[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 15, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H4971]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                  SUPPORTING COPS REAUTHORIZATION ACT

  (Mr. LARSEN of Washington asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Madam Speaker, I am pleased today that the 
House will vote to reauthorize the successful COPS program, and I 
commend our leadership for bringing H.R. 1700 to the floor.
  The Community Oriented Policing Services program has allowed our law 
enforcement agencies to hire over 100,000 police officers nationwide. 
This has led to significantly reduced crime rates between 1995 and 
2005. Unfortunately, the hiring component of this grant program has not 
been funded in recent years and the program overall has taken severe 
cuts.
  Post-9/11, we have asked our State and local law enforcement agencies 
to protect not only our communities from crime, but to protect our 
homeland as well. We cannot continue to put unfunded mandates on our 
local police forces and expect them to also provide protection from 
terrorism if we are not willing to provide the Federal aid for them to 
do so. If Congress fails to fund the hiring of additional peace 
officers, we risk losing the progress we have made in crime reduction. 
We must keep pressure up on crime.
  By helping to hire local police officers, the COPS program helps our 
State and local law enforcement bust drug-trafficking rings, take down 
domestic meth labs, and keep our communities safe.
  I encourage my colleagues to vote for H.R. 1700, the COPS 
Reauthorization Act of 2007.

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