Congressman Barney Frank
Representing Massachusetts' 4th District

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Barney Frank today announced that cities of New Bedford and Fall River will receive $2.4 million and $2.1 million, respectively, for hiring police officers.

The funds are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the stimulus bill, which was signed into law on February 17th.

Both Fall River and New Bedford, along with thousands of other communities across the country, have suffered severe budget pressure due to the recession and have been forced to lay off essential personnel.  The funds announced today will allow New Bedford to hire an additional 13 officers, and Fall River to hire an additional 10 officers. 

“This is further evidence of the benefits of the economic recovery bill,” said Congressman Frank.  “Earlier this year, I debated the merits of including COPS funding with my Republican colleagues, Senator Ensign and Congressman Pence.  They did not believe it would have an impact on public safety layoffs.  But I told them that New Bedford and Fall River were being forced to lay off policemen.”

“I am extremely pleased that these grants will allow the cities of New Bedford and Fall River to rehire some of the officers who were laid off.  I want to thank the police unions who have worked so hard with me to make this happen.  And I am particularly proud that Fall River and New Bedford received two of the three highest grant awards in Massachusetts.”

The funding announced today totals over $1 billion nationwide, and will make possible the hiring of 4,699 officers.

The COPS grants program had been originally passed under the Clinton administration.  Over a period of several years, the Bush administration gradually cut funding for the COPS program until it had been completely eliminated in FY 2007.  Democrats reversed this trend when they became the majority in 2007, passing a new COPS bill which then stalled in the Senate.

When police departments all over the country experienced extreme budgetary pressure this year, Congress responded by including targeting funding for police departments in the stimulus bill.

 

 

Transcript
MEET THE PRESS
February 8, 2009

REP. BARNEY FRANK (D-MA): Well, two things.  First, watch this face, David, because some of the arguments you've been hearing now about how government spending never helps the economy, you're going to hear the absolute reverse when military spending comes up.  We have an airplane, the F-22, that is designed to defeat the Soviet Union in a war, and I think we can save billions.  The defense budget has gone way up under George Bush.  But somehow to my Republican friends enormous amounts for the war in Iraq--which I thought was a mistake--hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars for weapons to fight the Cold War, they don't count those.  But you're going to hear an argument about how important military spending is for the economy. So...(unintelligible).  Secondly, they talk about this wasteful spending.  Let me talk about it.  I'll be flying out of here this afternoon to go to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where they're about to lay off cops and firefighters. That's the wasteful spending that my colleagues are talking about, money to go to the states to stop from laying off cops and firefighters.  Money to help keep teachers going.  Those are jobs.  There seems to be this notion that if you hire someone to do something useful, that somehow becomes social spending that doesn't count.  In fact, these have dual purposes.  If you keep cops and firefighters and teachers from being laid off, you're improving the quality of life, I think, or preventing a deterioration.

REP. PENCE: Well, less than 5 percent of this bill is for roads and bridges and infrastructure.  And let me, let me be clear with Barney.  I, I don't, I don't have any problem with some spending on infrastructure and making sure that people's unemployment benefits aren't lapsed.  But the point is, is what, what should most of this bill be about?

MR. GREGORY: Right.

REP. PENCE: No one is saying that spending by the federal government isn't going to have some benign positive effect on the economy.

REP. FRANK: David, we--excuse me, but...

MR. GREGORY: Well, let, let's just...

REP. PENCE: It's what, what will be the most effective to turn this recession around?

REP. FRANK: Mike, you just ignored what I said.  You just ignored what I said.  As I understand, one of the big cuts that had to be done--and I think Senator McCaskill and others were trying.  But to get any Republicans at all, you had to adopt a cut that's going to mean policemen and firemen are going to be laid off.

SEN. ENSIGN: That's not true, Barney.

REP. PENCE: That's not true.

REP. FRANK: It's not just infrastructure.

SEN. ENSIGN: That's not true.

REP. FRANK: You're cutting off aid to the states.  Aid to the states is to prevent...

SEN. ENSIGN: Hold on.  All right, David...

REP. FRANK: ...this budget crunch from laying off public employees.