[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 92 (Thursday, June 18, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1492]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND REALTED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. KEN CALVERT

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 16, 2009

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2847) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Commerce and Justice, 
     and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2010, and for other purposes:

  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I wholeheartedly support Commerce-Justice-
Science Subcommittee Chairman Mollohan's bipartisan amendment to 
restore $100 million to the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program 
(SCAAP), to meet the Fiscal Year 2009 level of $400 million.
  I greatly appreciate my good friend, Alan Mollohan, and his staff's 
recognition of the importance of this program by rejecting the 
President's proposal to eliminate SCAAP.
  Counties across the country depend on SCAAP for reimbursement of the 
costs associated with the detention and incarceration of criminal 
aliens.
  Keep in mind, local law enforcement only receive a partial 
reimbursement through SCAAP. For example, in my district, Riverside 
County received reimbursement for only 17% of the cost of incarcerating 
criminal aliens in Fiscal Years 08-09. And out of Orange County's 
65,000 inmates booked each year at the county jails, approximately 19% 
are criminal aliens.
  Although illegal immigration is clearly the federal government's 
responsibility, counties incur millions of dollars in unreimbursed 
expenses each year as a result of housing criminal aliens.
  During difficult economic times, local governments are struggling to 
pay for budgeted programs and additional demands for services are 
straining the system to the breaking point--unreimbursed expenses 
simply cannot go unmet.
  This amendment will help the many communities across the nation 
burdened with the costs of our federal government's failed 
responsibility to secure our nation's borders.
  I urge my colleagues to accept the amendment.

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