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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Homeland Security Appropriations Bill Recognizes That Efforts by the Federal Government to Combat Drug-Related Violence in Puerto Rico “Must be a Priority”

Washington, DC – Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi has achieved the inclusion of language in the Fiscal Year 2013 Homeland Security Appropriations Act that recognizes the need for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to make public safety in Puerto Rico “a priority,” and expresses Congress’s expectation that DHS will “allocate the resources, assets, and personnel” to Puerto Rico “in a manner and to a degree consistent with that principle.”

The legislation containing this language, which was approved today by the House Appropriations Committee and will be voted on by the full House in the coming weeks, funds DHS and its component agencies, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).

“This a sign of the overwhelming support from my colleagues in Congress for our call for additional resources to combat crime and drug trafficking in Puerto Rico. The directive that the Appropriations Committee is sending to DHS and its component agencies is clear and precise. The crime problem in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands needs to be a priority, and DHS must allocate more, not less, resources to address this problem. This directive is very important and I am sure it will help us greatly,” said Pierluisi.

The language contained in the Fiscal Year 2013 Homeland Security Appropriations Act is the result of continual efforts by the Resident Commissioner to highlight the problem of drug-related violence in Puerto Rico and to underscore the need for the federal government to act with a sense of urgency to help the Island government address this problem.

The specific language in the bill is as follows: “The Committee is deeply concerned about the level of violent crime in the two U.S. jurisdictions in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which are home to over 3.8 million residents. In particular, the Committee notes that the homicide rate in each jurisdiction is about six times the national average and about three times higher than any other U.S. jurisdiction; some estimates indicate that most of these homicides are associated with illegal narcotics trafficking. The public safety and security issues of the U.S. territories in the Caribbean must be a priority. The Committee expects that the Secretary will allocate the resources, assets, and personnel to these jurisdictions in a manner and to a degree consistent with that principle.”

This is the second time this year that Pierluisi’s advocacy efforts have produced forceful language from Congress on the subject of drug-related violence in Puerto Rico. Last week, the House approved the Fiscal Year 2013 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act, which funds the U.S. Department of Justice and its component agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). That bill stated as follows: “The Committee is aware that efforts by Federal law enforcement to reduce drug trafficking and associated violence in the Southwest border region have affected trafficking routes and crime rates in the Caribbean. The Committee expects the Attorney General to address these trends by allocating necessary resources to areas substantially affected by drug-related violence, and reporting such actions to the Committee.”