Cantwell, Grassley Lead Bipartisan Coalition to Preserve Crime-Fighting Grant Program
In letter, 50 Senators back Byrne JAG program that equips law enforcement to tackle gangs, drugs, and human traffickers
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) led a bipartisan group of 50 Senators in calling for continued funding of the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program in FY2016. The Byrne JAG program is a critical crime-fighting program that helps state and local governments across the country reduce crime, prevent juvenile delinquency and reduce recidivism.
“We write to ask that you maintain funding for the program in the fiscal year 2016 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill,” the Senators wrote in an April 2 letter to Senate appropriators. “It is clear to us that the strong foundation of federal, state, and local partnerships built from the Byrne JAG program remains as vital as ever.”
The Byrne JAG program is a partnership among federal and local government that tailors federal law enforcement grants to the needs of different communities. The flexibility of these grants allows local jurisdictions to focus on their most eminent needs in law enforcement. The grants also help meet funding needs that are not addressed in state budgets.
“One of the highest responsibilities of government is to protect its citizens and ensure public safety,” the Senators wrote. “Federal support for Byrne JAG and state and local law enforcement is our first line of defense against criminals and the Byrne JAG program is vital in combating crimes of all types.”
A total of $376 million in Byrne JAG grants was appropriated in fiscal year 2015. In fiscal year 2014, Washington state received $5.5 million in Byrne JAG grants. These funds have been used to support vital gang prevention and drug treatment programs, prosecution and court programs, community corrections programs; and planning, prevention, evaluation, and technology improvement programs.
In Snohomish County, Byrne JAG grants have been used to aid the Snohomish Regional Drug & Gang Task Force. In Benton and Franklin counties, Byrne JAG grants support the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force, which is dedicated to the disruption of narcotic trafficking, illegal gun sales and gang activity in the region. In Pierce County, Byrne JAG grants support local anti-gang and drug units as well as domestic violence prosecutions during a time when budgets for law enforcement officials and prosecutors across the state have been cut.
The letter was signed by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Charles Grassley (R-IA), David Vitter (R-LA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), David Perdue (R-GA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Richard Durbin (D-IL), James Inhofe (R-OK), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Al Franken (D-MN), Michael Rounds (R-SD), Chris Coons (D-DE), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mark Warner (D-VA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Angus King (I-ME), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and John Hoeven (R-ND).
Cantwell has long fought for federal programs that provide support to local law enforcement to fight crime in Washington communities. She has been a leading supporter of the Byrne JAG program. Cantwell and Grassley led a bipartisan letter last year calling for robust funding in Byrne JAG funds, which resulted in Congress appropriating $376 million in Byrne JAG funds for fiscal year 2015. In 2005 she called on then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to launch an investigation into gang related meth trafficking in the Washington state area. In 2006 Cantwell led the charge to pass the Combat Meth Act and secured $99 million for state and local law enforcement agencies to combat the problem.
April 2, 2015
The Honorable Richard C. Shelby
Chairman
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Senate Committee on Appropriations
142 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Barbara A. Mikulski
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Senate Committee on Appropriations
125 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Mikulski:
We write to thank you for your strong and consistent support of the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program, and for the funding in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015. We write to ask that you maintain funding for the program in the fiscal year 2016 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill.
As thoughtful stewards of taxpayer money, we must continually assess where federal support is necessary and appropriate. It is clear to us that the strong foundation of federal, state, and local partnerships built from the Byrne JAG program remains as vital as ever.
One of the highest responsibilities of government is to protect its citizens and ensure public safety. We are concerned that regional, national and international gangs and drug trafficking organizations are increasingly driving the crime on our streets, embedding criminal activity deeper into our rural communities, and driving a dangerous new wave of heroin addiction across the country. Byrne JAG-funded programs facilitate cross-governmental intelligence and information sharing on terror and criminal threats, drug and human trafficking organizations and sexual predators. This collaboration is essential to address today’s criminal networks that cross city, state and even international boundaries.
Nationwide, the overall crime rate is at its lowest level since the 1960s due in part to advances in policing, information technology, offender management, and cross-jurisdictional coordination support by the Byrne JAG program. Crime in some communities, however, is on the rise again, reminding us that we must never become complacent when it comes to the safety of our citizens. Federal support for Byrne JAG and state and local law enforcement is our first line of defense against criminals and the Byrne JAG program is vital in combating crimes of all types.
Through Byrne JAG, the Department of Justice (DOJ) plays a crucial role in spurring innovation and testing cost-effective, evidence-based approaches to fighting crime. With over 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S., cross-jurisdictional learning and coordination cannot happen effectively without federal support.
Furthermore, crime prevention and control can be truly successful only when the criminal justice system is in balance, with all of the parts functioning effectively. Byrne JAG’s flexibility allows state and local governments to target their most pressing needs in law enforcement, prevention, pretrial services and treatment, courts, corrections, crime victims’ services, prosecution and defense, and post-incarceration reentry services. Byrne JAG also leverages the massive investment that already occurs regularly in these programs at the state and local level.
We know of your steadfast commitment to the Byrne JAG program in years past, and we ask for your continued support in the fiscal year 2016 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill.
Sincerely,
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