to provide sufficient numbers of 
officers for Federal task forces. These choices are not made lightly. 
Police chiefs understand the value of proactive policing and the need 
to be involved in homeland security task forces; however, they simply 
don't have the manpower to do it all. Responding to emergency calls 
must take precedence over proactive programs and task forces, and I 
fear that we will see the impact in our national crime rates soon. 
Local chiefs and sheriffs are reporting increased gang activity. And, 
murder rates and auto thefts--two very accurate indicators of crime 
trends--have gone up for three consecutive years.

  To me, cutting assistance for State and local law enforcement is 
inexplicable, particularly because the need for Federal assistance 
remains so pressing. In fact, last month I offered an amendment to 
restore funding for the COPS program in the sum of $1 billion. This 
amount would have provided enough funding to eliminate the backlog of 
pending officer requests of 10,000 from 3,700 jurisdictions throughout 
the Nation. And, it would have provided funding to support on-going 
needs this year. Unfortunately, this amendment was voted down on a 
party-line vote. The Bush Administration's response to these criticisms 
about its budget is that funding for the Department of Homeland 
Security is up. Undoubtedly, these are critical, necessary 
expenditures, and I believe that the Administration has not invested 
enough for homeland security. We have an obligation to do both. We must 
fund homeland security and invest in the programs that help reduce 
traditional crime and prevent terrorism. As terrorism and security 
experts have pointed out, funding additional officers through the COPS 
program can help do both.
  The legislation that I am introducing today provides $1.5 billion per 
year for six years for the COPS program. This includes $600 million per 
year for officer hiring grants, $350 million per year for technology 
grants, and $200 million per year to help local district attorneys hire 
community prosecutors. This funding will help keep faith with our State 
and local law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line 
every day to keep our communities safe from crime and terrorism. I 
would ask all of my colleagues to go to their local police chief or 
sheriff and ask them if they should support this legislation, and I 
hope that they will, because if they did, it would be passed 100-0.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of this legislation be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 945

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Providing Reliable Officers, 
     Technology, Education, Community Prosecutors, and Training In 
     Our Neighborhoods Act of 2005'' or the ``PROTECTION Act''.

     SEC. 2. PROVIDING RELIABLE OFFICERS, TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION, 
                   COMMUNITY PROSECUTORS, AND TRAINING IN OUR 
                   NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE.

       (a) COPS Program.--Section 1701(a) of title I of the 
     Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     3796dd(a)) is amended by--
       (1) inserting ``and prosecutor'' after ``increase police''; 
     and
       (2) inserting ``to enhance law enforcement access to new 
     technologies,'' after ``presence,''.
       (b) Hiring and Redeployment Grant Projects.--Section 
     1701(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
     Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd(b)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) in subparagraph (B)--
       (i) by inserting after ``Nation'' the following: ``, or pay 
     overtime to existing career law enforcement officers to the 
     extent that such overtime is devoted to community-oriented 
     policing efforts''; and
       (ii) by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (B) in subparagraph (C), by--
       (i) striking ``, or pay overtime''; and
       (ii) striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
     and''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(D) promote higher education among in-service State and 
     local law enforcement officers by reimbursing them for the 
     costs associated with seeking a college or graduate school 
     education.''; and
       (2) in paragraph (2), by striking all that follows 
     ``SUPPORT SYSTEMS.--'' and inserting ``Grants pursuant to--
       ``(A) paragraph (1)(B) for overtime may not exceed 25 
     percent of the funds available for grants pursuant to this 
     subsection for any fiscal year;
       ``(B) paragraph (1)(C) may not exceed 20 percent of the 
     funds available for grants pursuant to this subsection in any 
     fiscal year; and
       ``(C) paragraph (1)(D) may not exceed 5 percent of the 
     funds available for grants pursuant to this subsection for 
     any fiscal year.''.
       (c) Additional Grant Projects.--Section 1701(d) of title I 
     of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
     U.S.C. 3796dd(d)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (2)--
       (A) by inserting ``integrity and ethics'' after 
     ``specialized''; and
       (B) by inserting ``and'' after ``enforcement officers'';
       (2) in paragraph (7), by inserting ``, school officials, 
     religiously-affiliated organizations,'' after ``enforcement 
     officers'';
       (3) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the following:
       ``(8) establish school-based partnerships between local law 
     enforcement agencies and local school systems, by using 
     school resource officers who operate in and around elementary 
     and secondary schools to serve as a law enforcement liaison 
     with other Federal, State, and local law enforcement and 
     regulatory agencies, and to combat school-related crime and 
     disorder problems, gang membership and criminal activity, 
     firearms and explosives-related incidents, the illegal use 
     and possession of alcohol, and the illegal possession, use, 
     and distribution of drugs;'';
       (4) in paragraph (11), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (5) in paragraph (12), by striking the period that appears 
     at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
       (6) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(13) develop and implement innovative programs (such as 
     the TRIAD program) that bring together a community's sheriff, 
     chief of police, and elderly residents to address the public 
     safety concerns of older citizens.''.
       (d) Technical Assistance.--Section 1701(f) of title I of 
     the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
     U.S.C. 3796dd(f)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) by inserting ``use up to 5 percent of the funds 
     available for grants pursuant to subsection (a) in any fiscal 
     year to'' after ``The Attorney General may'';
       (B) by inserting at the end the following: ``In addition, 
     the Attorney General may use up to 5 percent of the funds 
     available for grants pursuant to subsections (d), (e), and 
     (f) in any fiscal year for technical assistance and training 
     to States, units of local government, Indian tribal 
     governments, and to other public and private entities for 
     those respective purposes.'';
       (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``under subsection (a)'' 
     after ``the Attorney General''; and
       (3) in paragraph (3)--
       (A) by striking ``the Attorney General may'' and inserting 
     ``the Attorney General shall'';
       (B) by striking ``operation of training centers'' and 
     inserting ``regional community policing institutes, training 
     centers,''; and
       (C) by inserting ``representatives of police labor and 
     management organizations, community residents,'' after 
     ``supervisors,''.
       (e) Technology and Prosecution Programs.--Section 1701 of 
     title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
     1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd) is amended by--
       (1) striking subsection (k);
       (2) redesignating subsections (f) through (j) as 
     subsections (g) through (k); and

[[Page S4564]]

       (3) striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
       ``(e) Law Enforcement Technology Program.--Grants made 
     under subsection (a) may be used to assist police 
     departments, in employing professional, scientific, and 
     technological advancements that will help them--
       ``(1) improve police communications through the use of 
     wireless communications, computers, software, videocameras, 
     databases, and other hardware and software that allow law 
     enforcement agencies to communicate more effectively across 
     jurisdictional boundaries and effectuate interoperability;
       ``(2) develop and improve access to crime solving 
     technologies, including DNA analysis, photo enhancement, 
     voice recognition, and other forensic capabilities; and
       ``(3) promote comprehensive crime analysis by utilizing new 
     techniques and technologies, such as crime mapping, that 
     allow law enforcement agencies to use real-time crime and 
     arrest data and other related information, including non-
     criminal justice data, to improve their ability to analyze, 
     predict, and respond pro-actively to local crime and disorder 
     problems, as well as to engage in regional crime analysis.
       ``(f) Community-Based Prosecution Program.--
       ``(1) In general.--Grants made under subsection (a) may be 
     used to assist State, local or tribal prosecutors' offices in 
     the implementation of community-based prosecution programs 
     that build on local community-oriented policing efforts.
       ``(2) Use of funds.--Funds made available under this 
     subsection may be used to--
       ``(A) hire additional prosecutors who will be assigned to 
     community prosecution programs, including programs that 
     assign prosecutors to handle cases from specific geographic 
     areas, to address specific violent crime and other local 
     crime problems (including intensive illegal gang, gun, and 
     drug enforcement projects and quality of life initiatives), 
     and to address localized violent and other crime problems 
     based on needs identified by local law enforcement agencies, 
     community organizations, and others;
       ``(B) redeploy existing prosecutors to community 
     prosecution programs as described in paragraph (1) of this 
     section by hiring victim and witness coordinators, 
     paralegals, community outreach, and other such personnel; and
       ``(C) establish programs to assist local prosecutors' 
     offices in the implementation of programs that help them 
     identify and respond to priority crime problems in a 
     community with specifically tailored solutions.
       ``(3) Allocation.--At least 75 percent of the funds made 
     available under this subsection shall be reserved for grants 
     under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) and of those 
     amounts no more than 10 percent may be used for grants under 
     paragraph (2)(B) and at least 25 percent of the funds shall 
     be reserved for grants under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 
     paragraph (2) to units of local government with a population 
     of less than 50,000.''.
       (f) Retention Grants.--Section 1703 of title I of the 
     Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     3796dd-2) is amended by inserting at the end the following:
       ``(d) Retention Grants.--The Attorney General may use no 
     more than 50 percent of the funds under subsection (a) to 
     award grants targeted specifically for retention of police 
     officers to grantees in good standing, with preference to 
     those that demonstrate financial hardship or severe budget 
     constraint that impacts the entire local budget and may 
     result in the termination of employment for police officers 
     funded under subsection (b).''.
       (g) Definitions.--
       (1) Career law enforcement officer.--Section 1709(1) of 
     title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
     1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-8(1)) is amended by inserting after 
     ``criminal laws'' the following: ``, including sheriffs 
     deputies charged with supervising offenders who are released 
     into the community but also engaged in local community-
     oriented policing efforts.''.
       (2) School resource officer.--Section 1709(4) of title I of 
     the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
     U.S.C. 3796dd-8(4)) is amended--
       (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(A) to serve as a law enforcement liaison with other 
     Federal, State, and local law enforcement and regulatory 
     agencies, to address and document crime and disorder problems 
     including gangs and drug activities, firearms and explosives-
     related incidents, and the illegal use and possession of 
     alcohol affecting or occurring in or around an elementary or 
     secondary school;'';
       (B) by striking subparagraph (E) and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(E) to train students in conflict resolution, restorative 
     justice, and crime awareness, and to provide assistance to 
     and coordinate with other officers, mental health 
     professionals, and youth counselors who are responsible for 
     the implementation of prevention/intervention programs within 
     the schools;'';
       (C) in subparagraph (F) by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (D) in subparagraph (G) by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting a semicolon; and
       (E) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(H) to work with school administrators, members of the 
     local parent teacher associations, community organizers, law 
     enforcement, fire departments, and emergency medical 
     personnel in the creation, review, and implementation of a 
     school violence prevention plan;
       ``(I) to assist in documenting the full description of all 
     firearms found or taken into custody on school property and 
     to initiate a firearms trace and ballistics examination for 
     each firearm with the local office of the Bureau of Alcohol, 
     Tobacco, and Firearms;
       ``(J) to document the full description of all explosives or 
     explosive devices found or taken into custody on school 
     property and report to the local office of the Bureau of 
     Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; and
       ``(K) to assist school administrators with the preparation 
     of the Department of Education, Annual Report on State 
     Implementation of the Gun-Free Schools Act, which tracks the 
     number of students expelled per year for bringing a weapon, 
     firearm, or explosive to school.''.
       (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1001(a)(11) 
     of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
     of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)(11)) is amended--
       (1) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
       ``(A) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
     part Q, to remain available until expended--
       ``(i) $1,150,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
       ``(ii) $1,150,000,000 for fiscal year 2007;
       ``(iii) $1,150,000,000 for fiscal year 2008;
       ``(iv) $1,150,000,000 for fiscal year 2009;
       ``(v) $1,150,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and
       ``(vi) $1,150,000,000 for fiscal year 2011.''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (B)--
       (A) by striking ``3 percent'' and inserting ``5 percent'';
       (B) by striking ``1701(f)'' and inserting ``1701(g)'';
       (C) by striking the second sentence and inserting ``Of the 
     remaining funds, if there is a demand for 50 percent of 
     appropriated hiring funds, as determined by eligible hiring 
     applications from law enforcement agencies having 
     jurisdiction over areas with populations exceeding 150,000, 
     no less than 50 percent shall be allocated for grants 
     pursuant to applications submitted by units of local 
     government or law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction 
     over areas with populations exceeding 150,000 or by public 
     and private entities that serve areas with populations 
     exceeding 150,000, and no less than 50 percent shall be 
     allocated for grants pursuant to applications submitted by 
     units of local government or law enforcement agencies having 
     jurisdiction over areas with populations less than 150,000 or 
     by public and private entities that serve areas with 
     populations less than 150,000.'';
       (D) by striking ``85 percent'' and inserting 
     ``$600,000,000''; and
       (E) by striking ``1701(b),'' and all that follows through 
     ``of part Q.'' and inserting the following: ``1701 (b) and 
     (c), $350,000,000 to grants for the purposes specified in 
     section 1701(e), and $200,000,000 to grants for the purposes 
     specified in section 1701(f).''.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I am proud today with Senator Biden 
and several of our colleagues to introduce a bill to reauthorize the 
Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) program, which has been so 
vitally important to my State of West Virginia. The bill authorizes 
$1.15 billion to fund operations of the U.S. Department of Justice's 
COPS Office and to put 50,000 new police officers on the streets of the 
United States through 2011. I am a cosponsor of this bill because I 
understood how important this program could be when we passed it 
originally as part of President Clinton's 1994 Crime bill, because I've 
seen how important it is to my State of West Virginia, and because I 
know that there are few government programs that have done more to make 
the whole country safer and more secure.
  President Clinton had a goal of placing 100,000 new police officers 
on our streets. As hard as it is to believe, there are opponents of the 
COPS program. In an attempt to defend their desire to end the program, 
they are quick to point out that the goal has been met, and even 
exceeded. They would have you believe that the Federal Government 
should get out of the business of helping local law enforcement do 
their jobs. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, when police 
departments have taken on seemingly innumerable crucial 
responsibilities in addition to their roles in fighting crime, plans to 
close out this program have been included in the President's budget 
each year since he took office. For the Fiscal Year 2006 budget, 
funding for hiring new officers was zeroed out, and funds for ongoing 
projects were slashed by varying degrees.
  There is simply no justification for not continuing the successes of 
this program. The COPS program has allowed State, local, and tribal law 
enforcement agencies in all 50 States and the District of Columbia to 
hire 118,000 new officers since 1994. The violent

[[Page S4565]]

crime rate has dropped 30 percent in the same period. Recently, 
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made the connection himself, 
commenting that these officers were put on the street and crime is at a 
thirty-year low.
  The COPS program has sent more than $40 million to my home State of 
West Virginia, allowing 166 jurisdictions to hire nearly 700 officers. 
There is no way that the citizens of my State could afford to hire and 
train this many officers in this amount of time, and no feasible way to 
replace the benefits the COPS program produces. Many of these towns had 
never had their own police officers before this, and I can tell you 
that the presence of those officers has changed lives for the better 
throughout my State.
  West Virginia has also benefited from some specialized programs 
administered by the COPS Office. Our schools, which were once refuges 
from crime and danger, now have safety and security concerns best 
handled by trained law enforcement professionals. The COPS in Schools 
(CIS) program has provided $2 million to hire 20 school resource 
officers (SROs). In 2004 alone we received more than $457,000 to hire 
four SROs. Law enforcement agencies in my State have also received $4.7 
million in COPS technology grants, and were making headway on a 
burgeoning crisis in methamphetamine production with the COPS METH 
grant program. This assistance has allowed police in my State to tap 
into crime-fighting and data-sharing technologies, and helped protect 
my constituents from a drug problem spreading through rural America 
like wildfire.
  I look forward to enactment of this legislation, and the new 
assistance it will bring to state and local law enforcement agencies 
throughout West Virginia. Specifically, this legislation will provide: 
$600 million per year through 2011 for 50,000 more cops across the 
country; $350 million per year for law enforcement technologies, 
including interoperable communications equipment, state-of-the-art DNA 
analysis, and computer crime mapping; and $200 million annually to hire 
new prosecutors, to finish the job our new officers have started.
  I commend Senator Biden for his tireless work on behalf of law 
enforcement and I pledge to do all that I can to see this bill enacted 
for the good of the people of West Virginia and for all Americans.
                                 ______