Speech #1140056128

In the city of Milwaukee. there is a 100percent increase in gunrelated crime this year. So why would we even consider a bill that is before us on the floor of the Senate. offered by the Senator from Louisiana. to reduce funding for law enforcement and police departments? Senator VITTER has offered a bill that would block important police. disaster relief. and other funding from communities that do not share immigration information with the Federal Government or dont hold a detainee at the behest of Federal immigration authorities. My Republican colleagues know this bill has no chance to become law. They have made no effort to engage the Democrats in a bipartisan conversation. It may pass the Senatebut I doubt itand if it does. the President would veto it. This is done for reasons other than passing a bill and creating a new law. Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim they were responding to the tragicand. yes. it was tragicdeath of Kate Steinle. a young woman who was allegedly shot and killed by Francisco Sanchez. an undocumented immigrant with a long criminal history. Mr. Sanchez had several drug convictions. He illegally reentered the United States several times after he was deported. Earlier this year. he finished his third prison sentence for illegal reentry. The Bureau of Prisons should have turned Mr. Sanchez over to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department to be deported. but instead they sent him to San Francisco to face a 20yearold marijuana charge. Not surprisingly. local authorities decided not to prosecute this old charge. so sadly. unfortunately. tragically he was released. This never ever should have happened. Federal and local authorities must do a better job of communicating and coordinating so undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records are detained and deported. period. The bill before us doesnt solve the problem which I have just described. It wouldnt have prevented the tragic death of this young woman. In fact. this legislation would actually make us less safe by threatening communities with the loss of millions of dollars in critical Federal funding for local law enforcement. as well as discouraging immigrants from cooperating with local police. The Chicago Tribunenot known as any liberal publicationpublished an editorial opposing the bill that is coming before us. They said: "Threatening to take money away from local police is a sound bite. not a solution." Republican Congressman BOB DOLD. from my home State of Illinois. was one of five Republicans who voted against the House version of the bill. He said: "Cutting funding for local law enforcement would not have prevented this horrible crime." What would the consequences be of passing the Vitter bill that is pending before the Senate? At risk are tens of millions of dollars in funding from several programs. The State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. also known as SCAAP. helps cover the costs for States and localities to detain undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records. the Community Oriented Policing Services Grant Programwhich we all know about from serving in the Senate because our local police departments benefit from COPS funding. and the community development block grants provide critical funding for local communities for disaster relief and other priorities. I wish to give some examples from Illinois of the impact of the Vitter bill. In fiscal year 2014.