The bill before us today is indeed an inadequate allocation, $4.7 billion, or 7.5%, below the President's request. As a result, resources used to protect our communities and mitigate and prevent natural disasters are limited.
I thank Chairman Rogers, Chairman Wolf, and Ranking Member Fattah for their leadership.
At the Defense and Homeland Security markups, I warned that those allocations, which met the needs of the public, would further squeeze the remaining appropriations bills due to the unrealistic overall discretionary allocation in the Ryan Budget Resolution. The bill before us today is indeed an inadequate allocation, $4.7 billion, or 7.5%, below the President's request. As a result, resources used to protect our communities and mitigate and prevent natural disasters are limited. For example:
• This bill would make it more difficult for the Department of Justice to take on new cases, investigate crimes, and apprehend violent fugitives.
• The COPS Hiring Program is zeroed out. Had it been funded, the Administration's request would have provided grants to support the hiring of 1,400 new officers. There are real, measurable costs to the public safety of our communities by removing police from the streets and making it more difficult for federal law enforcement to do their jobs.
• Reductions to components of NOAA, including Coastal Zone Management Grants, will make it more difficult for communities to prepare, mitigate, and recover from storms, leaving our shorelines and coasts more at risk.
I thank the Chairman for some positives in this bill, including strong funding levels for a number of important efforts, such as Violence Against Women Act services, the National Weather Service, and the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Programs.
The mark includes $75 million for a Comprehensive School Safety Program. Despite the fact it is only half of the request, it would add school resource officers and improve security in our schools based on the needs of local communities. In addition, the bill would provide $55 million in grants to states to improve the records for the National Instant Background Check System.
But funding is only part of the equation when approximately 40% of firearms are sold without a simple background check. I am flat out angry that eight months after the tragedy at Newtown, Congress is yet to pass commonsense, bipartisan reforms to our background check system and retains the status quo by preserving gun riders rather than work together to reduce the epidemic of violence and the prevalence of illegal guns.
The good in this bill is outweighed by the bad and unworkable. We cannot meet the needs of federal law enforcement, prosecute criminals, or protect public safety with an allocation this low. Without first replacing the sequester, research by NASA and the National Science Foundation, efforts to study and combat climate change, and economic priorities such as the Economic Development Administration and Trade Adjustment Assistance, will all be limited. It is my sincere hope that we can replace the sequester once and for all and improve this bill as the process moves forward.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
