[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Page 27288]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                COMMERCE-JUSTICE-SCIENCE APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I want to express my disappointment in 
the cuts that the conference report for H.R. 2862, the Departments of 
Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 
of 2006, made to important grant programs that assist State and local 
law enforcement agencies. I voted in favor of H.R. 2862 because of the 
other important programs that it funds, but I have grave concerns about 
these particular grant funding cuts.
  I believe that Congress, in partnership with States and local 
communities, has an obligation to provide the tools, technology, and 
training that our Nation's law enforcement officers need in order to 
protect our communities. I have consistently supported a number of 
Federal grant programs, including the Community Oriented Policing 
Services, COPS, Program, which is instrumental in providing funding to 
train new officers and provide crime-fighting technologies. I also have 
long supported funding for the Byrne Grant Program, which provides 
funding to help fight violent and drug-related crime, including support 
to multijurisdictional drug task forces, drug courts, drug education 
and prevention programs, and many other efforts to reduce drug abuse 
and prosecute drug offenders. I know how important these programs have 
been to Wisconsin law enforcement efforts, in particular with regard to 
fighting the spread of methamphetamine abuse. Both of these programs 
suffered major funding cuts in the conference report for H.R. 2682, 
which the Senate passed on November 16, 2005.
  Funding for the COPS Program has been reduced dramatically in recent 
years. In fiscal year 2003 the COPS Program received $929 million in 
Federal funding. In fiscal year 2004, that level was reduced to $756 
million, only to drop again in fiscal year 2005 to $606 million. And 
now, for fiscal year 2006, the funding level has again been reduced to 
a mere $487.3 million, a dramatic decrease just over the last 3 fiscal 
years. This is unacceptable. Funding for these grant programs has 
continually dropped even as the needs of law enforcement officers, our 
first responders, grow.
  Funding cuts like the ones to the COPS Program have been mirrored in 
cuts to Byrne grants. For fiscal year 2006, the administration's budget 
proposal would have completely eliminated this critical law enforcement 
program in full. Congress rightly rejected the administration's 
unjustified attempt to entirely do away with this important program, 
but unfortunately the funding level provided this year is inadequate. 
In fiscal year 2003, Byrne and the local law enforcement block grants, 
which have now been merged into one program, received a total of $900 
million in Federal funding. By fiscal year 2005, that number was 
reduced to $634 million. This year, the Byrne program will receive a 
meager $416 million in Federal funding. It is irresponsible to 
habitually take the rug out from under our hard-working law enforcement 
officers by taking away their access to the funding they need to keep 
our communities across the country safe.
  It is my hope that in the next fiscal year, the administration and 
Congress will work together to repair the damage done and increase 
critical funding to these and other programs that assist our State and 
local law enforcement officers on a daily basis.

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