[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 26077-26078]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



              HELPING SOUTH DAKOTA COMMUNITIES FIGHT CRIME

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, throughout the past year, I continued 
working with local and state community leaders and law enforcement 
officials all across South Dakota in an effort to find solutions to the 
most pressing problems facing the people of my state. A number of 
issues that Congress can address were brought to my attention through 
these meetings, and I continue to find this statewide dialog extremely 
valuable on further developing a community approach to reducing crime. 
I've worked on a bipartisan basis with my colleagues in the United 
States Senate to help South Dakota communities get the resources they 
need to address the crime problems they face.


                Community Policing and the COPS Program

  Community Policing has proven effective in reducing crime rates 
nationwide, and I am optimistic that such efforts in our small towns 
will prove equally successful. As you know, the majority of potential 
offenders, both juvenile and adult, in our state are still within reach 
of rehabilitation and support to put them back on track as productive, 
law abiding citizens.
  I believe the Congress must assist state and local efforts to crack 
down on crime by continuing federal support through funding for 
localized programs. One of the most successful programs in South Dakota 
has been the COPS program. Since 1995, the COPS program has allowed 
South Dakota communities to hire 290 new police officers. In addition, 
the COPS program has expanded recently to help school districts hire 
police resource officers to deal with youth violence in South Dakota 
schools. The COPS in School's program has committed $1.25 million to 
South Dakota communities.
  Although the COPS program has helped reduce the overall crime rate 
nationwide and has been extremely popular with local law enforcement in 
our state, I find myself once again working to make sure the program is 
adequately funded. I support the Administration's request of $1.3 
billion for the COPS program to hire 7,000 new police officers 
nationwide, provide local law enforcement with advanced crime fighting 
technology, hire more community prosecutors, expand crime prevention 
programs, enhance school safety programs, and assist law enforcement on 
Indian Reservations. At this level of funding, South Dakota would 
receive an estimated $734,000 next year to help fight crime in our 
communities and in Indian Country.
  However, the Senate and House Leadership's inability to pass the 
annual appropriations bills has put COPS funding in jeopardy. I will 
continue to work with my colleagues to increase funding for this 
critical program and am hopeful that common sense will prevail over 
partisan gamesmanship on this crucial issue.


       The Kyl-Johnson Federal Prisoner Health Care Copayment Act

  Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and I introduced two years ago a bill to 
require federal prisoners to pay a nominal fee when they initiate 
certain visits for medical attention. Fees collected from prisoners 
will either be paid as restitution to victims or be deposited into the 
Federal Crime Victims' Fund. I am pleased that the President recently 
signed into law the Kyl-Johnson Federal Prisoner Health Care Copayment 
Act.
  South Dakota is one of 38 states that have implemented state-wide 
prisoner health care copayment programs. The Department of Justice 
supported extending this prisoner health care copayment program to 
federal prisoners in an attempt to reduce unnecessary medical 
procedures and ensure that adequate health care services are available 
for prisoners who need them.
  My interest in the prisoner health care copayment issue came from 
discussions I had in South Dakota with a number of law enforcement 
officials and U.S. Marshal Lyle Swenson about the equitable treatment 
between pre-sentencing federal prisoners housed in county jails and the 
county prisoners residing in those same facilities. Currently, county 
prisoners in South Dakota are subject to state and local laws allowing 
the collection of a health care copayment, while Marshals Service 
prisoners are not, thereby allowing federal prisoners to abuse health 
care resources at great cost to state and local law enforcement.
  As our legislation moved through the Senate Judiciary Committee and 
Senate last year, we had the opportunity to work on specific concerns 
raised by South Dakota law enforcement officials and the U.S. Marshals 
Service. Senator Kyl was willing to incorporate my language into the 
Federal Prisoner Health Care Copayment Act that allows state and local 
facilities to collect health care copayment fees when housing pre-
sentencing federal prisoners.


                       Violence Against Women Act

  I am pleased the President recently signed into law a reauthorization 
of the landmark Violence Against Women Act. The legislation is part of 
a larger bill that also includes ``Aimee's Law.'' I've supported 
Aimee's Law'' in the past and am pleased this provision will help crack 
down on states that fail to incarcerate criminals convicted of murder, 
rape, and dangerous sexual offenses for long prison terms.
  I've been involved in the campaign to end domestic violence in our 
communities dating back to 1983 when I introduced legislation in the 
South Dakota State Legislature to use marriage license fees to help 
fund domestic abuse shelters. In 1994, as a member of the U.S. House of 
Representatives, I helped get the original Violence Against Women Act 
passed into law. Since the passage of this important bill, South Dakota 
has received over $8 million in funding for battered women's shelters 
and family violence prevention and services.
  In South Dakota alone, approximately 15,000 victims of domestic 
violence were provided assistance last year, and over 40 domestic 
violence shelters and outreach centers in the state received funding 
through the Violence Against Women Act. Shelters, victims' service 
providers, and counseling centers in South Dakota rely heavily on these 
funds to provide assistance to these women and children.
  The original Violence Against Women Act increased penalties for 
repeat sex offenders, established mandatory restitution to victims of 
domestic violence, codified much of our existing laws on rape, and 
strengthened interstate enforcement of violent crimes against women. I 
am pleased to support efforts this year that strengthen these laws, 
expand them to include stalking on the internet and via the mail, and 
provide local law enforcement with additional resources to combat 
domestic violence in their communities.


                            Juvenile Justice

  While I am pleased that Congress continued to debate Juvenile Crime 
legislation this session, I am disappointed that Senate and House 
Leadership will allow Congress to adjourn without enacting important 
juvenile crime prevention programs into law. The leadership of several 
of America's law enforcement organizations, along with prosecutors and 
crime survivors, have consistently endorsed quality child care and 
after-school programs as a primary way to dramatically and immediately 
reduce crime.

[[Page 26078]]

  I will continue to support significant increases in funding for Head 
Start, Early Head Start, after-school programs and the Child Care and 
Development Block Grant program in large part because of the potential 
these programs have to reduce juvenile crime and domestic violence 
nationwide.


               Combatting Methamphetamine in South Dakota

  A number of South Dakota law enforcement officials and local leaders 
have told me that meth abuse has become one of their top crime-fighting 
priorities in the past few years. Meth abuse threatens our young 
people, law enforcement officers, and our environment. Once again, I 
led efforts to enhance punishments of meth operators, mandate 
restitution for meth lab clean-up, and increase funding for treatment 
and prevention efforts. I also joined Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) in 
successfully securing emergency funding for meth lab clean-up efforts 
in South Dakota and nationwide.
  There is much to be done to bring crime rates in our state down, and 
to help every South Dakotan feel safe in their home and community. I 
look forward to continuing my work with state and local leaders, law 
enforcement agencies in South Dakota, and my Republican and Democratic 
Senate colleagues in Washington. Together, by focusing on community 
crime prevention and by investing in our kids, I believe we can make 
progress in addressing the unique needs of our South Dakota 
communities.

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