WASHINGTON—The Co-Chairs of the Blue Dog Coalition—Reps. Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01), Ed Case (HI-01), Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), and Kurt Schrader (OR-05) sent the following letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, urging floor consideration of bipartisan legislation to address rising rates of violent crime in America.
The letter can be viewed below:
July 21, 2022
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 | The Honorable Steny Hoyer Majority Leader U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515
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Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer:
We write to urge you to bring to the House Floor bipartisan legislation to address rising rates of violent crime in American communities.
We are deeply concerned that during this historic crime wave and despite the President’s call to provide our police the funding they need to keep our communities safe, the House has done little to advance bills to support police departments and secure our communities. We must act now. Murders in the United States have spiked nearly 40 percent since 2019, and levels of violent crime have increased overall. This comes at a time when there is a nation-wide shortage of police officers and local departments are struggling to hire quickly enough to stem a tide of retirements.
To address this crime wave, we ask that you bring the following Blue Dog endorsed bills to the Floor for consideration:
- H.R. 6375, the COPS on the Beat Grant Reauthorization and Parity Act
- H.R. 644, the Invest to Protect Act
- H.R. 4436, the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act
These three bills are all pragmatic measures with broad bipartisan support that would address the needs of police departments and protect communities in the wake of rising crime.
H.R. 6375, the COPS on the Beat Grant Reauthorization and Parity Act, reauthorizes the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and updates the program to be more accessible for departments serving rural and low-income areas, helping address the needs of underserved communities.
H.R. 644, the Invest to Protect Act, would establish a grant program to help police departments with fewer than 200 law enforcement officers in smaller municipalities receive the resources and support they need to keep their communities safe. H.R. 4436, the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, would create safeguards to protect the personal information of active, senior, recalled, or retired federal judges and their immediate family, an urgent need given the murder of Daniel Anderl and attempted murder of his mother, a federal judge in New Jersey, and the murder of retired Judge John Roemer.
Our constituents deserve to feel safe and secure in their communities. Recent polls have found that 80% of Americans worry a great or fair deal about crime and violence, a level higher than any point in over a decade. We therefore urge you to advance these three reasonable measures to support public safety without delay.
Sincerely,
Tom O’Halleran Ed Case
Co-Chair for Administration Co-Chair for Policy
Stephanie Murphy Kurt Schrader
Co-Chair for Communications Co-Chair
Blue Dog Coalition Blue Dog Coalition
