Leonard L. Boswell: “before I begin, I too would like to thank the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Mollohan for their hard…”

“before I begin, I too would like to thank the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Mollohan for their hard work and leadership in these very challenging times and these issues. Once again, we find ourselves faced with a budget that is less than favorable, and they both have done a tremendous job in funding priorities when faced with this reality, and I thank them for that. Mr. Chairman, I rise to amend something similar to what I did a year ago. I offered this amendment and it was accepted by the chairman and ranking member when the House considered fiscal year 2006 Science, State, Commerce, Justice appropriations bill. Last year I requested an increase in funding for the Criminal Records Upgrade Program by $2.5 million. This year, considering the budget we are dealing with, I am asking for even less. Mr. Chairman, my amendment proposed to increase the Criminal Records Upgrade Program by $1.5 million, offsetting this increase with a reduction in the Department of Justice General Administration Salaries and Expense Account by the same amount. Mr. Chairman, the goal of this program is to ensure that accurate records are available for use in law enforcement and to permit States to identify, among other things, persons ineligible to hold positions involving children. This program helps States build their infrastructure to connect to the national record check systems, both to supply information and to conduct requisite checks.…”