The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“HOUSE CUTS CRIME-FIGHTING DOLLARS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S9576-S9577 on June 30, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HOUSE CUTS CRIME-FIGHTING DOLLARS
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise to offer my strong opposition to actions taken by the House Commerce/State/Justice Appropriations Subcommittee earlier this week. In passing the 1996 appropriation's bill the subcommittee Republicans have set off on a course which would cripple Federal, State, and local efforts to combat crime. If the subcommittee Republicans' plan is adopted: New FBI agents will not be hired; 20,000 State and local police will not be hired; thousands of wife-beaters will not be arrested, tried or convicted; new DEA agents will not be hired; 80,000 offenders released on probation will not be tested for drugs or subject to certain punishment; and digital telephony technology vital to law enforcement will not be developed.
First, let me address the cuts to Federal law enforcement. The President requested an increase of $122 million for FBI agents and other FBI activities--but the subcommittee Republicans cut $45 million from that request.
I would also point out that the subcommittee Republicans provides no dollars of the $300 million authorized for FBI in the Dole/Hatch counter-terrorism bill. This legislation has not passed into law, so some might say that is the reason that none of these dollars are made available. But, the subcommittee Republicans did find a way to add their block grant which passed the House, but not the Senate.
So, I do not think there is any explanation for cutting the FBI other than a fundamental lack of commitment to Federal law enforcement by the subcommittee Republicans. I have heard time and again over the past several months from my Republican colleagues in the Senate that the President was not committed to Federal law enforcement. I have heard time and again from my Republican colleagues that they would increase funding for Federal law enforcement.
Well, something just does not add up--House subcommittee Republicans will not give the President the increase he requested for the FBI, despite all the rhetoric I have heard over the past several months.
The cuts to Federal law enforcement do not even stop there. The House subcommittee Republicans cut $17 million from the $54 million boost requested for DEA agents by the administration. That is more than a 30-
percent cut. The House subcommittee Republicans provide no dollars of the $60 million authorized for DEA in the Dole/Hatch counterterrorism bill.
Let me review another area where the actions of these subcommittee Republicans are completely opposite the rhetoric I have heard from the other side here in the Senate.
The Violence Against Women Act--having first introduced the Violence Against Women Act 5 years ago, I had welcomed the bipartisan support finally accorded the act last year. I would note the strong support provided by Senators Hatch and Dole.
But, when we have gotten past the rhetoric and it came time to actually write the check in the Appropriations Subcommittee, the women of America were mugged. The President requested $175 million for the Justice Department's violence against women programs, and the House subcommittee Republicans have provided less than half--$75 million.
While the specific programs have not been yet identified, that $100 million will mean the key initiatives will not get the funding that everyone on both sides of the aisle agreed they should: $130 million was requested for grants to State and local police, prosecutors and victims groups; $28 million was requested to make sure that every man who beats his wife or girlfriend is arrested; $7 million was requested for enforcement efforts against family violence and child abuse in rural areas; and $6 million was requested to provide special advocates for abused children who come before a court.
I keep hearing about how the Violence Against Women Act is a bipartisan effort. In all the new so-called crime bills I have seen proposed by Members of the other side, not once have I seen any effort to repeal or cut back on any element of the Violence Against Women Act. But, the actions of the House subcommittee Republicans tell a completely different story.
To discuss yet another troubling aspect of the House subcommittee Republican bill--this bill eliminates the $1.9 billion sought for the second year of the 100,000 police program. That $1.9 billion would put at least 20,000 more State and local police officers on the streets--and probably many more, for the $1.1 billion spent so far this year has put well over 16,000 more police on the streets.
What happens to the $1.9 billion? In the House Republican bill, these dollars are shifted to a LEAA-style block grant for ``a variety of programs including more police officers, crime prevention programs, drug courts and equipment and technology,'' quoting the summary provided by the House Republicans on the subcommittee.
In other words, not $1 must be spent to add State and local police officers. I keep hearing about support for State and local police from the other side of the aisle. But, just when it really matters, just when we are writing checks and not just making speeches, America's State and local police officers are being ripped-off. Instead of a guarantee that police officers and police departments get each and every one of these $1.9 billion, the House subcommittee Republicans propose empty deal--money in the same type of grants that failed in the 1970's and under standards so lax that America's police could wait through all next year without a single dollar.
Mr. President, I hope that the actions of the House Republicans on the subcommittee are reversed in the full Appropriations Committee. And if not there, then I hope these actions will be reversed on the floor of the House.
But, if the House Republicans stand with the subcommittee and against Federal law enforcement, against FBI agents, against DEA agents, against the women of America, and against State and local police officers, I urge all my colleagues in the Senate to stand by the positions they have taken all year and stand up to the House Republicans.
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