Before I make my statement, I’d just like to take a moment to thank Chairman Wolf for his service to this Committee and our country. Chairman Wolf, it has been a pleasure working with you on our shared commitment to keep our country safe, and I wish you the best of luck in your next chapter.
The Fiscal Year 2015 Commerce, Justice and Science bill before us today provides good funding levels for important programs to support public safety, such as Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and Violence Against Women Act services.
In addition, I am very pleased that this bill would provide $125 million for the DNA Initiative, as well as $36 million for a new Community Backlog Reduction program to process sexual assault kits, which currently are often untested for years, sometimes decades, when information contained in these kits could help identify violent criminals and put them behind bars.
And while I appreciate Chairman Wolf’s efforts to work across the aisle to fund these vital services, I continue to be concerned about needless gun riders, including a new attempt to prohibit funding to implement an Arms Trade Treaty. These riders have no place in an appropriations bill. It is my hope that when this bill comes to the floor, that we work together to keep out unnecessary riders that make it easier for deadly firearms to make their way into our communities.
There are items of concern that I hope can be addressed in full committee or on the floor. The COPS program would be cut by $118 million from current funding under this bill, as well as the “wet side" of NOAA which includes cuts of over 5% to Coastal Zone Management Grants and 40% to Fisheries Habitat Conservation and Restoration. And while the bill funds NOAA weather satellites and the National Weather Service, it includes a sizeable cut of 24% to NOAA’s climate research account.
Storms and weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe. We should be investing in research to combat the threat of climate change, not sticking our heads in the sand hoping the science is wrong because combating such an obstacle would be too costly and inconvenient. We have the opportunity to make better investments in this bill that could help provide for the health and safety of future generations of Americans, and I hope we act together to do so.
Thank you.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
