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JOE BACA FIGHTS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
This year in Congress, I continued my fight to make out streets safer by placing firefighters in our neighborhoods though innovative housing programs, improving school safety, fighting to give our police additional resources, placing more cops on the streets and cracking down on drug dealers through my work on the Meth-amphetamine Caucus.
PRO-LAW ENFORCEMENT LEGISLATION SPONSORED BY CONGRESSMAN BACA:
HR 1221 Expands the Officer Next Door and Teacher Next Door initiatives of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to include fire fighters and rescue personnel. Requires HUD to consult with other agencies to make properties available to firefighters, law enforcement officers, and teachers, as part of the program to give 50% off on specified homes.
HR 1223 Establishes a federal grant program, administered through the U.S. Department of Justice, to create state Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS) database programs similar to California's program. Referred to the House Committee on Judiciary. This legislation will make grants to States for providing information regarding parolees to local law enforcement agencies to allow them to track parolee "dumping" in the Inland Empire.
H.R. 3063 The Public Safety Officer Protection Act of 2001 seeks to provide a $100,000 payment to a public safety officer or his or her survivors, if the officer becomes permanently and totally disabled or dies as a result of cancer. We must commemorate hard work and sacrifice. We must never forget that for some, due to the nature of their work, it is the ultimate sacrifice.
H.Con.Res 84 Supports the goals of Red Ribbon week in promoting drug-free communities. Make sure observed in October. Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce. This legislation passed the House by voice vote on 9/24/01, and has been referred to the Senate.
PRO-LAW ENFORCEMENT LEGISLATION CO-SPONSORED BY CONGRESSMAN BACA:
H.Con.Res. 69 (Lampson) Expressing the sense of the Congress on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and urging all Contracting States to the Convention to recommend the production of practice guides.
H.Con Res. 243 (Crowley). Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor should be presented to the public safety officers who have perished and select other public safety officers who deserve special recognition for outstanding valor above and beyond the call of duty in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
H.Con. Res. 250 (Lee). Honors the U.S. Capitol Police for their outstanding work and dedication during the period of heightened security needs on and after September 11th.
H. Res. 114(Calvert). Supports law enforcement officials combating methamphetamines.
H.R. 28 (Slaughter). Establishes the Violence Against Women Office within the Department of Justice.
H.R. 429 (Conyers). Restores the Federal civil remedy for crimes of violence motivated by gender.
H.R. 709 (Stupak) Law Enforcement Officers' Health Act: provide that a grantee may not receive the full amount of a block grant under the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program unless that grantee adopts a health standard establishing a legal presumption that heart, lung, and respiratory disease are occupational diseases for public safety officers.
H.R.1212 (Barr). Rrovides grants to law enforcement agencies that ensure that law enforcement officers employed by such agency are afforded due process when involved in a case that may lead to dismissal, demotion, suspension, or transfer.
H.R. 1343(Conyers). Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2001: Provides assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies and amends federal law to streamline the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes.
H.R. 1429 After School Education and Anti-Crime Act: Expands after school programs by building on the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act to give local schools and communities even more options for improving student performance and reducing juvenile crime.
H.R. 1841 (Filner). Amends the definition of a law enforcement officer under subchapter III of chapter 83 and chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, respectively, to ensure the inclusion of positions including Immigration and Naturalization Service and Customs Service Inspectors.
H.R. 1907 (Norton). Racial Profiling Prohibition Act of 2001: Requires States to adopt and enforce standards that prohibit the use of racial profiling in the enforcement of State laws regulating the use of Federal-aid highways.
H.R. 2009 (Weiner). COPS Reauthorization Bill: Provides reliable officers, technology, education, community prosecutors, and training in our neighborhoods.
H.R.3054 (King). Awards congressional gold medals on behalf of the officers, emergency workers, and other employees of the Federal Government and any State or local government, including any interstate governmental entity, who responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and perished in the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
H.R. 3161 (Larson). To direct the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide grants to local governments and emergency response units to develop plans for a clearly defined and coordinated response to emergencies, and to provide grants to police and fire departments for counterterrorism training.
H.R. 3350 (Pascrell) to provide mortgage assistance to firefighters.
H.R. 3358 (Pascrell, Emerson). Firefighter Affordable Housing Act assists volunteer and career firefighters with their home down payments.
HR 3782 (Ose). CLEAN-UP Meth Act authorizes a series of grants targeting three goals for fighting
methamphetamine.
H.R. 3794 (King) To amend the Federal Law Enforcement Pay Reform Act of 1990 to adjust the percentage differentials payable to Federal law enforcement officers in certain high-cost areas
H.R. 3992 (Boehlert). To require the establishment of a new office within the US Fire Administration to administer the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Firefighter grant program under this Act.
H.R.4027 (Baird). To provide grants for law enforcement training and equipment to combat methamphetamine labs.
H.R. 4796 (Green). To make inapplicable the 10 percent additional tax on early distributions (early withdrawl penalty) from certain pension plans for firefighters and police.
PRO-PUBLIC SAFETY MULTI-MEMBER LETTERS:
Letter requesting full funding for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.
Letter requesting $18.2 million for the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.
Letter requesting $18.2 million for the Department of Justice for the CA Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) and the California Methamphetamine Strategy (CALMS).
Letter requesting funding support for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program at $750 million.
Letter requesting an increase in funding for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program.
Letter requesting $1 million in Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary approps for Mothers Against Drunk Driving to develop Spanish-language Public Service Announcements to reduce and prevent underage drinking.
Letter encouraging full funding to the Children's Advocacy Center Program at its authorized amount of $15 million.
Letter to President Bush expressing concern about Mexico's refusal to extradite Mexican Nationals who have committed murder to the United States for prosecution.
Letter to Treasury, Postal Appropriations Subcommittee urging funding for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
PRO-LAW ENFORCEMENT VOTES IN THE HOUSE:
| YES | Roll#5, 1/30/01, on motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R.93 as amended. The Federal Firefighters Retirement Age Fairness Act provides that the mandatory separation age for Federal firefighters be made the same as the age that applies with respect to Federal law enforcement officers. |
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| YES | Roll#59, 3/22/01, on motion to suspend the rules and pass HR 802 as amended. The Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Act authorizes the President to award and present in the name of Congress a Medal of Valor to a public safety officer cited by the Attorney General, upon the recommendation of the Medal of Valor Review Board, for extraordinary valor above and beyond the call of duty. Declares the Public Safety Medal of Valor to be the highest national award for valor by a public safety officer. |
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| YES | Roll#110, 5/15/01, on motion to suspend the rules and pass HR 1727 as amended to commemorate the dedication and sacrifices of the men and women of the United States who were killed or disabled while serving as law enforcement officers. |
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| YES | Roll#111, 5/15/01, on motion to suspend the rules and pass HR 1727 as amended. The Fallen Hero Survivor Benefit Fairness Act amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to provide for consistent treatment of survivor benefits for public safety officers killed in the line of duty. |
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| YES | Roll#197, 6/27/01, on motion to suspend the rules and agree H RES 172 honoring John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, who lost their lives in the course of duty as firefighters. |
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| YES | Roll#232, 7/17/01, on passage of H J RES 36 proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States authorizing the Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States. |
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| YES | Roll#339, 9/13/01, on passage of HR 288 to provide for the expedited payment of certain benefits for a public safety officer who was killed of suffered a catastrophic injury as a direct result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty in connection with the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. |
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| YES | Roll#361, 10/02/01, on motion to suspend the rules and pass HR 169 as amended. The bill memorializes fallen firefighters by lowering the American flag to half-staff in honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service in Emittsburg, Maryland. |
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| YES | Roll#408, 10/30/01, on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H CON RES 243, expressing the Sense of Congress that the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor should be presented to the Public Safety Officers who have perished and those who deserve special recognition for outstanding valor above and beyond the call of duty in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. |
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| YES | Roll#438, 11/14/01, on agreeing to the conference report for HR 2500, the Commerce, Justice, and State Appropriations for FY 2002. This appropriations bill restores many of the unreasonable cuts proposed in the President's budget request for the State and local law enforcement and community oriented policing services (COPS) programs. The budget request had cut these critical programs by almost $1 Billion below FY 2001 levels. This bill provides a total of $4.3 Billion for the activities of the Office of Justice Programs and COPS, an increase of $661 million over the budget request. However, I was disappointed that this total amount is still $323 million below the current year funding levels, and that the amount appropriated for public safety and community policing grants under COPS-including funds for both the COPS universal hiring program and the COPS-MORE program--is still $112 million below the FY 2001 appropriated level. |
PRO-LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNDING REQUESTS AND GRANTS:
Congressman Baca secured:
- $5 million - SQUID in Ontario, Rialto & Redlands; and Minneapolis, MN, for remote fingerprint identification.
Congressman Baca made additional appropriations requests for:
- $800,000 for San Bernardino County Sheriff - gunshot location program
- $277,904 for Los Padrinos gang prevention program
Pro-Law Enforcement Grants in the 43rd (previously 42nd) Congressional District:
- March 15, 2001: $100 million to help the nation's fire service community from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Through the Fire Grant Program, FEMA provides funds for any fire service agency who provides fire prevention and control to local, municipal, district, county, parish, or tribal governments based on formally recognized arrangement.
- April 2, 2001: The San Bernardino County Public Housing Authority is eligible for $5,161,026 in public housing Capital Fund (CFP) and $423,572 in Drug Elimination (PHDEP) formula funds. The CFP provides grants to Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) for modernization and management improvements. If applicable, replacement housing amounts have been included in the CFP formula amount. The replacement housing funds are only used to cover the cost of providing replacement housing. The PHDEP provides grants to eliminate drugs and drug-related crime in public housing communities. In general, the PHDEP formula includes PHAs that received funding in the recent past or whose communities are in the top half of a national index measuring violent crimes for individual communities.
- May 3, 2001: $213,345 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department for anti-money laundering efforts. These funds are being provided under the U.S. Department of Justice's Financial Crime-Free Communities Support (C-FIC) Anti-Money Laundering program. The goals of the Department of Justice's program are to provide seed capital for state and local counter-money laundering enforcement efforts, to assist in the development of programs and to encourage partnerships or collaboration among state and local investigators, prosecutors and regulators.
- May 15, 2001: $25 million to help law enforcement agencies across the nation to obtain bulletproof vests from the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs (OJP). Through the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program, OJP provides up to half the cost of bulletproof vests. Last year, 3,500 law enforcement agencies across the nation received funding for over 180,000 bulletproof vests for state, county, and local law enforcement agencies. In addition, this year jurisdictions will be able to purchase stab-resistant bulletproof vest models. The State of California received a total of $1,275,000 in assistance. In the 42nd Congressional District the following amounts have been approved: Colton City - $1,822.51, County of San Bernardino - $61,826.24, Fontana City - $2,019.22, Ontario City - $12,714.83, Rialto City - $3,515.44, Riverside County - $52,472.69, San Bernardino City Unified School - $4,569.43. The 42nd Congressional District will receive a total amount of $138,940.36 or approximately 11 percent of the total State of California funds.
- May 23, 2001: The Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) announced to members of Congress that they are making $75 million available to help public prosecutor's offices hire prosecutors dedicated to the prosecution of firearm-related violent crimes. Under the Community Gun Violence Prosecution program, state, county, city and tribal public prosecutor's offices can apply for grants to hire prosecutors dedicated to the prosecution of firearm-related violent crimes. The grants may be used to cover up to 80 percent of the salary and benefit costs of full-time prosecutors, up to $40,000 per year per prosecutor for three years. Cities with populations of 150,000 people or under will receive half of the funds and the other half will go to cities with populations over 150,000.
- August 1, 2001: $997,800 grant from the Department of Justice to the San Bernardino County Probation Department for the Night Light Program. The San Bernardino County IMPACT/Night Light program is a collaborative partnership between the SBCPD and the San Bernardino Police Department, dedicated to monitoring juvenile and youthful adult offenders engaged in street crime, assaults, homicides, graffiti, vandalism, and the illegal use of firearms. The program seeks to reduce crime by developing teams of one police officer and one probation officer in each of the five police districts in the City of San Bernardino. These teams will contact juvenile and youthful adult probationers and monitor their activities and compliance with court ordered probation conditions.
- September 20, 2001: $125,000 grant from the United States Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to the City of Fontana under the COPS in Schools Program. This money will fund law enforcement agencies to pay for the salary and benefits to hire one additional sworn officer to perform a variety of functions within a school.
- September 25, 2001: $125,000 grant from the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to the San Bernardino Police Department for the Value Based Initiative. The grant will be used to train communities to use the problem solving process to understand the causes of quality of life problems, build programs that develop specific tailor-made responses to the problems, and assess the impact of those responses. It will also provide training and technical assistance to both law enforcement and community members.
- November 16, 2001: $804,444 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance to San Bernardino County for the State Criminal Assistance Program (SCAAP). The SCAAP award replaces funds used by states and localities to incarcerate criminal illegal aliens and can be used for any purpose.
- March 18, 2002: $125,000 grant from the United States Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to the City of Colton under the COPS in Schools Program. This money will fund law enforcement agencies to pay for the salary and benefits to hire one additional sworn officer to perform a variety of functions within a school.
- March 28, 2002: $23,305,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board for the Crime Victim Compensation Grant Program. This grant award provides funds from the FY01 Crime Victims Fund to enhance the State of California's victim compensation payments to eligible crime victims.
- May 20, 2002: $74,483 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs to the San Bernardino County, Office of the District Attorney. This award is made under the FY 2001 Community Prosecution Program Initiative and supports fully operational community prosecution program efforts that involve broad-based partnerships working to identify local public safety priorities, crime prevention issues, and problem-solving strategies.
- May 22, 2002: $6,972.65 grant from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to County of San Bernardino. This money will be used to protect the loves of law enforcement by helping states and units of local and tribal governments equip their law enforcement officers with armor vests.
- May 22, 2002: $3,871.25 grant from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to Colton City. This money will be used to protect the lives of law enforcement by helping states and units of local and tribal governments equip their law enforcement officers with armor vests.
- May 22, 2002: $353.89 grant from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to Fontana City. This money will be used to protect the loves of law enforcement by helping states and units of local and tribal governments equip their law enforcement officers with armor vests.
- May 22, 2002: $1,095.46 grant from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to Ontario City. This money will be used to protect the loves of law enforcement by helping states and units of local and tribal governments equip their law enforcement officers with armor vests.
- May 22, 2002: $5,972.50 grant from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to Rialto City. This money will be used to protect the loves of law enforcement by helping states and units of local and tribal governments equip their law enforcement officers with armor vests.
- May 22, 2002: $44.76 grant from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to San Bernardino City Unified School District. This money will be used to protect the loves of law enforcement by helping states and units of local and tribal governments equip their law enforcement officers with armor vests.
- May 22, 2002: $9,276.77 grant from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to Riverside County. This money will be used to protect the loves of law enforcement by helping states and units of local and tribal governments equip their law enforcement officers with armor vests.
- June 26, 2002: $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs to the San Bernardino County IMPACT/Night Light Program (SBCINLP). The San Bernardino County IMPACT/Night Light program is a collaborative partnership between the SBCPD and the San Bernardino Police Department, dedicated to monitoring juvenile and youthful adult offenders engaged in street crime, assaults, homicides, graffiti, vandalism, and the illegal use of firearms. The program seeks to reduce crime by developing teams of one police officer and one probation officer in each of the five police districts in the City of San Bernardino. These teams will contact juvenile and youthful adult probationers and monitor their activities and compliance with court ordered probation conditions.