[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 83 (Friday, May 30, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E881]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2015

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. LOU BARLETTA

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 28, 2014

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4660) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, 
     Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2015, and for other purposes:

  Mr. BARLETTA. Madam Chair, I speak today in support of H.R. 4660, the 
Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act of 2015.
  Though we are not voting on a perfect piece of legislation, which 
rarely is the case, I will enthusiastically support this measure 
because I believe it accomplishes a number of goals that are very 
important to me and my constituents back home in the 11th District of 
Pennsylvania.
  As was highlighted in a recent lengthy story in the New York Times, 
my home town of Hazleton is just like many cities of its size across 
the country--it is home to a persistent and growing heroin problem. And 
just recently, Pennsylvania's attorney general teamed up with a variety 
of law enforcement agencies to run Operation Rising Star, which was 
aimed at cracking down on the illegal drug trade. That's why I am 
pleased that the bill recognizes the recent surge in heroin use, 
overdose deaths, and trafficking, and encourages the Drug Enforcement 
Agency to increase its use of task forces to address the increasing 
heroin epidemic.
  And, Madam Chair, as we all know, where there are illegal drugs, 
there will be gangs. I've been working closely on a bipartisan approach 
to gangs in my district, with Democratic State Senator John Yudichak, 
through a program called ``Operation Gang-Up,'' which seeks to educate 
parents, educators, students, and communities about the dangers of 
gangs, warning signs of gang activity, and prevention techniques. At my 
request this bill, in addition to funding the FBI's Safe Streets Task 
Forces and the National Gang Intelligence Center, allocates $10 million 
for regional task forces. In this way, Federal, State, and local law 
enforcement agencies can continue to do the important work of attacking 
gangs where they live and grow, and protect our children and 
neighborhoods.
  And speaking of protecting our neighborhoods and public safety, I 
think it's worth noting that this bill calls on the Department of 
Justice to investigate discretionary enforcement decisions of the 
Department of Homeland Security. This is particularly relevant given 
the recent news that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency had 
released more than 36,000 illegal immigrant inmates who had been found 
guilty of a total of almost 88,000 crimes. Those crimes included 116 
homicides, 43 counts of voluntary manslaughter, and one classified as 
'homicide-willful kill-public official-gun.' We should know more about 
why dangerous criminals have been released into our neighborhoods.
  Reforming immigration laws has been the center of a lot of talk in 
Washington these days, and most of that has to do with the millions of 
illegal immigrants who are already present. One part of that discussion 
that is usually left out is how local governments must deal with 
illegal immigrants who are arrested and incarcerated in local jails and 
prisons.
  Just this March, the Times Leader newspaper of Wilkes-Barre, 
Pennsylvania reported that my home county, Luzerne County, housed 184 
illegal immigrants in the county's correctional facility last year, 
costing taxpayers more than $1.7 million. The county was reimbursed 
through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program--not the full 
amount, mind you, but about $130,000. Unfortunately, the President's 
budget proposal would entirely zero out that funding, leaving 
localities like Luzerne County stuck with the whole bill for locking up 
illegal immigrants who had broken the law. Let us remember that these 
are illegal immigrants who would not be around to break the law in our 
communities if the Federal Government were doing its job enforcing our 
borders and immigration laws in the first place. Also at my request, 
this CJS bill restores that funding, and in fact increases it by $30 
million, to a total of $210 million. This is by no means a full 
reimbursement, but it is an improvement, and it is certainly better 
than the President's proposal to defund the program altogether.
  Madam Chair, the CJS appropriations bill also places greater emphasis 
on programs that protect women from violence and exploitation. It 
contains $425.5 million for Violence Against Women Prevention and 
Prosecution programs, representing an increase above existing funding 
and an amount above the President's request. We will also build on 
efforts to combat sex trafficking by providing a landmark increase in 
Victims of Trafficking grants of four times the President's requested 
amount. All U.S. Attorneys will have to participate in an anti-
trafficking task force, and the Department of Justice will be required 
to continue collecting evidence of 'honor violence' against women in 
this country.
  There are a great many items to be pleased with in this funding bill, 
Madam Chair. I have mentioned but a few of them, but there are many 
others with which I agree--increased emphasis on STEM Education, the 
continued prohibition against the transfer or release of Guantanamo Bay 
detainees to the United States, dedication to Lyme Disease research, 
and youth mentoring programs.
  The bill contains $51.2 billion in funding by prioritizing programs 
and spending, and saves more than $398 million over the enacted fiscal 
year 2014 level.
  I urge passage of the bill.

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