Orrin Hatch: “I rise to discuss Senator Dorgan's amendment to S. Con. Res. 95, the budget resolution. Although I am highly supportive…”

“I rise to discuss Senator Dorgan's amendment to S. Con. Res. 95, the budget resolution. Although I am highly supportive of increased funding for law enforcement assistance, I cannot support this amendment. This amendment proposes to reduce unnecessarily the tax cut in order to achieve the important goal of enhancing law enforcement efforts. As I have stated before, I am supportive of existing Federal assistance to law enforcement officers, such as the Byrne grants, the Local Law Enforcement Block grants, and the COPS grants. These highly successful, effective and popular programs provide needed assistance to state and local law enforcement for a wide variety of programs and services. Eliminating funding for these programs represents a severe blow to communities and neighborhoods across the country desperately in need of Federal resources to win the war against crime. In fact, I have filed my own amendment--with Senator Biden's support--to restore the Office of Justice Programs' law enforcement assistance to the same level as that in Fiscal Year 2004. However, my amendment does not reduce the tax cut. It simply allocates funds from other areas of the budget. That being said, I cannot vote for a reduction in the tax cut. A $2.2 billion reduction in the tax cut affecting the top 1 percent of taxpayers may seem like a good idea to some.…”