Zoe Lofgren: “I have made no secret that I have philosophical problems with this bill overall. I did not agree with taking the $2.5…”

“I have made no secret that I have philosophical problems with this bill overall. I did not agree with taking the $2.5 billion out of the local grant program and putting it in prisons. I think we ought to do a minimum setaside for prevention programs. Those are philosophical disputes that I have. Nevertheless, to the extent that this bill passes, I think it is very important that this be a workable bill. The issue that is really pertinent is when a city or cities gets a very large amount of money and the county gets comparatively less, the administration of justice will be defeated. We all know that it is important to arrest people who have committed crimes and who threaten our neighborhoods, but if the funds are not available to prosecute those individuals and to move forward in the process, ultimately the act of arresting somebody is not good enough. We need to make sure that the entire system works, from arrest to prosecution to local incarceration, and ultimately, to prison, if that is the end result of the prosecution and conviction.”