Steve Chabot: “We happened to go to the same college, by the way. As far as the committee report, it says that the committee directs…”

“We happened to go to the same college, by the way. As far as the committee report, it says that the committee directs that the remaining $15 million will be available to jurisdictions experiencing a high rate of violent and drug trafficking crime involving firearms. And we certainly support that. What we are trying to do is increase that, because we think there should be additional funding because we do believe that gang activity and violence is plaguing a number of communities, including the one that I happen to represent, the city of Cincinnati. And when we looked into the bill, when we called the committee for further clarification about what the other $15 million went toward, we were told that this provision had been inserted in previous Congresses, but that they weren't really sure what, if any, reentry program that they were referring to. So rather than just let the money sit, I propose to give it to those jurisdictions that are falling victim to violent crime and drug traffickers, particularly those that are committed with firearms. And I don't believe that the $15 million, as I said, that is currently in the bill is sufficient. And since this money was available and wasn't designated, to our knowledge, in any particular program, we thought that it would be appropriate to increase the funding so that we could help more cities better fight against gang activity and violence, and particularly when those are involved with firearms.”