Political Quotes

“The bipartisan Leahy-Crapo Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act already reduces authorization levels and adds important accountability measures. These are careful, appropriate, and effective steps. The Coburn amendment would mandate sweeping cuts which would decimate programs. The amendment is opposed by law enforcement, including the National Association of Police Organizations, and by the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women. Of course we all want to combat fraud, waste, and abuse. But this amendment is not the way to do it. The amendment purports to be based on findings by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO, but it misconstrues those findings. The amendment states that the GAO identified $3.9 billion in ``duplicative'' grants programs. That is simply not the case. The July 2012 GAO report states that the total amount of grants awarded by the Justice Department in fiscal year 2010 was only $3.6 billion. You cannot have $3.9 billion in duplication when the total amount of grant money awarded was less than that. More importantly, the GAO report did not actually conclude that there was duplication. The July report said there was ``the potential risk of unnecessary duplication'' and recommended that the Justice Department conduct an assessment to determine if grant programs could be consolidated to mitigate that risk.…”