FEINGOLD
PUSHES SENATE TO FULLY SUPPORT VITAL CRIME-FIGHTING PROGRAM
Effort Calls for Increased Funding for Community Oriented Policing
Services Program
April 9, 2008
Washington, D.C. –
U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is urging his Senate colleagues to fully
fund a program that provides critical resources to train new law enforcement
officers, invest in crime-fighting technologies, fight methamphetamine
abuse, and support a range of additional law enforcement priorities.
Feingold joined an effort led by Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) to appropriate
$1.15 billion for the Community Oriented Policing Services Program (COPS)
in fiscal year 2009. Feingold’s effort comes on the heels of his
push to ensure strong COPS funding in the budget for 2009, which paved
the way for this appropriations effort. The president’s proposed
budget recommended eliminating specific funding for this program entirely,
replacing it with new, untested, and underfunded programs.
“Over the years I’ve
heard again and again from police chiefs, sheriffs, and others from
the law enforcement community in Wisconsin about the importance of COPS
grants,” Feingold said. “These folks are unwavering in their
position that COPS grants are absolutely vital for protecting their
communities day in and day out.”
Feingold’s most recent
effort to appropriate funding to the COPS program follows up on a successful
amendment to the Senate budget resolution he cosponsored in March to
set aside $1.15 billion in the fiscal year 2009 budget for COPS, fighting
off the president’s massive proposed funding cuts to the COPS
program. Feingold also wrote the president in January urging full funding
for the COPS Program. In addition, Feingold cosponsored an amendment
to the Senate budget resolution to increase the funding allocation to
$906 million for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, another program important
to law enforcement agencies in combating drugs and violent crime.
“The federal government
has a responsibility to help provide the tools, technology, and training
our law enforcement officers need to protect Wisconsin communities,”
Feingold said. “Funding the COPS program is one of the most significant
ways the Senate can help meet this responsibility.”
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