Political Quotes

“we are decimating the COPS program. Chairman Sensenbrenner, in the House, is no fan of the program. He asked for a study to be done by GAO. It concluded: Use of the COPS grants resulted in less crime, use of COPS grants resulted in more community policing, use of COPS grants resulted in more officers on the streets. This is a time when we need more officers on the streets, not fewer officers on the streets. The idea we are going to deal with natural disasters as well as terrorist attacks by using special forces soldiers and not cops on the street seems to me to be a little silly. We need more cops on the streets. There are 8,000 applications pending. The bill would allow for 25 of those applications to be filled. This is a mistake. One of my colleagues--it may be the chairman of the committee; I am not sure--said we have to prove we can end a program. Why do we end a program that is working, and working so well, in the interests of the country? My time is probably up. I thank my friend from New Hampshire for the courtesy of allowing me to take a few minutes to speak to my amendment. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.”