[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 15, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H4985-H4995]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     COPS IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2007

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1700) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 to enhance the COPS ON THE BEAT grant program, and for 
other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1700

       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 ``COPS Improvements Act of 
     2007''.

     SEC. 2. COPS GRANT IMPROVEMENTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 1701 of the Omnibus Crime Control 
     and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd) is amended--
       (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
       ``(a) Grant Authorization.--The Attorney General shall 
     carry out grant programs under which the Attorney General 
     makes grants to States, units of local government, Indian 
     tribal governments, other public and private entities, multi-
     jurisdictional or regional consortia, and individuals for the 
     purposes described in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e).'';
       (2) in subsection (b)--
       (A) by striking the subsection heading text and inserting 
     ``Community Policing and Crime Prevention Grants'';
       (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``, to increase the 
     number of officers deployed in community-oriented policing'';
       (C) by amending paragraph (4) to read as follows:
       ``(4) award grants to pay for or train officers hired to 
     perform intelligence, anti-terror, or homeland security 
     duties;'';
       (D) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
       ``(5) award grants to hire school resource officers and to 
     establish school-based partnerships between local law 
     enforcement agencies and local school systems to combat 
     crime, gangs, drug activities, and other problems in and 
     around elementary and secondary schools;'';
       (E) by striking paragraph (9);
       (F) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through (12) as 
     paragraphs (9) through (11), respectively;
       (G) by striking paragraph (13);
       (H) by redesignating paragraphs (14) through (17) as 
     paragraphs (12) through (15), respectively;
       (I) in paragraph (14), as so redesignated, by striking 
     ``and'' at the end;
       (J) in paragraph (15), as so redesignated, by striking the 
     period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
       (K) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(16) establish and implement innovative programs to 
     reduce and prevent illegal drug manufacturing, distribution, 
     and use, including the manufacturing, distribution, and use 
     of methamphetamine;
       ``(17) establish criminal gang enforcement task forces, 
     consisting of members of Federal, State, and local law 
     enforcement authorities (including Federal, State, and local 
     prosecutors), for the coordinated investigation, disruption, 
     apprehension, and prosecution of criminal gangs and offenders 
     involved in local or multi-jurisdictional gang activities; 
     and
       ``(18) award enhancing community policing and crime 
     prevention grants that meet emerging law enforcement needs, 
     as warranted.'';
       (3) by striking subsection (c);
       (4) by striking subsections (h) and (i);
       (5) by redesignating subsections (d) through (g) as 
     subsections (f) through (i), respectively;
       (6) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
       ``(c) Troops-to-Cops Programs.--
       ``(1) In general.--Grants made under subsection (a) may be 
     used to hire former members of the Armed Forces to serve as 
     career law enforcement officers for deployment in community-
     oriented policing, particularly in communities that are 
     adversely affected by a recent military base closing.
       ``(2) Definition.--In this subsection, `former member of 
     the Armed Forces' means a member of the Armed Forces of the 
     United States who has been honorably discharged from the 
     Armed Forces of the United States.
       ``(d) Community Prosecutors Program.--The Attorney General 
     may make grants under subsection (a) to pay for additional 
     community prosecuting programs, including programs that 
     assign prosecutors to--
       ``(1) handle cases from specific geographic areas; and
       ``(2) address counter-terrorism problems, specific violent 
     crime problems (including intensive illegal gang, gun, and 
     drug enforcement and quality of life initiatives), and 
     localized violent and other crime problems based on needs 
     identified by local law enforcement agencies, community 
     organizations, and others.
       ``(e) Technology Grants.--The Attorney General may make 
     grants under subsection (a) to develop and use new 
     technologies (including interoperable communications 
     technologies, modernized criminal record technology, and 
     forensic technology) to assist State and local law 
     enforcement agencies in reorienting the emphasis of their 
     activities from reacting to crime to preventing crime and to 
     train law enforcement officers to use such technologies.'';
       (7) in subsection (f), as so redesignated--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``to States, units of 
     local government, Indian tribal governments, and to other 
     public and private entities,'';
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``define for State and 
     local governments, and other public and private entities,'' 
     and inserting ``establish'';
       (C) in the first sentence of paragraph (3), by inserting 
     ``(including regional community policing institutes)'' after 
     ``training centers or facilities''; and
       (D) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) Exclusivity.--The Office of Community Oriented 
     Policing Services shall be the exclusive component of the 
     Department of Justice to perform the functions and activities 
     specified in this paragraph.'';
       (8) in subsection (g), as so redesignated, by striking 
     ``may utilize any component'', and all that follows and 
     inserting ``shall use the Office of Community Oriented 
     Policing Services of the Department of Justice in carrying 
     out this part.'';
       (9) in subsection (h), as so redesignated--
       (A) by striking ``subsection (a)'' the first place that 
     term appears and inserting ``paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
     subsection (b)''; and
       (B) by striking ``in each fiscal year pursuant to 
     subsection (a)'' and inserting ``in each fiscal year for 
     purposes described in paragraph (1) and (2) of subsection 
     (b)'';
       (10) in subsection (i), as so redesignated--
       (A) by striking ``the Federal share shall decrease from 
     year to year for up to 5 years'' and inserting ``unless the 
     Attorney General waives the non-Federal contribution 
     requirement as described in the preceding sentence, the non-
     Federal share of the costs of hiring or rehiring such 
     officers may be less than 25 percent of such costs for any 
     year during the grant period, provided that the non-Federal 
     share of such costs shall not be less than 25 percent in the 
     aggregate for the entire grant period, but the State or local 
     government should make an effort to increase the non-Federal 
     share of such costs during the grant period''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``The 
     preceding sentences shall not apply with respect to any 
     program, project, or activity provided by a grant made 
     pursuant to subsection (b)(4).''; and
       (11) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(j) Retention of Additional Officer Positions.--For any 
     grant under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) for hiring 
     or rehiring career law enforcement officers, a grant 
     recipient shall retain each additional law enforcement 
     officer position created under that grant for not less than 
     12 months after the end of the period of that grant, unless 
     the Attorney General waives, wholly or in part, the retention 
     requirement of a program, project, or activity.''.
       (b) Applications.--Section 1702 of the Omnibus Crime 
     Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-1) is 
     amended--
       (1) in subsection (c)--
       (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ``, 
     unless waived by the Attorney General'' after ``under this 
     part shall''; and
       (B) in paragraph (8), by striking ``share of the cost'' and 
     all that follows and inserting ``share of the costs during 
     the grant period, how the applicant will maintain the 
     increased hiring level of the law enforcement officers, and 
     how the applicant will eventually assume responsibility for 
     all of the costs for such officers;''; and
       (2) by striking subsection (d).
       (c) Renewal of Grants.--Section 1703 of the Omnibus Crime 
     Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-2) is 
     amended to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 1703. RENEWAL OF GRANTS.

       ``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), a 
     grant made under this part may be renewed, without 
     limitations on the duration of such renewal, to provide 
     additional funds if the Attorney General determines that the 
     funds made available to the recipient were used in a manner 
     required under an approved application and if the recipient 
     can demonstrate significant progress in achieving the 
     objectives of the initial application.
       ``(b) Grants for Hiring.--Grants made under this part for 
     hiring or rehiring additional career law enforcement officers 
     may be renewed for up to 5 years, except that the Attorney 
     General may waive such 5-year limitation for good cause.
       ``(c) No Cost Extensions.--Notwithstanding subsections (a) 
     and (b), the Attorney General may extend a grant period, 
     without limitations as to the duration of such extension, to 
     provide additional time to complete the objectives of the 
     initial grant award.''.
       (d) Limitation on Use of Funds.--Section 1704 of the 
     Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     3796dd-3) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) by striking ``that would, in the absence of Federal 
     funds received under this part, be made available from State 
     or local sources'' and inserting ``that the Attorney General 
     determines would, in the absence of Federal funds received

[[Page H4986]]

     under this part, be made available for the purpose of the 
     grant under this part from State or local sources''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``The 
     preceding sentence shall not apply with respect to funds made 
     available under this part by a grant made pursuant to 
     subsection (a) for the purposes described in subsection 
     (b)(4).''; and
       (2) by striking subsection (c).
       (e) Study of Program Effectiveness.--Section 1705 of the 
     Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     3796dd-4) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     subsection:
       ``(d) Study of Program Effectiveness.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall provide for a 
     scientific study of the effectiveness of the programs, 
     projects, and activities funded under this part in reducing 
     crime.
       ``(2) Study.--The Attorney General shall select one or more 
     institutions of higher education, including historically 
     Black colleges and universities, to conduct the study 
     described in paragraph (1).
       ``(3) Reports.--Not later than 4 years after the date of 
     the enactment of the COPS Improvements Act of 2007, the 
     institution or institutions selected under paragraph (2) 
     shall report the findings of the study described in paragraph 
     (1) to the Attorney General. Not later than 30 days after the 
     receipt of such report, the Attorney General shall report 
     such findings to the appropriate committees of Congress, 
     along with any recommendations the Attorney General may have 
     relating to the effectiveness of the programs, projects, and 
     activities funded under this part in reducing crime.''.
       (f) Enforcement Actions.--Section 1706 of the Omnibus Crime 
     Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-5) is 
     amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by striking ``REVOCATION OR 
     SUSPENSION OF FUNDING'' and inserting ``ENFORCEMENT 
     ACTIONS''; and
       (2) by striking ``revoke or suspend'' and all that follows 
     and inserting ``take any enforcement action available to the 
     Department of Justice.''.
       (g) Definitions.--Section 1709(1) of the Omnibus Crime 
     Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-8(1)) 
     is amended by inserting ``who is a sworn law enforcement 
     officer'' after ``permanent basis''.
       (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1001(a)(11) 
     of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
     U.S.C. 3793(a)(11)) is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``1,047,119,000 for 
     each of fiscal years 2006 through 2009'' and inserting 
     ``1,150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2013''; 
     and
       (2) in subparagraph (B)--
       (A) in the first sentence, by striking ``3 percent may be 
     used for technical assistance under section 1701(d)'' and 
     inserting ``5 percent may be used for technical assistance 
     under section 1701(f)''; and
       (B) by striking the second sentence and inserting the 
     following: ``Of the funds available for grants under part Q, 
     not less than $600,000,000 shall be used for grants for the 
     purposes specified in section 1701(b), not more than 
     $200,000,000 shall be used for grants under section 1701(d), 
     and not more than $350,000,000 shall be used for grants under 
     section 1701(e).''.
       (i) Purposes.--Section 10002 of the Public Safety 
     Partnership and Community Policing Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 
     3796dd note) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``development'' and 
     inserting ``use''; and
       (2) in the matter following paragraph (4), by striking 
     ``for a period of 6 years''.
       (j) COPS Program Improvements.--
       (1) In general.--Section 109(b) of the Omnibus Crime 
     Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3712h(b)) is 
     amended--
       (A) by striking paragraph (1);
       (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs 
     (1) and (2), respectively; and
       (C) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, by inserting ``, 
     except for the program under part Q of this title'' before 
     the period.
       (2) Law enforcement computer systems.--Section 107 of the 
     Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     3712f) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Exception.--This section shall not apply to any grant 
     made under part Q of this title.''.

     SEC. 3. REPORT BY INSPECTOR GENERAL REQUIRED.

       (a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the 
     Department of Justice shall submit to Congress a report on 
     the Public Safety and Community Policing (``COPS ON THE 
     BEAT'') grant program authorized by part Q of title I of the 
     Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
     3796dd et seq.), including the elements described in 
     subsection (b).
       (b) Elements of Report.--The report submitted under 
     subsection (a) shall include information on the following, 
     with respect to the grant program described in such 
     subsection:
       (1) The effect of the program on the rate of violent crime, 
     drug offenses, and other crimes.
       (2) The degree to which State and local governments awarded 
     a grant under the program contribute State and local funds, 
     respectively, for law enforcement programs and activities.
       (3) Any waste, fraud, or abuse within the program.
       (c) Random Sampling Required.--For purposes of subsection 
     (a), the Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall 
     audit and review a random sampling of State and local law 
     enforcement agencies. Such sampling shall include--
       (1) law enforcement agencies of various sizes;
       (2) law enforcement agencies that serve various 
     populations; and
       (3) law enforcement agencies that serve areas of various 
     crime rates.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Forbes) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join 102 cosponsors, including a dozen 
members of the House Judiciary Committee, in supporting this 
legislation.
  During the 1990s, the crime rate for all categories of crime and in 
all parts of the United States fell dramatically. For example, homicide 
rates in 2001 plunged 43 percent from their peak in 1991, reaching 
their lowest level in 35 years.
  Now, there are many potential explanations offered regarding the 
dramatic and unexpected drop in the rate of violent crime during the 
1990s. One popular explanation is the Nation's sustained economic 
growth during the days of the Clinton administration.
  But researchers often point to one other explanation: the creation of 
the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services in 1994, the COPS 
bill; and the subsequent infusion of more than $7.6 billion in grants 
into State and local law enforcement communities to hire police 
officers and promote community policing as an effective strategy to 
prevent crime. The bill before us reinvigorates the COPS crime fighting 
program in several important respects.
  First, it establishes hiring grants for community policing officers, 
anti-terror officers, and school resource officers. It also 
reauthorizes ``Troops-to-COPS'' grants to hire former members of the 
Armed Forces in particular as career law enforcement officers. And it 
also authorizes a ``Community Prosecutors Program'' to pay for 
community prosecuting programs, including those that assign prosecutors 
to handle cases from specific geographic areas or to address counter-
terrorism and related problems.
  Finally, it authorizes ``Technology Grants'' to State and local law 
enforcement agencies to help them refocus some of their activities from 
reacting to crime to preventing it. Crime prevention has now come back 
into vogue.
  So this legislation, because of its long and successful prior 
experience, has been endorsed by key law enforcement groups: the 
National Sheriffs Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, the 
National Association of Police Organizations, and the National League 
of Cities.
  I am proud to indicate their strong support for this measure, and I 
urge my colleagues to lend their support to a bill whose restoration is 
more than deserved.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FORBES. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, America's State and local law enforcement agencies are 
on the front lines combating and preventing crime every day. In the 
last decade, their dedication and service and innovative policing 
programs have led to a 34 percent decrease in violent crime.
  It is unclear, however, whether the $11 billion in COPS grants 
awarded since 1994 can receive the same credit. Studies have reached 
inconsistent findings as to the effectiveness of the COPS program in 
reducing the Nation's rising crime rates.
  The COPS program awards grants to State, local, and tribal law 
enforcement agencies to hire or rehire police officers or procure new 
crime-fighting technology. It is intended to provide short-term Federal 
assistance to State and local law enforcement agencies. It is not 
intended to assume the funding of State and local police, a duty that 
lies first and foremost with the States.
  The COPS program specifically directs that grant money not be used to 
supplant State or local funds but, rather, increase the amount of funds 
for

[[Page H4987]]

community policing. In reality, this has proven not to always be the 
case. Studies show that spending on the COPS program has not led to an 
increase in the overall spending by local law enforcement but often 
supplants State and local funds.
  The actual number of officers put on the street under this program is 
also in dispute. Estimates vary from 118,000 to as few as 82,000 
additional police officers. The answer to addressing crime in the 21st 
century is not simply more cops on the street. It is innovative 
programs, such as multi-jurisdictional task forces designed to target 
specific types of crimes and neighborhoods plagued by gangs and drugs.
  We should look to cities like New York and Los Angeles, who continue 
to enjoy reduced violent crime rates thanks to smart, effective 
policing.
  To put to rest once and for all conflicting findings about the 
effectiveness of the COPS program, the committee adopted an amendment 
directing the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to conduct 
an audit of the COPS program to review three areas: first, the effect 
of the program on the rate of violent crime; second, the degree to 
which COPS funding recipients contribute State or local funding to law 
enforcement programs and activities; and, third, any waste, fraud, or 
abuse within the COPS program.
  As introduced, H.R. 1700 reduced the likelihood that community 
policing would, in fact, some day be funded by America's communities. 
The bill stripped several provisions from current law that encourage 
State and local governments to assume a larger share of COPS grants. 
This is directly contrary to the purpose of the COPS program and would 
only exacerbate the use of Federal funds to supplant State and local 
funds.
  H.R. 1700 also stripped from current law limits on the duration of 
COPS grants and instead allowed unlimited grant renewal. This too is 
directly contrary to the original intent of the COPS program to provide 
short-term assistance to State, local, and tribal governments to hire 
additional police officers.
  I am pleased that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
listened to our concerns and supported our changes to preserve the 
partnership between the Federal Government, State, local, and tribal 
governments. I thank Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers, Crime 
Subcommittee Chairman Scott, and Congressman Weiner for their 
cooperation.
  I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from Los Angeles, California, Diane Watson.
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1700, 
the COPS Improvements Act of 2007. As a daughter of a police officer, I 
believe this bill is essential to keep our citizens safe and help 
communities combat crime.
  Improving the COPS program is very important to the constituents I 
represent in California's 33rd Congressional District. If this bill 
passes, my district alone will get at least 25 new police officers, an 
additional school resource officer, along with more funding to be used 
for technology in Los Angeles' law enforcement agencies.
  Mr. Speaker, today our children are killing one another in my 
district at an appalling rate. The Los Angeles Police Department 
recorded 7,714 gang crimes in 2006, a 14 percent jump over the previous 
year. I believe we need to take a comprehensive approach to combating 
gang violence and ensure that our youth have safe, quality schools that 
give them an alternative to the streets.
  But there is one action we can take right now that will immediately 
reduce the level of violence and protect our kids, and that is to put 
more police on the streets.
  We have the bill here today that does just that, the COPS 
Improvements Act, and I urge colleagues to support this measure.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Chabot).
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I 
want to thank him and the folks on the other side of the aisle for 
their leadership in this area.
  I rise in support of H.R. 1700, the COPS Improvements Act of 2007.
  The COPS grant program represents a true partnership between the 
Federal Government and State, local, and tribal law enforcement 
agencies to fight crime. This partnership has enabled more police 
officers to be hired and rehired and facilitated the use of the most 
advanced crime-fighting technology to ensure that officers are 
effectively deployed into our communities all across the country.
  As a result of our joint efforts, the number of violent offenses 
reported in our country is down from the more than 1.8 million reported 
back in 1994 to 1.3 million reported in 2005. But we cannot become 
complacent. We must ensure that State, local, and tribal law 
enforcement officials have the resources they need to keep law 
enforcement on the streets.
  H.R. 1700 accomplishes this by increasing the funds available for the 
COPS program from $1 billion to $1.15 billion and by creating a number 
of new grant programs that will assist communities, such as community 
policing, crime prevention programs, and programs to address illegal 
drug manufacturing.
  Most importantly, the bill that we are considering today stays true 
to the COPS grant program's original purpose, that the Federal 
Government support State, local, and tribal law enforcement efforts, 
not supplant them, as the ranking member indicated. That would be the 
last thing that we should do. H.R. 1700, in its current form, requires 
that States, local, and tribal law enforcement demonstrate their 
commitment to the partnership by making a good-faith effort to match 
the funds provided by the Federal Government. Yet at the same time, the 
bill allows the Federal Government to play a primary role in those 
circumstances in which a grant recipient cannot meet their financial 
obligation for reasons beyond their control, thus ensuring that our 
communities remain safe and that crime does not prevail.
  H.R. 1700 is an important and necessary tool for law enforcement, and 
I encourage my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield such time as he 
may consume to the author of this measure, Mr. Weiner of New York, 
whose confidence I have so much of this afternoon, notwithstanding that 
there are eight other speakers, because of his persevering commitment 
to reinstituting this community policing bill.
  Mr. WEINER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for both his confidence 
and his leadership of our committee, and I also want to thank Bobby 
Scott, the chairman of the Crime Subcommittee.
  We are really here for three reasons. We are here because the COPS 
program has been a singular success. It has been a success because we 
identified in the 1990s that crime was not a program that only 
localities could get a handle on, that we had a Federal role. It is a 
success because it was a singularly democratic, with a small ``d,'' 
program.

                              {time}  1200

  And small towns and big cities throughout all 50 States wound up 
benefiting from the over 118,000 police officers that were put on the 
street because of this program. We know, for example, that 82 percent 
of the grants went to cities with 50,000 people or less. And while 
cities like mine did very well because there were more police on the 
beat, we know that there were a large number of very small towns that 
benefited.
  We know, as you can see, that the COPS program provides resources to 
all 50 States. This wasn't a political program. If you were a police 
department and you showed a way to get more cops on the street, the 
Federal Government wasn't going to sit back; they were going to be 
actively involved. And we know that it was successful. We know it 
because the Government Accountability Office looked at the connection 
between police officers and the reduction in crime and found a 
correlation. We know the University of Nebraska looked at a very 
similar thing and said, with all the varying elements that go into 
reducing crime, was the fact that there are over 110,000 new police 
officers on the street

[[Page H4988]]

funded by the COPS program a correlative effect? And the answer was 
yes.
  We are also here for another reason. We are here because crime has 
started to creep back up. We are starting to see index crimes in cities 
around the country start to rise again. After years of decline, we are 
seeing it go up. And we are also here because there is even more law 
enforcement burden being put on localities and States than arguably any 
time in American history. Tom Ridge once famously said that homeland 
security starts in our hometown. And when we were talking about the 
cuts that were being made to homeland security, we were reminded that 
actually it is the localities that we are asking to do more and more of 
these things.
  So we are here in acknowledgement that localities need the help. 
Localities now have to do more than they ever had to do before, and 
that's why in this program for the first time we are funding T-COPS, 
cops that are going to be hired to do antiterrorism work.
  But particularly the reason that we're here is a third reason, that 
my colleagues on that side of the aisle eliminated the hiring 
component. President Bush eliminated the hiring component. This is a 
visual about how many police officers were hired under the COPS program 
from 1995 to 2005. This is what has happened under President Bush and 
under our Republican leadership. This many police officers. Zero. Zero. 
Zero in Virginia. Zero in South Dakota. Zero in California. The program 
was eliminated under my Republican friends. And as they stand up here 
today, and you're going to see them vote in large numbers for this 
program, they're going to wrap themselves around the idea that they 
support the COPS program when in fact overwhelmingly it was quite the 
opposite.
  Let me show you the abandonment that's going on in the COPS program. 
This is the number of cops that were hired in 1998. Look at the 
decline. Look at how many were hired in 2005 and 2006. So the third 
reason we are here is we are taking up the gauntlet that was, frankly, 
laid down, put in a box and sealed away by my Republican friends. They 
said, you know what? Law enforcement is not a local job, it's a 
national job, we heard in committee. We heard, oh, the program hasn't 
worked the way it was intended. The fact of the matter is, had it not 
been for the Democrats taking over this body, had it not been for the 
chairmanship of Mr. Conyers, this program would be zeroed out this 
year, too. You know how I know? Because we've had many years where 
those of us have stood up trying to change this where we were rebuffed 
again and again.
  Now, I can't say all of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. 
We've got many, including the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Keller) who 
is an original sponsor of this. But it is stunning to me that anyone 
can stand up and say that they support this program after supporting 
this.
  In conclusion, I want to thank the chairman and my colleagues for 
passing this. We're going to ask for a recorded vote, and we're going 
to watch the large number of folks who helped write bills to zero out 
the COPS program suddenly embrace the idea that we have to put cops on 
the street. And I welcome my friends on the other side of the aisle to 
the cause of providing help for local law enforcement.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today at long last.
  Under new Democratic leadership, the Congress will take up my bill, 
H.R. 1700, to bring the COPS program back from the scrap heap, back 
from a point where the program's hiring component has been zeroed out, 
and restore it to be what it proved to be during the Clinton 
administration: one of the most successful law enforcement programs in 
the history of the United States.
  We are facing a rise in crime in the United States. In a survey of 
cities large and small, released last month, the Police Executive 
Research Board found that 71 percent of cities had seen an increase in 
homicides, 80 percent had seen an increase in robberies, and 67 percent 
had seen an increase in assaults with guns. Moreover the FBI recently 
reported that nationwide figures showed that last year, homicides, 
assaults and other violent offenses grew by 4 percent, and robberies, 
which are often interpreted as a precursor to more serious crime, 
jumped by 10 percent.
  Democrats faced a similar challenge in 1993 when asked about the rise 
in drug-fueled street crime.
  Then, Democrats, led by Bill Clinton, answered with the most far 
reaching and innovative Federal anti-crime initiative ever--the COPS 
program. It did the most intuitive thing--it hired more than 100,000 
beat cops. It worked. It put police in every neighborhood, town and 
city. Sure, big cities like Chicago and L.A. hired officers with 
Federal help. But so did small towns like Marengo, IL, and Plano, TX.
  Now, as crime rises and we work to combat the new challenges our 
country faces in the wake of 9/11 the COPS program is again the 
solution.
  The background is this. The COPS program works. A study by the 
nonpartisan Government Accountability Office recently stated, ``COPS-
funded increases in sworn officers per capita were associated with 
declines in rates of total index crimes, violent crimes, and property 
crime.'' According to the study, between 1998 and 2000, COPS hiring 
grants were responsible for reducing crimes by about 200,000 to 225,000 
crimes--one third of which were violent. Studies done by the Brookings 
Institution, the University of Nebraska, Yale and Georgetown 
Universities, the University of Maryland, and the Urban Institute--
among others--found similarly that COPS works.
  When John Ashcroft spoke about this during his confirmation hearings 
for Attorney General, he said, ``Let me just say, I think the COPS 
program has been successful. The purpose of the COPS program was to 
demonstrate to local police departments that if you put additional 
police, feet on the street, that crime would be affected and 
people would be safer and more secure. We believe the COPS program 
demonstrated that conclusively.'' That is John Ashcroft.

  When Tom Ridge was sworn in as the Secretary of Homeland Security, he 
said homeland security starts in our home towns.
  Over the course of the last 5 years, local law enforcement has become 
deeply involved in homeland security. Big cities have been forced to 
upgrade not only their equipment and training but also the type of 
personnel they hire. Some cities have hired officers exclusively to 
focus on homeland security--police who work to gather intelligence, 
analyze terror threats, and monitor our most vulnerable targets.
  And how have Republicans in Washington responded since coming to 
office? They have eliminated the program police departments big and 
small had grown to depend on: COPS Funded at over $1 billion a year at 
the end of the Clinton administration, President Bush has zeroed out 
the hiring component of what some believe to have been the most 
successful law enforcement program in the Nation's history.
  The bill we are considering today would restore the COPS program and 
update to the challenges local law enforcement agencies face in the 
post 9/11 world.
  This bill breathes new life into the COPS program by authorizing $600 
million per year for hiring grants, which could fund up to 50,000 new 
cops on the beat over the next 6 years. And in an effort to make sure 
that police departments around the country can use this funding as they 
need--as terrorism becomes a greater burden on their limited budgets--
this bill explicitly enables COPS to provide funding for officers who 
perform ``intelligence, anti-terror, or homeland security duties.''
  The bill also authorizes $350 million per year for COPS technology 
grants. These grants will allow police agencies to purchase things like 
laptop computers for patrol cars, crime mapping software, and 
interoperable communications equipment.
  And the bill explicitly enables COPS to use funding for ``Troops to 
Cops'' programs that help returning veterans find employment as law 
enforcement officers.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 
Mr. Conyers, the chairman of the Crime Subcommittee, Mr. Scott, and the 
Democratic leadership for bring this bill expeditiously to the floor 
for passage.
  I also want to thank Joshua Fay-Hurvitz, Bobby Vassar, Greg Barnes, 
Mike Volkov, Caroline Lynch, Karas Pattison, Molly Lothamer, and other 
members of the Democratic, Republican, and Legislative Counsel staffs 
who have worked so hard to make this day possible.
  I urge passage of the COPS Improvement Act.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Over and over again we hear on the floor, we hear outside this body 
the importance of coming together in a bipartisan manner and what we 
can do to resolve issues for the American people. The unfortunate thing 
is when we try to do that, as we have done in this bill and we bring 
this bill in a bipartisan manner, sometimes my friends on the other 
side of the aisle simply can't take yes for an answer. And when we hear 
presentations like we just have, Mr. Speaker, I feel it is incumbent

[[Page H4989]]

upon me to stand up and just correct some of those facts.
  The first thing is that the COPS program has been authorized in the 
2005 Department of Justice authorization bill through 2009 for $1.047 
billion. All this authorization will do is increase that to $1.15 
billion through 2013.
  In addition, when you see these lines that drop off with the number 
of cops that are being hired, one of the things that we have heard from 
the testimony that we've had is twofold. One of the reasons that we had 
declines in the crime rate was not just because of the numbers of 
police officers, but more importantly, not just because we sent money, 
but because throughout the 1990s we had a lot of policies from 
Republican legislators across the States that did things like abolish 
parole, that did things like mandatory sentences, that did things like 
truth-in-sentencing that took criminals off the streets and out of our 
communities. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if we 
do that, we reduce violent crime.
  The other thing that we heard testimony on is that in New Orleans, 
when we went to do hearings there, the number of police officers 
increased and the crime increased. And in New York, the number of 
police officers decreased and the crime decreased. By the rationale we 
just heard, one would argue we should have less police officers.
  But the testimony was, Mr. Speaker, we do need police officers on the 
streets. That's why we brought this bill in a bipartisan manner. But it 
is important that we have smart policing, that we have comprehensive 
programs. Because if we just dump money at the problem and we don't do 
that, we're not going to solve the problems that are before us.
  Mr. Speaker, fortunately there were members from the Judiciary 
Committee that worked in a bipartisan manner to bring this bill to the 
floor. I hope we will pass it.
  Mr. CONYERS. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. FORBES. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan.
  Mr. CONYERS. I would like to play good cop in this because I want to 
commend those Republicans who are going to vote for this measure for 
joining us. Look, it doesn't matter when you come on board. It's that 
your thoughtfulness in helping us craft a bipartisan bill was 
exceedingly important, and I personally am indebted to you for that.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Chairman, we certainly thank you for your 
cooperativeness and support in reaching what we think is a much better 
bill by the time that it reached the floor than when it started.
  Mr. CONYERS. Thank you.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Keller).
  Mr. KELLER of Florida. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be the lead Republican original cosponsor 
of this legislation which will reauthorize the COPS program and put 
50,000 more cops on our streets.
  The COPS program is responsible for putting nearly 120,000 cops on 
the streets nationwide, including 774 cops in central Florida.
  Violent crime is on the rise, and we need this legislation now more 
than ever. For example, in my hometown of Orlando, Florida, the murder 
rate is up 122 percent. I recently met with all of central Florida's 
chiefs of police and sheriffs, and 100 percent of them support the COPS 
program. This legislation is also endorsed by the National Sheriffs 
Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
  Is the COPS program successful? Absolutely. Former Attorney General 
John Ashcroft described the COPS program as a ``miraculous sort of 
success.'' A 2005 GAO study concluded that the COPS program 
successfully played a role in the decline in violent crime in the 
1990s. And more than 95 percent of law enforcement officers hired by a 
COPS grant are still on the street today.
  Now, some might say that putting cops on the street is not a priority 
worth funding with Federal dollars. Well, I would rather put cops on 
the street than build bridges to nowhere or give subsidies to spinach 
growers. Let's be practical. There are children in Orlando, Florida, 
growing up in neighborhoods where 49 people were killed last year. 
Those kids want to be able to walk home from school safely and play in 
their neighborhoods without fear. These kids don't care if the cops' 
salary is paid for with purely local funds or a mixture of local and 
Federal funds. They just want to feel safe.
  This legislation is a step in the right direction. I want to thank 
the cosponsor of this legislation, Congressman Anthony Weiner, for his 
leadership and strong support of the COPS program. He and I worked 
together earlier to get $70 million added in the supplemental.
  Some have said that some Republicans are new to this. I can assure 
you that I've been an original cosponsor of this bill ever since I got 
here to Congress. If I can quote L.L. Cool Jay, the rapper: ``Don't 
call it a comeback; I've been here for years.''
  This COPS legislation was approved by the Judiciary Committee by a 
full voice vote and is worthy of our bipartisan support. I ask my 
colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1700.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, Eddie Bernice Johnson has supported this 
bill from its inception, and so I recognize the gentlelady from Dallas, 
Texas, for 1 minute.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the 
chairman of the committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the COPS Improvements 
Act of 2007.
  As violent crime continues to rise, we must address the needs of our 
Nation's law enforcement professionals. Law enforcement presence 
remains one of the greatest assets against crime. I have witnessed 
firsthand the importance of this program where our community cops 
simply work with our young people, help to break up gangs, helping them 
with tutoring in the evening when they are on duty in those 
communities. So in addition to this bill just allowing the 50,000 cops 
to be hired, it also allows for the increase in funding to improve 
technology for our police agencies. And it may be used to update police 
stations and cars for providing the latest technology in crime 
fighting.
  I am delighted to see that it is being considered, and I strongly 
support and recommend the approval.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette).
  (Mr. LaTOURETTE asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the COPS 
Improvements Act of 2007. I want to congratulate Chairman Conyers, Mr. 
Weiner and Mr. Keller for bringing this bill forward.
  My written statement talks all about the importance of adding a 
police officer school, resources officers and things of that nature. I 
want to talk about an aspect of the bill that I am particularly excited 
about, and that is the technology grants contained in the bill.
  The police departments in my district were recently notified that the 
backbone radio system that we basically spent millions of dollars on a 
number of years ago is now going to become obsolete in 2011 because the 
manufacturer is no longer going to make the spare parts. In the small 
communities that I represent, it means a bill of $10 million. The 
technology upgrades in this particular piece of legislation are going 
to give my communities the opportunity to bid for grants that hopefully 
will replace that radio system and make our community safer.
  Secondly, in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, I have heard 
from most of the school districts in my district that we need to build 
on the success of the last COPS bill where 225 school resource officers 
were added to the schools in the State of Ohio. And they are excited 
again about the opportunity to add new school resource officers in the 
schools to make them safer for all of the students in our school system 
and across the country.
  So again I want to congratulate the sponsors of this legislation. And 
I thank Mr. Forbes for yielding.
  I rise today to speak in support of the COPS Improvement Act of 2007.
  Mr. Speaker, when I meet with law enforcement officials across my 
district, their biggest concern is that Washington keeps asking them to 
do more with less, especially in the aftermath of 9-11. Each year, they 
beg me to adequately fund the COPS program and to reinstate the hiring 
portion.

[[Page H4990]]

  In my State of Ohio, the COPS program has been a godsend:
  It has funded nearly 3,800 additional cops and deputies.
  It has infused about 640 departments across Ohio with more than $227 
million in Federal help.
  More than 225 school resource officers have been added to Ohio.
  More than $55 million has gone to Ohio departments to improve crime-
fighting technologies.
  In my district alone, in the Akron-Cleveland area, nearly $20 million 
has gone to local departments and 285 officers have been added to 
streets and schools in my district.
  I met with about 50 police chiefs throughout my district early last 
month to tout this bill, and share the news that it was coming. They 
are thrilled with this legislation. Many departments in my district 
were able to add officers thanks to the COPS program, and they have 
kept them on their payrolls.
  They have patiently waited for us to beef up the COPS program, 
especially as violent crime experiences an uptick. They want and need 
the Federal Government to help fund cops on the beat, new cops in 
schools, and they are thrilled that $350 million will be available for 
competitive grants to pay for laptop computers, radios, cameras, and 
all the technological marvels our police departments must have and can 
barely afford.
  My police chiefs in Lake County recently found out that they have to 
replace their entire radio system because the manufacturer will no 
longer be able to repair or replace them.
  My chiefs are thrilled that this bill recognizes the importance of 
school officers. They spoke of the need to keep schools safe, and the 
bond that develops with students so students can feel safe to confide 
in them. These school officers serve as mentors, friends and 
protectors--they are worth their weight in gold. It's a small 
investment to make.
  In the days following the shootings at Virginia Tech, I heard from 
many school districts pleading that funding be made available for 
school resource officers. This bill will allow law enforcement to 
partner with the schools. I also heard from the Ohio School Resource 
Officers Association in the aftermath of Virginia Tech. They say 
passage of the COPS Improvement Act can't happen fast enough. The 
Senate passed it in March, and I am proud that the House will today.
  This is great legislation. It's a good value for taxpayers. We ask 
our police to protect our homes, our businesses and our schools and for 
too long we've asked them to do it on the cheap.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased now to yield 1 minute to the 
chairman from Illinois, Rahm Emanuel.
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, in 1994, when we passed the Community 
Policing Program that added 100,000 community police onto America's 
streets and also followed through with the strategy of not only getting 
cops on the beat, but getting gangs, guns and drugs off the street, we 
saw the longest and largest decline of violent crime in America's 
history.
  After that program's success of adding 120,000 community police 
officers to the streets across this country, when it was ended in 2002 
we saw violent crime in America begin to inch up again. Community 
police officers walking the beat, knowing the neighborhood and knowing 
their community is the linchpin of a successful anti-crime strategy.

                              {time}  1215

  I am so proud that we have a bill here representing, again, going 
back to a very basic approach of community policing by putting more 
cops on the beat, which is the success to reducing violent crime in 
America. We saw that rise again because this COPS Program ended. Every 
sheriff, police chief and mayor has asked for this program to be 
renewed, and I am proud we have done that to successfully once again 
get back to helping our communities reduce crime. In Chicago, we added 
1,800 cops and we saw crime reduced in our neighborhood.
  I thank the chairman from Michigan and also the gentleman from New 
York for their leadership in getting this bill passed.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).
  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, to both sides, thanks for coming together 
on this critical bill. Anthony, you have done a good job, and the 
chairman as well.
  There is nothing like the presence of a police officer. It is not 
only a deterrent to crime, but it is at the very heart of homeland 
security. That is why the British are way ahead of us. They have a 
bottom-up philosophy of looking at what is going wrong in the 
community. We cannot have a top-down.
  So 117,000 police officers later, to our rear right now is going the 
National Peace Officers Memorial Service, and we know who is there. But 
we know who is here. This is critical. We pray for these police 
officers on the streets every day. I agree with the gentleman from 
Ohio, the technology is just as significant as the number of personnel 
we put on the street.
  This administration tried to cut the FIRE Program, and they tried 
desperately to cut the COPS Program. It is a new day, and we started it 
in the sunshine.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Price).
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding 
and I appreciate his leadership on this.
  I would rise, Mr. Speaker, to say that all of us obviously support 
police officers on the street. But there are some legitimate concerns 
about this bill and others that are brought to the floor. One that I 
would point out on this bill is that we attempt to find some objective 
information about the programs that we put in place here at the Federal 
level.
  The Office of Management and Budget has a program called Program 
Assessment Rating Tool which attempts to determine the effectiveness of 
what we do here on the floor, and their grade for this COPS Program is 
``Not performing, results not demonstrated'' in the latest review.
  That is not to say that we don't support cops on the street, police 
on the street, but it is important to appreciate that there are some 
legitimate concerns about the program.
  Another concern I have is that one of our House rules, XIII section 
3(d)(1) says that all committee reports must contain a statement citing 
the specific powers granted to the Congress in the Constitution to 
enact the law proposed by the bill or joint resolution. In fact, in 
this bill being brought to the floor, there is no such statement 
available from the committee.
  So I think there are legitimate concerns, Mr. Speaker, and I ask my 
colleagues to review those.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy).
  Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of 
H.R. 1700 and the law enforcement officers that keep our neighborhoods 
and communities safe.
  The small cities of Connecticut's Fifth District may not rival the 
size of those neighboring districts, but they still have the same need 
for vigorous community-based law enforcement. Since the COPS Program 
began in 1994, 265 police officers have been put on the beat in the 
Fifth District. This bill could put an additional 113 police officers 
out on the streets. One bill, this bill, could increase the law 
enforcement personnel by the COPS Program by 50 percent.
  For the last 6 years as I sat in the Connecticut State legislature, I 
have watched the Federal Government walk away from its commitment to 
partner with States and towns to provide funding necessary to keep our 
communities safe. In Connecticut, our law enforcement community has 
been asked to do more with less. They are the pride of our community, 
but they have seen the cuts in action that have been imposed by this 
Congress.
  The numbers in this bill are meaningful, Mr. Speaker. I urge all 
Members to support the bill. It is important for our law enforcement 
officers and important for the safety of our communities.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, once again I want to emphasize my support of this 
legislation and my support of additional police officers, but it is 
important that we continue to make sure we are separating the facts 
from some statements that are being made.
  Testimony that we have received before the committee strikes a great 
contrast between different areas in our

[[Page H4991]]

country. Sending money alone, even putting cops on the streets alone, 
will not solve our crime problem. As we mentioned earlier, in New 
Orleans we had testimony that only 7 percent of the individuals 
arrested, and this is pre-Katrina, only 7 percent of the individuals 
arrested ever end up in jail, and the police officers themselves, the 
police chief, testified how demoralizing that was to crime fighting and 
police officers there.
  That is why a comprehensive approach, looking at more police 
officers, but also such things as abolishing parole, mandatory 
sentencing and three-strikes legislation work to help cut down on the 
crime that we have.
  We have also heard testimony from both sides of the aisle about the 
importance of technology. Many police departments are recognizing 
across the country that it is not just the quantity of police officers, 
but it is how they use them. New York came in and testified that what 
they have done is actually decreased the number of police officers they 
have, but they have used technology to do it in a smarter way, which 
has reduced overall crime.
  Mr. Speaker, we support this legislation, but let's make sure we are 
not using the hyperbole, that we are using the facts. It is important 
to have police. It is important to have them used in a smart, effective 
and comprehensive manner if we are going to deal with the crime that 
our communities are so concerned about.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains on both sides?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Holden). The gentleman from Michigan has 
5\1/4\ minutes remaining. The gentleman from Virginia has 3 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield one-quarter of a minute to the 
author of the bill, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner).
  Mr. WEINER. Mr. Speaker, I just want to clarify some of the mistakes 
made by the previous speaker, at least the misimpressions left.
  One, technology grants cut under the previous Republican Congress; 
two, alternatives to incarceration cut under the previous Republican 
administration; three, police officers, I have already talked about, 
cut.
  Just about all of the elements of a comprehensive package were 
eliminated under the leadership of your party. So if you care about 
reducing crime, this is a better day than it was a year ago.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
  Mr. COHEN. I thank the chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise in support of this bill. It is the bill 
that I heard most about when I campaigned.
  Crime is the number one issue in Memphis, Tennessee, and I think it 
is the number one issue in most areas in this country. I spoke with the 
Afro-American Police Association, and the issue they raised to me was 
the COPS Program, that community policing works.
  I spoke with people in the district and they knew that the COPS 
Program had been successful, that it worked with community policing, 
and they knew it had been cut by this Congress and they couldn't 
understand why, and I couldn't tell them. I told them I was going to 
come to Congress and do what I could to see that the COPS program was 
reimplemented, that it was funded in a proper fashion, and that it 
helped cut crime.
  In this bill we have an opportunity to work together to bring our 
troops home and to support our troops because veterans from Afghanistan 
and Iraq will be given priorities when feasible to get these positions, 
to come back and render their abilities and their experience for our 
people rather than the people of Baghdad.
  Support our troops, support the COPS Program and make our streets 
safer.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield 1 minute to the 
gentlelady from Oakland, California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE. I want to thank the gentleman for his stellar leadership as 
Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and thank my colleague, Congressman 
Weiner from New York, for your determination to make our country safer 
by the introduction of this bill.
  The reauthorization of the COPS Program really does come at a very 
important time in our entire country. As an example, COPS has provided 
since 1994 in my district alone $45.5 million in grants. These funds 
have allowed law enforcement agencies in my district to hire 552 
additional police officers and 45 new school resource officers. COPS 
has also provided technology grants totaling $2.9 million in my 
district.
  If passed, this bill will allow COPS to hire more necessary officers. 
The people of Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, the entire Ninth 
Congressional District, could see 236 new officers, $13 million in 
grants, 19 school resource officers and $2.8 million in technology 
funding over the next 6 years.
  Our communities throughout the country need the COPS Program. This is 
about public safety and violence prevention. Community policing does 
work.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
  Mr. Speaker, what has happened here today is very important in terms 
of developing a justice system that will operate at a very fundamental 
and basic level, the police level. It doesn't correct the lack of 
prosecution that has been raised by the gentleman from Virginia. It 
doesn't correct many parts of the justice system that we on the 
committee plan to go into. But I think there is a unanimity on both 
sides of the aisle for restoring a very important community program 
that has justified itself, and it is in that spirit that I want to 
commend everyone on both sides of the aisle for their important work 
that they have done in beginning to restore the program.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the author of the 
bill, the gentleman from New York, Anthony Weiner, whose perseverance 
has led us to the floor here today.
  Mr. WEINER. And I thank the chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, I think one of the many reasons that the American people 
have turned the Congress over to Democrats is that we have said, like 
so many Americans, that we don't want to hear just more talk and 
rhetoric and posturing; that we want to start to actively solve the 
problems that people face in communities around this country. And 
whether it be a sheriff's department of two or three officers, or the 
NYPD which has some 36,000 officers, after today's vote and after it 
gets passed in the other body, God willing, and signed by the 
President, we are going to start to do what we need to do to improve 
homeland security, to reduce drug crime, to reduce the amount of the 
day-to-day challenges that people face; to hire more officers to go 
into schools, to get technology so officers can be out on the beat and 
doing it more.
  This is a program that, frankly, never should have died. It is a 
program that I think too many of my friends on the other side just got 
blood in their eyes over the idea that it was offered under President 
Clinton, passed under President Clinton and single-handedly brought 
down crime during those years. That is not a good enough reason. Let us 
get past that kind of political haze and just realize that sometimes 
things are successful, even though they are the ideas of someone else.
  John Ashcroft dissented on several occasions. He said, ``I think the 
COPS Program has been successful.'' Alberto Gonzales, someone whom I am 
not prone to quote very often, has said, ``The COPS Program has been 
beneficial.'' The Oneida County Executive, the former Mayor of Rome, 
says, ``This program has made a difference,'' a tiny city. John 
Ashcroft said when testifying before the House of Representatives, ``It 
has been one of the most successful programs we have ever worked 
with.''
  This is a bipartisan success, because every once in a while around 
here we get it right. We design a program with a goal in mind, and in 
this case it was to get the Federal Government off the sidelines.
  There are many in this body who hold this kind of old-fashioned 
federalist notion that, you know what,

[[Page H4992]]

protecting citizenry is something that only localities do. Well, we 
realize now in the post-9/11 world that has changed.
  We are doing something about it, and I commend my colleagues of all 
stripes for finally joining that bandwagon.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, as I rise to close, I just want to say that 
I don't think the American people much care whether it is Republicans 
in charge or Democrats in charge. I think what they really care about 
is whether or not we are reaching across and trying to forge solutions 
to the problems they face. That is why I want to compliment the 
chairman for his bipartisan manner in which he has not only handled 
working on this bill, but has handled this debate on the floor today.

                              {time}  1230

  Mr. Speaker, this bill was never put on the sidelines. As I have 
mentioned before, the facts show in 2005 we reauthorized it through 
2009 for $1.047 billion.
  The key was the DOJ Office of the Inspector General and GAO reports 
note that thousands of hires funded by COPS never materialized as law 
enforcement agencies used COPS funding to cover their own budget 
shortfalls. In fact, they showed that $277 million were misspent funds.
  Mr. Speaker, by working together in a bipartisan manner, I think we 
have crafted a bill that will help in a comprehensive manner continue 
to put police officers on the streets and continue to allow our local 
and State enforcement agencies to be able to use technology and smart 
policing to do what they want us to do, and that is to reach out to 
form practical solutions of how they deal with crime and the crime that 
is plaguing their communities.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this piece of 
legislation.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to announce my 
support for the COPS Improvements Act of 2007. Although the COPS Act 
was originally introduced in 1994, its reauthorization is a clear 
indication of this Congress' dedication to passing legislation with the 
intent of securing our streets and providing for first responders, all 
of whom are vital to securing our Nation. The COPS Improvements Act is 
a post-9/11 legislation implementing a homeland security policy, 
specifically in the areas of terrorism preparedness, intelligence 
gathering, interoperability and other concerns we have in our 
communities across America.
  The Committee on Homeland Security supports the COPS Improvements Act 
authorizing $600 million per year to hire officers to engage in their 
communities across a variety of policing duties, including counter-
terrorism. The Amtrak Police Department, whose officers are on the 
frontlines of transportation security, will be given the resources to 
hire and train officers to perform intelligence, anti-terror, and other 
homeland security duties protecting our railroads.
  The COPS Improvements Act is also applauded by the Committee on 
Homeland Security for authorizing $350 million per year for COPS 
technology grants. Among the grants established, many were dedicated to 
the development of interoperable communication technologies. The 
improvement of interoperable communications is vital to homeland 
security. It ensures there is communications connectivity between and 
among civilian authorities, local first responders, and the National 
Guard in the wake of a national emergency. This is a vital lesson we 
have painfully learned in the aftermath of emergency responders facing 
a lack of centralized coordination during a terrorist attack such as 9/
11.
  The reauthorization of the COPS legislation is important to the 
protection of our citizens and from domestic and foreign threats. I, 
and the Committee on Homeland Security, promote the COPS Improvements 
Act of 2007 as it is legislation that assists in protecting all 
Americans. But, I want to be clear--the Committee on Homeland Security 
should work with my colleagues in other committees to ensure these 
grants are used for their intended purpose and do not somehow exceed 
their legislative bounds. I look forward to discussing this issue 
further with Chairman Conyers and others. Terrorism is an issue we at 
the Committee take very seriously and believe the COPS Improvements Act 
can serve a vital role in reducing and responding to a possible 
terrorist event.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, as our Nation commemorates National Police 
Week this week and the 26th Annual National Peace Officers' Memorial 
Day today (May 15), let us honor the memory of those who have fallen in 
the line of duty and thank those who carry on their legacy, serving in 
communities across this Nation, keeping the peace, and protecting the 
American people.
  It is altogether fitting that today--with thousands of peace officers 
in Washington to commemorate these events--the Members of this House 
will consider this very important bipartisan legislation, the COPS 
Improvements Act of 2007.
  Mr. Speaker, when we pass this bill, the new Democratic Majority in 
this House will again demonstrate its absolute commitment to taking 
decisive action that protects our communities and combats crime.
  In short, this legislation reauthorizes the highly successful 
Community Oriented Policing Services Program, or COPS, which was 
enacted in 1994 under the Clinton Administration and which helped local 
law enforcement agencies hire 117,000 additional officers between 1995 
and 2005--including 908 officers in Maryland's Fifth Congressional 
District.
  In fact, the COPS hiring program--with its emphasis on getting more 
cops on the beat--is credited with reducing the crime rate.
  The nonpartisan General Accountability Office, for example, concluded 
in one study (and I quote): ``COPS-funded increases in sworn officers 
per capita were associated with declines in rates of total index 
crimes, violent crimes and property crime.''
  Unfortunately, however, the former House Majority sharply reduced the 
funding for the universal hiring program under COPS in recent years--
from more than $1 billion a year in the late 1990s, to $10 million in 
2005, to the complete elimination of hiring grants in 2006.
  Mr. Speaker, let's put these figures in perspective. One billion 
dollars a years for COPS hiring grants is not an insubstantial sum. But 
today, in Iraq, our Nation is spending approximately $10 billion a 
month--or $2.5 billion a week.
  House Democrats believe it is imperative to reinvigorate the 
successful COPS program. And thus, this legislation calls for putting 
50,000 additional police officers on the streets over the next 6 years 
by authorizing $600 million a year for COPS hiring grants.
  Furthermore, this bill authorizes $350 million a year for COPS 
technology grants, and $200 million a year for hiring community 
prosecutors.
  Mr. Speaker, today, through this bipartisan legislation, this House 
will demonstrate that it is committed to protecting and strengthening 
America's communities.
  We will demonstrate that the Federal Government is a committed 
partner in protecting Americans not only from the threat posed by 
international terrorism, but also from the dangers posed by domestic 
crime.
  I urge my colleagues: Support the COPS Improvements Act.
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, today, the House of Representatives is doing 
the right thing for our Nation's police and first responders by passing 
the COPS Improvements Act. This bill will improve the safety of 
communities across our Nation, and will help to reverse the damaging 
budget cuts that our first responders have suffered in the past 7 
years.
  In 1994, President Clinton's COPS program changed the way law 
enforcement in this country operates, by giving local departments the 
resources to fight crime and put 100,000 new law enforcement officers 
on the streets. The COPS program helped transform our major cities, and 
gave rural police and sheriffs the resources needed to fight the 
growing problems of drugs and violence.
  As a former law enforcement officer, I know how important the COPS 
program has been to local communities. Its federal-to-local structure 
puts resources where they are needed: cops on the front lines.
  As co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, I work with 
law enforcement professionals from around the country, and they are 
unanimous in their verdict: COPS is a program that works.
  Unfortunately, the current administration disagrees with the approach 
that was so successful in reducing crime during the Clinton years. The 
administration has repeatedly attempted to cut and gut the program, in 
spite of repeated endorsements from every major law enforcement 
organization and the proven success of COPS in reducing crime. Under 
the Republican Congress, COPS funding was reduced from its Clinton-era 
high of $1.42 billion to less than $500 million in 2006, a cut of two-
thirds.
  These cuts had a severe impact on local departments in my district 
and in districts around the country. Attempts to keep officers on the 
street, protect our schools, fight drugs and improve our homeland 
security were all undermined. Republicans in Congress and the Bush 
administration have been full of rhetoric about the heroism of local 
first responders and the importance of fighting terrorism, but the 
budget numbers tell a different story: for the Republican Congress, 
local cops simply were not a priority.
  Now we have a chance to set things right. The law enforcement 
community has a tremendous need for this legislation to be enacted and 
fully funded. Experts have said that it may cost as much as $18 billion 
to fully upgrade our first responders to interoperable

[[Page H4993]]

communications; this bill will provide money for technology grants to 
help close that gap. News reports show that the violent crime rate has 
begun to rise again in our cities; this bill will help local 
departments deploy more officers to fight violence and make our streets 
safe.
  The COPS Improvements Act represents our commitment to listen to our 
local police departments and give them the resources they need to do 
their job. I am proud to support this bill, and I urge the President to 
sign it into law, so that our law enforcement officers can again 
receive the support and assistance they deserve to keep us and America 
safe.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1700, the COPS 
Improvement Act. The COPS hiring program has been an unqualified 
success. Since the program first began in 1994, we have seen crime 
rates plummet throughout the country.
  There are many factors one can point to for this drop in crime, but 
the most obvious one is that the COPS hiring program has given our 
local governments over $9 billion to hire over 117,000 police officers.
  Law enforcement agencies in my district, New York's 17th, have 
received $625,984,137 in COPS grants since 1994. This funding has 
translated into 6,997 additional law enforcement officers in my 
district. Unfortunately, Republicans ended the COPS hiring program last 
year. A likely result of this, is that crime rates are inching upward.
  It is essential that we stay vigilant in our fight against crime by 
passing the COPS Improvement Act. When this bill passes, law 
enforcement agencies across the country will be able to add over 50,000 
police officers to our streets. In my district, we will gain 
$190,978,211 in funding and 2,991 more police officers.
  But the COPS program is not just about the number of police officers; 
it is also about giving police officers the tools they need. Since 
1994, $26,678,080 in COPS grants have been awarded to law enforcement 
agencies in the 17th District of New York to purchase technology that 
enables agencies to put more officers on the beat. This translates into 
more bulletproof vests and mobile computers.
  If the COPS Improvement Act of 2007 passes into law, an additional 
$8,139,075 in technology grants will likely flow to the 17th District 
of New York.
  Mr. Speaker, I join the International Association of Chiefs of 
Police, the National Sheriffs Association, the Fraternal Order of 
Police, the National Association of Police Organizations, the U.S. 
Conference of Mayors, and the National League of Cities in urging my 
colleagues to pass the COPS Improvement Act of 2007.
  Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, as co-chair of the Congressional Law 
Enforcement Caucus and proud cosponsor of H.R. 1700, the COPS 
Improvement Act, I rise to urge my colleagues to support this important 
legislation.
  Since its creation in the 1994 Crime Bill, the COPS program has been 
a key component of the Federal effort to keep our communities safe. The 
program has been widely hailed as a success. It has supported the 
hiring of over 100,000 officers and contributed to a nationwide 
decrease in violent crime in the 1990s.
  H.R. 1700 makes several improvements to the program to increase 
public safety across the country. It reauthorizes the COPS hiring 
program to help put 50,000 new police on the beat in our communities, 
provides $350 million a year for State and local agencies to develop 
new technologies for crime prevention and police training and provides 
$200 million a year for community-based prosecution programs.
  In my home state of Minnesota, I've seen, firsthand, the importance 
of the COPS program to local police in reducing crime and improving 
public safety.
  The COPS program has been an invaluable resource to state and local 
law enforcement agencies for hiring, technology and school safety 
grants, and has been critical to providing personnel, equipment, 
training and technical assistance in the war on drugs and homeland 
security.
  We must never forget our cops are on the front lines--in the war on 
crime, fighting drug dealers and protecting our homeland.
  As Chris Matthews of MSNBC said after the attacks of September 11: 
``Before the attacks on our homeland, America's heroes were the rich 
and famous. Since Sept. 11, America's heroes are the cops and 
firefighters. And that's good for America.''
  Today, America's heroes are counting on us. Congress owes it to these 
brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day they put 
on the badge. Our nation's law enforcement officers need all the tools 
Congress can provide. It's time to honor the sacrifices made by our 
Nation's law enforcement community and give our Nation's finest the 
support they need.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as a proud co-sponsor I rise 
in strong support of H.R. 1700, the COPS Improvement Act of 2007, 
introduced by my colleague Mr. Weiner. This act would amend the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, expanding the ability of 
the Attorney General to make grants for the COPS ON THE BEAT program. 
This important program provides for public safety and community 
policing activities, and it very simply puts more cops on the streets.
  This legislation would bring much needed relief to our brave and 
overworked law enforcement officers, who are on the front line of the 
war against crime. At a minimum, the passage of this legislation would 
bring 374 additional police officers to reinforce the streets of the 
18th congressional district of Texas, which I proudly represent. These 
374 cops would be supported by a much needed funding increase of 
$17,346,456, as well as an additional $2,753,784 in technology grants 
to law enforcement agencies in my district. The 18th congressional 
district is only one of hundreds of communities across the nation that 
will enjoy greater security, safety, and stability as a result of this 
important legislation.
  During the 1990s, the crime rates for all categories of crime in the 
United States fell dramatically and almost continuously, with homicide 
rates plunging 43 percent to reach their lowest level in 35 years in 
2001. Unfortunately, after this sustained drop across all geographic 
areas and population groups, crime rates have once again begun to rise. 
In particular, 2005 marked the greatest increase in violent crime in 14 
years. This increase in crime, not coincidentally, corresponds with 
cuts to the funding of the COPS program by the GOP-led Congress.

  This is not acceptable. As part of the New Direction for America 
ushered in by this Democratic Congress, we are committed to ensuring 
that Americans can enjoy real security within our Nation's borders. We 
are committed to guaranteeing that our country's communities, like my 
own 18th district, have police forces that are adequately staffed, 
equipped, and funded. We are committed to reinvigorating programs, like 
COPS, that have proven highly successful in the past.
  Mr. Speaker, an increase in crime mandates an increase in the number 
of police. Since 1995, the COPS office has awarded over $11.4 billion 
to over 13,000 state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies 
throughout the United States. These funds allow agencies to hire and 
train law enforcement officers to participate in community policing, to 
purchase and deploy new crime-fighting technologies, and to develop and 
test new and innovative policing strategies.
  Despite the demonstrated success of the COPS program in reducing 
crime rates, the current administration has targeted its funding. This 
would jeopardize the marked headway this program has made into creating 
and maintaining safe communities nationwide. H.R. 1700 provides an 
opportunity to reverse this harmful process, and, as a result, enjoys 
the support of numerous law enforcement organizations, including 
Fraternal Order of Police, National Association of Police Organizations 
and the National Sheriffs' Association.
  This bill allows us to build upon a program that has already proven 
successful by expanding the mission and increasing the prospects for 
grants under the COPS program. It allows us to both protect America's 
communities from increasing violent crime, and to provide adequate 
resources for those whom we entrust with guarding our safety.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation because I believe 
the work of our State, local, and tribal law enforcement officials to 
be crucial to the security of our communities and our Nation. I believe 
that the program's record is clear, and the evidence shows that more 
cops equals less crime. I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in 
support this legislation.
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1700, 
the COPS Improvement Act of 2007. I would like to thank the chief 
sponsors of this legislation, Congressmen Weiner and Keller, for their 
efforts in bringing this bipartisan bill to the floor today.
  Congress created the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) 
program as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 
1994 (Public Law 103-322). Administered by the U.S. Department of 
Justice, the COPS program awards grants to state, local, and tribal law 
enforcement agencies to hire and train community policing personnel, 
implement new technologies to combat crime, and develop new policing 
techniques.
  Since its establishment, the COPS program has been widely hailed as a 
success. It most notably has supported the hiring of over 120,000 
additional police officers and helped contribute to a nationwide 
decrease in the rate of violent crime. In Hawaii alone, COPS grants 
have helped to hire 522 additional police officers and sheriffs and 
placed 18 new resource

[[Page H4994]]

officers in primary and secondary schools throughout the islands.
  Yet funding for this successful program has become a yearly 
Congressional battle. President Bush's latest FY 2008 budget request 
seeks to cut funding for the COPS program by 50 percent, which is 
actually an improvement from previous years in which program funding 
was simply zeroed out.
  In justifying the COPS program funding cut, the administration has 
often cited the need to refocus our energies on homeland security 
issues. However, our State and local law enforcement agencies play an 
increasingly significant role in homeland security through their 
already established roles in local crime prevention and investigation. 
It is not unreasonable to suggest that State and local law enforcement 
entities are among our first lines of defense in keeping our homeland 
secure. To that end, it is the responsibility of this Congress to 
continue to support and strengthen the COPS program.
  H.R. 1700 is an affirmative step in this direction, as it would 
authorize $1.15 billion each year in years 2008 through 2013 for the 
COPS program. This is a 10 percent or $103 million increase from the 
amounts authorized in current law. Of that amount, $600 million would 
be allocated each year for the hiring of additional law enforcement 
officers. It is estimated that this amount will translate into at least 
50,000 new police officers on our streets. H.R. 1700 would also allow 
for up to $350 million annually for grant programs that improve crime-
fighting technologies and up to $200 million each year to assist 
district attorneys in hiring prosecutors.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of 
H.R. 1700, as it supports the work of law enforcement officers across 
our Nation. I would also like to extend a heartfelt mahalo (thank you) 
to our State and local law enforcement officers who serve our Nation 
with distinction and aloha.
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1700, 
COPS Improvement Act of 2007. Since 1994 the COPS program has allowed 
local law enforcement agencies to hire an additional 117,000 officers. 
It is unconscionable that over the past several years, the Republican-
led Congress has repeatedly cut the COPS program and eventually 
eliminated all funding in the 2006 budget.
  I'm proud that my district has benefited significantly from the COPS 
program. In fact, in 1996 President Clinton came to the City of 
Salinas, CA, to commend Mayor Caballero and Salinas law enforcement 
officials on a successful community policing program. In addition, 
Salinas was awarded one of a handful of COPS grants for tracking 
weapons. These tools enabled the City of Salinas to reduce gang 
violence. As funding for the COPS program dried up, gang violence in 
Salinas spiked and in 2005 there were 24 homicides. This time, on its 
own dime, the City of Salinas and the County of Monterey have busted 
their budgets to implement a community policing gang task force. 
Reauthorization of the COPS program, with full funding, will enable 
Salinas and other communities all across the country to again implement 
effective community policing programs to combat crime.
  Reauthorization of the COPS program should not be a partisan issue. 
After all, all crime is local. Community policing is effective because 
it addresses crime at the local level. H.R. 1700 will allow for the 
hiring of up to 50,000 new cops on the beat over the next 6 years. In 
addition, the bill authorizes $600 million a year for COPS hiring 
grants, $350 million a year for COPS technology grants, and $200 
million a year for hiring community prosecutors.
  I urge my colleagues to pass H.R. 1700.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, later today we will consider reauthorizing the 
COPS program for another 6 years. It is fitting that the House will 
take up this bill during National Police Week. I hope our law 
enforcement community regards this bill and this week as recognition of 
our thanks for keeping us safe and protected. We appreciate their work 
and sacrifices immensely. Reauthorizing the COPS program is very 
important to our State and local law enforcement, as the program 
provides grants directly to them. My district has received nearly $11 
million in COPS grants over the past decade and a half, and it is 
extremely important that this program continues. This money has helped 
and will help keep Hoosiers in the Ninth District safe by ensuring a 
greater law enforcement presence on our streets back home and combating 
violent crime such as meth trafficking and usage. I fully support 
reauthorizing COPS and thank our law enforcement for all the sacrifices 
they make day in and day out.
  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. I am deeply disappointed that the 
Democratic leadership has chosen to bring up H.R. 1700, the COPS 
Improvement Act of 2007, under suspension. While the Committee on 
Judiciary reported the bill out without objection, I am concerned that 
the hundreds of Members not on the committee will not have any 
opportunity to offer any improvements to the bill.
  Had I been allowed the opportunity, I would have introduced an 
amendment to more fairly allot grants by State. According to last 
year's funding statistics, small States received a disproportionate 
amount of funds. In fact, in some cases small States have received more 
funds than States more than five times their population. For instance, 
Alabama gets more assistance than California.
  My home State, New Jersey, a densely populated State nestled between 
the major metropolitan centers of New York City and Philadelphia and 
also home to a heavily trafficked drug corridor and its own inner-
cities, receives less than 2 percent of all grants.
  As if this imbalance weren't bad enough, the Office Management and 
Budget's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) graded COPS as ``not 
performing: results not demonstrated.'' The bill authorizes $1.15 
billion for this program next fiscal year and another $4.6 billion over 
the next 4 years. With so much taxpayer money at stake, and so few 
positive results demonstrated, why is the House missing this 
opportunity to fully consider how we might improve a program that is 
failing despite its good intentions?
  The people of New Jersey watch a disproportionate share of their 
Federal taxes go to Washington to carry out this unproven program in 
other States. And for these reasons, I regret that I simply could not 
support this bill on the floor today.
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support 
H.R. 1700, the COPS Improvements Act.
  This program, begun under President Clinton, has invested over $12 
billion to add officers to the Nation's streets and schools, enhance 
crime-fighting technology, support crime prevention initiatives, 
provide training and technical assistance, administer grant programs, 
and advance community policing. Since President Bush has taken office, 
he has done everything he could to cut or eliminate funding for this 
worthwhile program.
  In the Third District of Florida alone, over $89,420,196 in COPS 
grants were awarded to law enforcement agencies: COPS grants have 
funded 1,192 additional police officers and sheriffs deputies to engage 
in community policing activities, including crime prevention, in the 
3rd District; 24 local and State law enforcement agencies in the 3rd 
District have directly benefited from funding made available through 
the COPS Office; $6,187,466 has been awarded to add 52 school resources 
officers to improve safety for students, teachers, and administrators 
in primary and secondary schools throughout the 3rd District; and 
$10,780,628 has been awarded for crime-fighting technologies. This 
funding has allowed officers to spend more time on the streets of the 
3rd District of Florida fighting and preventing crime through 
timesaving technology, information-sharing systems, and improved 
communications equipment.
  My district is not alone. The COPS program has helped districts 
across the Nation by reducing crime and making communities safer for 
residents to live their lives.
  Earlier this session, I introduced a resolution urging increased 
funding for both the COPS program and the Weed and Seed program, which 
is an innovative, comprehensive, multiagency approach to law 
enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization. Both these 
programs go together--community policing and community revitalization.
  I am submitting for the record a letter from the city of Orlando in 
support of this bill.
  I urge support for the COPS program, safer communities and this bill.

                                              City of Orlando,

                                        Orlando, FL, May 15, 2007.
     Hon. Corrine Brown,
     U.S. Representative,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congresswoman Brown: I am writing on behalf of the 
     City of Orlando to advise you of our strong support for H.R. 
     1700, the ``COPS Improvements Act of 2007''.
       In 1994, Congress established the Office for Community 
     Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and, in the decade that 
     followed, our nation experienced a significant drop in crime 
     rates. A large part of this success was the nation's 
     commitment to community oriented policing, particularly it's 
     hiring component, which helped get more officers on the beat. 
     This approach was validated by a Government Accountability 
     Office (GAO) study of the COPS program, which stated that: 
     ``COPS-funded increases in sworn officers per capita were 
     associated with declines in the rates of total index crimes, 
     violent crimes, and property crime.''
       Now, after years of historically low crime rates, we are 
     seeing a disturbing new trend--a jump in violent crimes in 
     our City as well as in many of our nation's large and medium-
     sized cities. Just as the decrease in crime was directly 
     related to an increased focus on hiring law enforcement 
     officers at the state and local level, the more recent 
     increase in certain crimes can be directly related to the 
     loss of Federal funds supporting state and local law 
     enforcement. This legislation will reinstitute the COPS 
     program--a program we all know to be effective--and is needed 
     now more than ever.

[[Page H4995]]

       Specifically, this bill will establish the Office of 
     Community Oriented Policing Services as a distinct entity 
     within the U. S. Department of Justice and will reauthorize 
     hiring programs for three specific purposes--community 
     policing officers, local counterterrorism officers, and 
     school resource officers. The bill also reauthorizes funds 
     for technology grants and community prosecutors. The COPS 
     program and the community policing approach are, and should 
     continue to be, an important part of our national crime-
     fighting strategy.
       Your commitment to reducing crime and your recognition of 
     the important role local law enforcement plays throughout the 
     nation is commendable. Be assured that the City of Orlando 
     will do our part in the fight against crime and, given the 
     proper resources, we can keep Orlando one of the safest 
     cities in the nation.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Buddy Dyer,
                                                            Mayor.

  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to show my 
support for H.R. 1700, the COPS Reauthorization Act of 2007.
  The original COPS bill, passed in 1994, enabled local law enforcement 
agencies to hire 117,000 additional police officers across the Nation. 
H.R. 1700 will establish the Office of Community Oriented Policing 
Services as a distinct entity within the U.S. Department of Justice and 
will reauthorize hiring programs for three specific purposes: community 
policing officers, local counterterrorism officers, and school resource 
officers.
  School resource officers are especially important to keep schools 
safe and to keep children in school. About 13.7 million or 22 percent 
of children and youth were physically bullied in the last year and 15.7 
million were teased or emotionally bullied. Bullying behavior has been 
linked to other forms of antisocial behavior, such as vandalism, 
shoplifting, skipping and dropping out of school, fighting, and the use 
of drugs and alcohol. Having school resource officers on campuses will 
help combat this growing problem.
  School resource officers are also needed to combat the national gang 
epidemic. In Los Angeles alone during the last 5 years, there were over 
23,000 verified gang related violent crimes. These include 784 
homicides, nearly 12,000 felony assaults, approximately 10,000 
robberies and just under 500 rapes. It is imperative to reauthorize the 
COPS program and get more officers on the street to stop this trend.
  I am proud to support this bill and encourage all of my colleagues to 
vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1700, COPS Reauthorization Act of 2007.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong 
support of H.R. 1700 the COPS Improvements Act of 2007.
  Unfortunately, over the past several years funding for the hiring of 
additional police officers has been drastically reduced and the COPS 
program was basically eliminated.
  The Community Oriented Policing Services Improvements Act revives the 
grant hiring program. These grants will allow local police departments 
to hire 50,000 additional police officers over the next 6 years.
  I know in Houston after Hurricane Katrina we saw a significant rise 
in violent crime. This program will allow our local communities to hire 
additional police officers to protect their citizens.
  This bill will also provide critical funding for technology grants 
and hiring community prosecutors. These are tools that our communities 
need to reduce our crime rates.
  When the COPS program was eliminated our nation experienced a drastic 
increase in crime rates. By providing our law enforcement community 
with adequate funding and technology we will give them the ability to 
reduce crime rates.
  I have strongly supported this program since it was first introduced 
during the 1990's. Today I urge my colleagues to support this critical 
piece of legislation today.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, in my remarks in support of H.R. 1700, the 
``COPS Improvements Act of 2007,'' I refer to amended language in the 
bill that would have required COPS grant recipients participating in 
the ``Troops-to-Cops'' program to give special hiring preference to 
former members of the Armed Forces who served in Operation Enduring 
Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I first introduced this provision 
in an amendment during the Judiciary Committee markup of H.R. 1700. I 
withdrew that amendment with the understanding that, after working with 
Ranking Member Lamar Smith upon the committee's urging to craft 
mutually agreeable language, this provision was to be included in the 
final version of H.R. 1700.
  Through what I believe to have been an inadvertent omission, the 
hiring preference for veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and 
Operation Iraqi Freedom was not included in the final version of H.R. 
1700 that has been presented to the full House of Representatives. It 
is my understanding that the language will be added either in the 
Senate bill or at conference and, therefore, will be contained in the 
bill sent to the President for his signature.
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong 
support of HR 1700, the COPS Reauthorization Act. I am proud to be a 
cosponsor of this important legislation that will reauthorize the 
Community Oriented Policing Services grant programs.
  Over the first 10 years of its existence, from 1994 to 2005, the COPS 
hiring grant programs have helped local law enforcement agencies hire 
117,000 additional police officers. As a result there have been 
significant drops in the crime rates across our Nation. Unfortunately 
the previous Congress drastically reduced and then eliminated funding 
for the COPS hiring grants in the 2005 and 2006 funding cycles.
  H.R. 1700 will reinvigorate the COPS program by authorizing $600 
million a year for hiring grants. This level of funding will help put 
an additional 50,000 police officers in our communities over the next 6 
years. I am proud that this Congress is acting to restore funding for 
these hiring grants that are so critical to local law enforcement 
agencies across the country.
  In addition, this legislation will authorize $350 million for COPS 
technology grants. These grants will help local law enforcement 
agencies buy critical technology like computers for patrol cars and 
crime mapping software. I have seen this type of crime mapping software 
at work in the city of Santa Ana, California, in my district. This 
technology acts as a force multiplier, allowing each officer to be more 
effective in fighting crime and keeping our communities safe.
  H.R. 1700 also authorizes $200 million for programs that focus on 
hiring the community prosecutors that play a critical role in following 
up on police work and convicting criminals.
  All of these COPS grant programs will provide critical resources to 
local law enforcement agencies across the country that are facing a 
variety of challenges including emerging and ongoing gang activity. In 
previous years, a COPS grant provided funding to the Santa Ana Police 
Department for Firearms Identification technology that can read the 
unique fingerprints that connect bullets and guns. The Santa Ana Police 
Department has been able to solve many gang-related shootings and other 
violent crimes by using this ballistics technology. I hope that the 
passage of this legislation will help ensure that law enforcement 
agencies across the nation benefit from the valuable COPS grant 
programs.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 1700.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 1700, 
the Community Oriented Policing Services Reauthorization Act, which has 
provided greater numbers of police officers to protect our citizens in 
every State in the union. My district in Oregon has benefited 
significantly from this program through the addition of 279 police 
officers and a total of over $24 million secured for local law 
enforcement agencies since 1994.
  I find it perplexing that the administration continually attempts to 
reduce funding for COPS when independent studies confirm that the 
grants significantly contributed to the crime reduction in the late 
1990s. Nationally, the strain on law enforcement has never been 
greater, as resources are stretched to combat the recent rise in crime 
while also addressing homeland security responsibilities. For this 
reason, I support the revitalization of this program to protect our 
families and give law enforcement the support they need.
  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1700, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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