Speech #1040100947

Last year. In an amendment that I offered with several of our colleagues. Congress created the State Criminal Allen Assistance Program [SCAAP] In recognition of the serious burden that costs associated with IncarceratIng criminal allen place on State and localIies--costs which are a result of the Federal Govemments failure to enforce Immigration controls. In addition. thanks to the efforts of the Appropriations Committee. the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. MOLLOHANI. and the gentleman from Kentucky . Congress for the first time appropriated funds for the SCAAP Program. And. in February of this year. the House of Representatives approved an amendment H.R. 667. the Violent Criminal Incarceration Act. which provides that. before the Department of Justice can spend any funds authorized In the bill for prison construction. the Attorney General must reimburse States for at least $650 million of the cost of Incarcerating illegal aliens convicted of felonies. This year also. largely because of the commendable efforts of Chairman ROGERS and the subcommittee. funding for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program [SCAAP] has been increased to $500 million. This is still $150 million below what Is needed. but it would provide significant relief to the affected State and localities. Criminal aliens are people who have entered our country In violation of Federal laws. that makes their Incarceration a Federal responsibility. and thus a cost that should be borne by all U.S. citizens. not just those who live in regions with large numbers of illegal Immigrants. As the House of Representatives recognized with the passage of unfunded mandate legislation earlier this year. the Federal Government should not continue to pass the costs of Federal actionsor In this case. lack of effective Federal actiononto State and local governments. Yet that Is precisely what we have been doing for years by making States and localities pay for the Federal Governmentrs failure to stop illegal Immigration. While State and local governments have the responsibility for Incarcerating criminal aliens and processing their cases. they have no jurisdiction over the enforcement of Immigration laws. no authority to deport aliens who are convicted of crimes. and no authority to ensure that those deported are not permitted to reenter the country. From 1988 to 1995. the number of illegal allen felons in California State facilities has soared by 235 percentfrom 5.700 to an estimated 19.200 by the end of this year. During the same period. the total annual cost of Incarcerating and supervising this population has skyrocketed from $122 million to an estimated $503 million by the end of the next fiscal yeara 310percent Increase. The cumulative cost during this 7year period Is in excess of $2.5 billion. Mr. Chairman. shifting funds from the SCAAP Program to the Byme grant program will disproportionately affect California. because of the enormously large population of Illegal aliens In our States prisons. California. like every other State. has drug and crime problems that are addressed by the Byrne programand we would all like to be able to approve more money for it. But our attempts to deal with these serious problems are being overwhelmed by the Federal Governments failure to deal adequately with illegal Immigration. and to meet its full responsibility to the States with respect to criminal aliens. Reducing this funding is counterproductive and will only exacerbate a very serious problem. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.