COPS Improvements Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

COPS IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2007 -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 21, 2007)

* Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 1700, the COPS Reauthorization Act. This legislation is a much needed and renewed commitment by this Democratic-led Congress to combat crime in our local communities and neighborhoods.

* Since its inception under the leadership of the Clinton administration, the COPS program has proven to ensure greater safety for citizens in large metropolitan areas and small communities alike by providing local law enforcement with the ability to hire more police officers, increased technology assistance such as laptops for patrol cars, and new funding for programs to allow prosecutors to go after more criminals. Since 1994 117,000 new police officers have hit the streets in the United States and 414 in the area of St. Paul, which I represent.

* According to an independent study done by the GAO, COPS hiring grants were responsible for reducing the crime rate in the United States by roughly 200,000 crimes between 1998 and 2000. Unfortunately, past Republican-led Congresses sharp cuts in over a billion dollars to the COPS hiring grant programs have diminished the capacity of this great program that has been critical to decreasing the crime rate across this country. To make matters worse, this year President Bush is seeking to zero-out funding for the COPS hiring programs and must not see the value of more law enforcement officers on the streets. This Congress will answer the President's call of zero funding by restoring this important program to a respectable level and add 50,000 police officers in the next 6 years to fight crime.

* COPS has provided an avenue to deploy more law enforcement officers in many areas of the United States and unsurpassed technology to assist the growing law enforcement community. It is a first-rate program, I commend the gentleman from New York, Mr. Weiner for bringing this legislation to the floor and I urge all my colleagues to support this bill and the men and women in law enforcement that continue to protect our communities.

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