When I was raising my family and attending law school, I also worked as a U.S Capitol Police officer.  Today, I still feel a special bond with those who protect our communities.  I have worked to provide more resources for our law enforcement community, meet the greater demands of homeland security since September 11, 2001, protect an officer’s right to carry firearms, fight the drug war domestically as well as internationally, and protect our children from harm.

Providing the Resources Law Enforcement Needs

Public safety is one of the most important jobs of any government.  That’s why securing adequate funds to fight crime in Nevada and to protect our nation from terrorist attacks is one of my top priorities. 

The law enforcement community should be proud that crime dropped across the nation in the 1990s, in part because of programs like Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), which gave local law enforcement agencies the resources to put more cops on the streets.  Today the Administration is trying to slash the resources that are needed to keep criminals on the run.  The Administration’s proposed Fiscal Year 2007 Budget would cut COPS and merge it with two other programs: the Local Law Enforcement Block grants and the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program (Byrne Grants).  This reorganization would cut total funding by nearly $1 billion.

Slashing $1 billion from local law enforcement won’t make our communities safer.  Nevada officers are working hard to meet the increased demands of homeland security and a rapidly growing population.  They need more resources, not less.  I have always supported increasing funding for the COPS program, and as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ll keep fighting to restore these programs that give local law enforcement the tools they need to protect us.

I am proud that I was able to secure funds for technology and interoperability for Nevada in Fiscal Year 2006 in the amounts of $10,000 for Eureka County Sheriff’s Office, $250,000 for North Las Vegas for a mobile command center, and $500,000 for Nye County Sheriff’s Office for interoperability.  I was also able to secure $700,000 Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for equipment and technology to equip a SWAT vehicle and mobile Booking Trailer and $10,000 for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police to hire six additional officers.  In Fiscal Year 2005, I secured the following funds for interoperability projects: $150,000,000 for Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for communications equipment, $155,000 for Churchill County for interoperability, and $200,000 for Boulder City for a wireless communications canopy.

Fighting for Homeland Security Funding

The terrorist attacks of 9-11 changed our world, and nobody knows that better than our law enforcement officers. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security has placed new responsibilities on Nevada law enforcement agencies.

Resources are spread thin, yet there are new demands on communication, manpower, and equipment demands. I am working with each Nevada agency to ensure their highest priority needs are met. Last year, I secured more than $80 million in grants and other funding for Nevada's law enforcement and homeland security efforts. Most of these funds go to state and local law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and other emergency responders.
I also helped establish the National Center for Combating Terrorism at the Nevada Test Site to better train America's counter-terrorism personnel and first responders. Since then I have secured more than $100 million for the Center to train nearly 10,000 first responders from around the nation.

Law Enforcement Weapons-Carry Bill

I worked to pass the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, which exempts qualified current and former law enforcement officers from state laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed handguns across state lines. This law ensures that officers who undergo the rigorous training to carry concealed weapons will have their experience recognized in every state. It makes our communities safer by allowing law enforcement officers to effectively fight crime wherever they go, and it protects officers from criminals who carry a grudge.  I also recently re-introduced a bill to make air travel safer by allowing local law enforcement to carry their firearms on aircrafts, the “Safer Skies Act of 2006.”  This legislation is needed to increase the safety of our airplanes, as well as to make it easier for local law enforcement to travel across the country.  Local law enforcement officers are our nation's first responders, but they are also the nation's early preventers. They are the first to identify local crimes that could turn into national attacks. They are the first to report suspicious behavior that could thwart a future terrorist attack. And they are the ones who can keep our nation safe by stopping a terrorist threat before it becomes an attack. Their eyes, ears and experience are critical to our national security, and that includes on airplanes.   This bill is another step in the war against terror. - another step FORWARD.

Illegal Drugs and Methamphetamine

The Administration has also shifted the focus of our efforts in the war on drugs by directing our resources toward major international traffickers.  But we can’t ignore the dangers closer to home.

I know many Nevada communities are reporting a drastic increase in the use and production of methamphetamine and other illegal drugs. Methamphetamine robs people of their health and ability to be productive members of society, and it causes increased criminal activity.

I worked to pass the Combat Meth Act that will provide new tools to state and local law enforcement to crack down on meth labs, will restrict the sale of chemicals used in manufacturing meth, and will provide funding to help children who are victims of the drug.  I also supported an amendment called the “COPS Hot Spots” amendment to S.Con.Res. 83, which increases funding for the Meth Hot Spots program to $99 million.  I am proud to announce this amendment was unanimously accepted.

Additionally, I have supported the creation of task forces throughout our state to seek out and halt the manufacture of methamphetamine.  I secured funding in 2001 to create the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program in Southern Nevada that is now being expanded statewide.  I helped secure $250,000 to assist Nye County local law enforcement agencies to curb the drug's production and distribution, and I am committed to helping drug task forces throughout the state receive the funding they need.  Also, for 2006, I secured $ 50,000 for the Nevada Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (DEC) to remove children from dangerous drug environments and to get them proper long term medical care and treatment.

Preventing Gang Violence

Gang violence is a serious problem affecting communities across the nation.  I have consistently supported legislation to increase the penalties for gang-related crimes.  For example, I supported the Omnibus Crime Bill of 1993 that made membership in a criminal street gang a federal crime and that provided block grants to help states and localities fight criminal street gangs.

I have worked to provide funds for programs such as the Gang Resistance Education and Training Act (G.R.E.A.T.) program, which encourages young people not to join gangs and combats gang activity and violence in communities since 1997.  Last year, this program received $25 million in funding from the Treasury Department. 

I have also secured funds for Nevada programs to aid at-risk youth and prevent a life of crime.  In Fiscal Year 2006, I was able to secure $100,000 for Restitution Earned Accountability Learned (R.E.A.L.), a Clark County program that teaches troubled juveniles the necessary job skills to become contributing members of society instead of turning to lives of crime, and $100, 000 for the Richard Steele Boxing Club, a boxing program which is designed to help high-risk youth living in Clark County develop educational and social skills.  

Protecting Our Children

I have always supported strong measures to protect our children.  I have been active in working to stop child abduction. In 1999, I coauthored the Mikey Kale Passport Notification Act which prevents international abductions by requiring both parents to give written permission before passports can be issued to minors.  I have also cosponsored the Family Abduction Prevention Act and the Bringing Our Children Home Act, secured funds for Nevada Child Seekers and the Nevada AMBER Alert program, and supported a strong national sex offender registration and notification system.

I am committed to continuing to use my leadership position in the Senate to enact laws that provide greater protections against sex offenders, and I am pleased that the Senate passed the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and will continue to push for this legislation to become law.  Once enacted, it will require states to have uniform sex offender registration Web sites; establish mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes against children; and tighten sex offender registry requirements.

Additionally, for 2006, I was able to secure $165,000 for the Henderson Community Foundation AMBER Alert. The funds will be used for the purchase and installation of a Dynamic Message Sign to get out important AMBER Alert messages regarding abducted children.

Juvenile Justice

I am committed to helping Nevada’s youth stay away from crime, drugs, and gangs.  Throughout my career in Congress, I have supported funding programs that address at-risk youth.

Most recently, for 2006, I secured $150,000 for the Youth Advocate Program in Clark County to provide a low cost, alternative to incarceration for juvenile offenders and help relieve overcrowding in Clark County correctional facilities.  I was able to secure $650,000 Family Development Foundation of Nevada to provide leadership and guidance to develop, expand, and enhance community responses to family problems with the purpose of addressing the needs of at-risk youth.  I have also continually supported funding for the National Citizens’ Crime Prevention Campaign McGruff the Crime Dog.

Additionally, I secured $50,000 for the City of Henderson Underage Drinking Program: which will center on the Every 15 Minutes program in the City’s five high schools, which involves a simulated fatal traffic collision, including responses from law enforcement and E.M.S personnel.  I also secured $80,000 for the City of Reno for graffiti abatement. 

Identity Theft

Unfortunately, identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States, affecting over 10 million individuals each year.  Most identity thieves steal personal information to establish credit in a victim’s name.  The same electronic methods that have eased many electronic transactions have also led to problems with the protection of personal information including Social Security numbers and credit card data. Currently, two federal laws limit access to consumer information including the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Gramm-Leach-Biley Act.  Congress is considering many proposals to change these laws in order to provide consumers with additional protections against identity theft.  I will fight for protection of consumer information, and I am committed to enacting comprehensive identity theft legislation. 

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