[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 15 (Thursday, January 25, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1192-S1193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HARKIN:
  S. 393. A bill to transfer unspent funds for grants by the Office of 
Community Oriented Policing Services, the Office of Justice Programs, 
and the Office on Violence Against Women to the Edward Byrne Memorial 
Justice Assistance Grant Program; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation to 
restore critical funding to one of our Nation's most effective drug 
enforcement tools, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant 
Program. My bill, the Emergency Local Law Enforcement Byrne Assistance 
Act of 2007, will bring a desperately needed infusion of cash into this 
critical local law enforcement assistance program.
  The Byrne grant program provides funding for local drug task forces 
all over the country. These local drug task forces are critical to 
creating regional cooperation and to fighting the manufacture, 
distribution, and use of methamphetamine.
  A survey by the Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy found that in 
fiscal year 2004 Byrne JAG dollars funded 4,316 police officers and 
prosecutors working on 764 drug enforcement task forces. The study also 
found that Byrne JAG funding led to 221,000 arrests in 45 states, the 
seizure of 5.5 million grams of methamphetamine, and the breakup of 
almost 9,000 methamphetamine labs.
  Yet the program has suffered draconian cuts over the past 4 years. 
Between 2003 and 2006 the President and the Attorney General have 
refused to provide a single dollar for Byrne local law enforcement 
funding. As a result, funding for the Byrne program has been slashed by 
almost 60 percent from $1 billion dollars in 2003 to just $416 million 
in 2006.
  I hear on a weekly basis from Sheriffs and other law enforcement 
officials in Iowa how hard these cuts are hitting them. Over the past 
year, Iowa has had to absorb a 42 percent cut in Byrne funding. That 
translates to less law enforcement officers and less regional 
cooperation in finding and stopping that meth that continues to flood 
the State of Iowa. I recently heard from Story County Sheriff Paul 
Fitzgerald that his agency alone will lose two drug task force agents 
this year, a statistic that is being repeated in almost every county 
across my State.
  The anecdotal evidence from Iowa law enforcement is clearly reflected 
at the national level. The Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform 
Crime Reports recently found that violent crime in the United States 
increased 2.5 percent in 2005, and an additional 3.7 percent in the 
first half of 2006, the largest increase in 15 years! The increase was 
much more severe in the meth plagued Midwest with violent crime up 5.7 
percent in 2005.
  You don't need a side by side chart to understand the connection 
between drastic reductions in federal funding for local law enforcement 
and rising crime rates!
  At the same time, a recent report by the Department of Justice 
Inspector General found that the Department of Justice has not been 
doing a particularly effective job of administering the grants within 
its jurisdiction. The Inspector General found that just over $170 
million expired grant funding is sitting at DOJ. Some of this funding 
is for grants that expired as long as five years ago!
  My bill simply takes this unused money and puts it into the Byrne 
grant program. Specifically, the legislation transfers all balances on 
COPS and Office of Justice Program grants that have been expired for 
more than 90 days and all Office of Violence Against Women grants that 
have been expired for more than 2 years, to the Byrne JAG program for 
fiscal year 2007. These expired grant funds are currently sitting in 
DOJ coffers and cannot legally be used by the grantee, and the funds 
would ultimately revert to the treasury. My bill instead puts the money 
to good use in offsetting some of the most drastic consequences of cuts 
to the Byrne program.
  While reallocating these amounts to Byrne JAG will make only a dent 
in the massive budget cuts of recent years, the Emergency Local Law 
Enforcement Byrne Assistance Act of 2007 is an important first step and 
sends an immediate message to line officers

[[Page S1193]]

overwhelmed by the unstoppable flow of meth into our States that we are 
going to help.
  I am hopeful that in this new Congress the President and the Congress 
will more adequately fund crucial law enforcement programs like Byrne 
JAG. In the meantime, I urge my colleagues to join me in demonstrating 
a commitment to local law enforcement and to our continuing fight 
against methamphetamine by coming together to quickly pass the 
Emergency Local Law Enforcement Byrne Assistance Act of 2007.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 393

       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 ``Emergency Local Law 
     Enforcement Byrne Assistance Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) A report by the Inspector General of the Department of 
     Justice documents that the Office of Justice Programs, the 
     Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, and the 
     Office on Violence Against Women of the Department of Justice 
     have failed to close out and deobligate over $160,000,000 in 
     expired grant funds and that these funds have not been 
     redirected to other programs or returned to the Treasury.
       (2) Between fiscal year 2003 and fiscal year 2006, funding 
     for the formula grant program of the Edward Byrne Memorial 
     Justice Assistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of part E of 
     the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
     U.S.C. 3750 et seq.) has been reduced by over 50 percent, 
     from $900,000,000 to $416,000,000.
       (3) According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation 
     Uniform Crime Reports, violent crime in the United States 
     increased 2.5 percent in 2005, and an additional 3.7 percent 
     in the first half of 2006. In the Midwest, which continues to 
     struggle with a methamphetamine epidemic, violent crime 
     increased 5.7 percent between 2004 and 2005.

     SEC. 3. UNSPENT GRANTS.

       (a) In General.--All amounts described in subsection (b) 
     shall be transferred for use for grants under the formula 
     grant program of the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 
     Grant Program under subpart 1 of part E of the Omnibus Crime 
     Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et 
     seq.), to remain available until expended.
       (b) Amounts Covered.--The amounts described in this 
     subsection are any unexpended amounts for--
       (1) any covered grant administered by the Office of 
     Community Oriented Policing Services;
       (2) any covered grant administered by the Office of Justice 
     Programs; and
       (3) any covered grant administered by the Office on 
     Violence Against Women for which the grant expired not less 
     than 2 years before the date of enactment of this Act.
       (c) Definition.--In this section, the term ``covered 
     grant'' means a grant--
       (1) that has expired but has not been closed out; or
       (2)(A) that has expired and been closed out; and
       (B) the remaining funds of which have not been deobligated.
                                 ______