While raising my family and attending law school, I also worked as a U.S. Capitol Police officer.  I still feel a special bond with those who honor the badge by protecting and serving our communities.  During my time in Congress, I have never forgotten the stresses and demands that law enforcement officers face every day.  I remain committed to providing them with the resources they need to keep our communities safe, especially in light of the unique burdens posed in a post 9/11 era.  I will continue to protect an officer’s right to carry firearms, help agencies develop the alliances needed to fight the drug war domestically and 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.  Securing adequate funds to fight crime in Nevada and to protect our nation from terrorist attacks is one of my top priorities.

Reducing crime in our state depends on initiatives like the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and the Edward Byrne Memorial Grants (Byrne JAG) program.  These programs provide grants to state and local law enforcement agencies to establish anti-drug task forces, hire and train community policing professionals, acquire and deploy crime-fighting technologies, develop and test innovative policing strategies, and provide community organization with programmatic funding for crime prevention initiatives.  In my view, the law enforcement agencies charged with the vital task of protecting our communities must be properly funded by government.

That’s why I was pleased to support the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), which allocated $1 billion for the COPS program, and $2 billion for the Byrne JAG program.  Since 2000, I have secured over $100 million for Nevada law enforcement.  I have worked especially hard to provide police with proper equipment, increasing law enforcements capacity to analyze DNA and forensic evidence, getting money to hire police officers and establish task forces, and establishing interoperability among first responders. 

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.  Since September 11, 2001, I have 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.

For years, law enforcement throughout Southern Nevada lacked a central facility to gather and share intelligence.  Because coordination among agencies is critical to solving crimes and coordinating disaster response, I fought for additional homeland security grants to build and operate the Southern Nevada Counter-Terrorism Center.  Completed in 2007, the Center is headed by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police department and houses more than 70 employees and officials from the Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson police departments, the Nevada Department of Public Safety, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and other local, state, federal, and tribal entities.  The Center maintains a 24/7 watch capability and acts as a centralized, comprehensive intelligence fusion center, specifically designed to coordinate the exchange of criminal intelligence on a regional/statewide basis.  It is also home to the All Hazards Regional Multi-Agency Operations and Response (ARMOR) Detail, which is the region’s response, detection and identification unit for chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological, and explosive threats.  This state-of-the-art facility improves interagency cooperation, allowing public safety agencies to better protect Southern Nevada from terrorist attacks.

Protecting Our Children
I have always supported strong measures to protect our children, and I have been active in working to stop child abduction.  On July 27, 2006—the 25th anniversary of the tragic abduction and murder of six-year old Adam Walsh—President Bush signed into law the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, of which I was a proud co-sponsor.  I worked closely with John Walsh, Adam’s father, to ensure this important legislation passed the Senate, and I continue to support greater protections for our children.  Among its many important provisions, this law established a national sex offender registry to make it easier for local law enforcement to track sex offenders and prevent repeat offenses.

In 2008, I cosponsored the PROTECT Our Children Act, which became law that same year.  At that time, law enforcement had developed the technological ability to track child molesters who trade child pornography on the internet, but lacked the resources and training necessary to act on this vital information.  The PROTECT bill created a task force within the Department of Justice and gave resources and training to local and federal law enforcement so they could use this information to bring predators to justice.

I am committed to continuing to use my leadership position in the Senate to enact laws that provide greater protections against sex offenders.  As a father and grandfather, I know the importance of protecting children from predatory adults.

I believe that as child predators find new ways to exploit children, we must work to adapt our laws to keep pace with the changes in technology and ensure the health and safety of our nation’s greatest asset – our youth.

Illegal Drugs and Methamphetamine
The Obama Administration has shifted the focus on the war on drugs from incarceration to rehabilitation.  While combating the supply of drugs is still an important piece in a comprehensive solution, we can’t ignore the dangers closer to home. 

Communities throughout Nevada continue to suffer from the production and sale of meth. Meth robs people of their health and ability to be productive members of society, and it causes increased criminal activity.  In 2009, I worked to pass the Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act and an amendment called the “COPS Hot Spots” to provide more resources to fight meth.  In the 111th Congress, I supported the FY 2010 budget, which allocated almost $40 million to combat the production of meth, and another $8 million to the Office of National Drug Control Policy for meth prevention advertisements.
 
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 am committed to helping drug task forces throughout the state receive the funding they need.  I promise to continue supporting legislation that will help combat this horrible scourge.

Juvenile Justice
I am committed to supporting programs that help Nevada’s youth stay away from crime, drugs, and gangs.  Throughout my career in Congress, I have supported funding programs that address the problems faced by at-risk youth including reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, the Violence Against Women Act, and the Department of Justice Reauthorization Act.

Preventing Gang Violence
Gang violence is a serious problem affecting communities across the nation.  Shootings near Nevada schools have forcefully reminded us that we are not immune from this problem.  I have consistently supported legislation to increase the penalties for gang-related crimes.  For example, in September 2007 the Senate passed the Gang Abatement and Prevention Act.  This bill provides police and prosecutors with the tools they need to clamp down on criminal street gangs, and provides the Department of Justice with grants to study more efficient ways to combat youth crime.  

I also 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, and I have worked to provide funds for several anti-gang programs such as the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program, the Restitution Earned Accountability (REAL) program, and the Richard Steele Youth Boxing Club.  These programs provide much needed counseling and education for at risk youth.

Law Enforcement Weapons-Carry Bill
I worked hard 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.

Cyber Security
With our economic, military, energy, and transportation infrastructure increasingly becoming “wired,” our nation faces no greater threat in the 21st Century than a major cyber attack.  Las Vegas sits on top of one of the largest intersections of fiber-optic networks in the world.  Hackers, organized crime networks, and terrorists have increasingly begun to target networks like these to steal personal identities, obtain sensitive trade secrets, and target critical infrastructure like the electricity grid, and even rob banks.  While the United States has been the world’s leading innovator in developing information technology, we must become more capable in identifying, stopping, and prosecuting these cyber criminals.

That is why I have led a broad Senate effort to pass comprehensive legislation to enhance our nation’s cyber security and give our government the tools it needs to prevent, deter, and respond to cyber attacks.  Earlier this year, I joined the chairmen of 7 key committees in introducing the Cyber Security and American Cyber Competitiveness Act of 2011, which lays out a roadmap to improving our nation’s defenses in cyberspace.  Building on this effort, I am working with the Obama Administration and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass comprehensive cyber security legislation this Congress.