Political Quotes

“I fully support the effort to restore funding to the COPS Hiring Program. We should absolutely look for savings and reduce costs in the Federal budget, but we should not be withdrawing support for law enforcement while cities and towns across the country are struggling to maintain their police forces. A good example is Camden, New Jersey, which was forced by budget shortfalls to lay off 168 police officers last month. The city recently raised property taxes enough to restore about 20 percent of those positions, but law enforcement in the city is still woefully understaffed. The CR cuts COPS programs by $501 million, including a reduction of $298 million that specifically zeros out the COPS Hiring Program. The elimination of COPS Hiring would result in 1,330 fewer cops hired or rehired in FY11 compared to FY10, or 3,000 fewer cops hired or rehired in FY11 compared to the FY11 request of $600 million. Camden and many other cities and towns across the country still need Federal assistance to help them get through this difficult economic period, and that is exactly what this amendment is designed to do.”