John Kerry: “I strongly support the Harkin amendment to restore funding for the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement…”

“I strongly support the Harkin amendment to restore funding for the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program to its fiscal year 2002 level. I am concerned that the omnibus appropriations bill before us eviscerates the Byrne program. The Byrne program provides a flexible source of funding to State and local law enforcement agencies to help fight crime by funding drug enforcement task forces, more cops on the street, improved technology, and other anticrime efforts. Massachusetts received over $11.5 million in Byrne funding last year. On countless occasions I have heard from law enforcement officers from Massachusetts about the value of the Byrne program to their crime-fighting efforts. The war against terror has placed unprecedented demands on State and local law enforcement to prevent terrorist attacks and to respond to an attack should one occur. But fighting the war on terror is not the only job that we expect police officers to do. We also expect them to combat the prevalence of drugs in our cities and rural communities, we expect them to keep our homes and families safe from thieves, and we expect them to make us feel secure when we walk through our neighborhoods. We are well aware that the States are facing a severe fiscal crisis, some $75 billion collectively, what priority does it reflect to cut back on support to local law enforcement in this budget and security environment? A wrong-headed one, in my estimation.”