On the recordDecember 19, 2019
as we all know, there have been increased incidents of violence and threats against some of our faith-based institutions over the past decade. The FBI has been able to monitor this and unfortunately tells us that these attacks are likely to continue. We need to do a better job of figuring out how to disrupt these attacks but also to harden these facilities. When the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh was attacked, it was the worst anti-Semitic violence in the history of our country. Shortly after that, I went to Youngstown, OH, which is very near the Pittsburgh synagogue that was attacked. It was within the next week or two afterwards, and there were very raw feelings, as you can imagine. We talked about what was needed to provide better protection for houses of worship--our synagogues, our churches, our mosques--and we came up with an idea to provide for a grant program from the expertise of the Department of Homeland Security where they could provide best practices, consulting, placement of cameras, you know, where it is necessary to harden facilities, where it is necessary to have a door with locks--simple things that can save lives. That program has now been appropriated. In the legislation we just passed, there was a $90 million appropriation for this program. The Jewish community, the Christian community, the Muslim community, the Sikh community, the Hindu community, and others are very supportive of this program. H.R.…
