WASHINGTON – Momentum continued to build
for Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa)
Combating
Violent and Dangerous Crime Act, with Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.)
introducing companion
legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday. As ranking member
of the Judiciary Committee, Grassley first
introduced the crime-fighting proposal in July with 24 Republican cosponsors.
Additionally, Grassley and a bipartisan group of his colleagues have introduced
a new bill that would reauthorize a critical grant program to improve local,
state and federal law enforcement collaboration to help reduce crime.
Combating Violent
and Dangerous Crime Act
Gets House Support
Grassley joined Sens. Bill Hagerty
(R-Tenn.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and several of his Judiciary Committee
colleagues in a press conference this week to discuss Republicans’ plans to
fight the ongoing crime wave, including the now-bicameral Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act.
“The dangers that families face at the
hands of these repeat and chronic criminals is pretty clear,”
Grassley said during the
press conference. “In July, I introduced a bill entitled
Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime, meant to make it easier for
federal prosecutors to go after murders and carjackings.”
Grassley concluded his remarks by urging
support from his Democratic colleagues. “In a bipartisan way, we can get more
done,” Grassley said.
Many communities across the country
continue to experience steadily increasing violent crime. Murder rates
increased 30 percent in 2020 and continued climbing in 2021. Carjackings,
particularly in urban areas, are on the rise, with some cities recording up to
400 percent spikes. Overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 last year, with fentanyl
appearing in a variety of substances, including candy-flavored drugs that are
marketed to children. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health,
over 80 percent of overdose deaths in Iowa last year were fentanyl-related.
Learn more about the
Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act HERE.
Grassley Joins Effort to Reauthorize Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant
Program
This week, Grassley also joined Sens.
John Cornyn (R-Texas), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Thom
Tillis (R-N.C.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to
introduce the Project Safe Neighborhoods
Reauthorization Act. The bipartisan proposal seeks to continue a successful
grant program, first implemented in 2001, that bolsters crime prevention and
intervention tactics.
“For the past two decades, Project Safe
Neighborhoods has successfully enabled law enforcement officers to fight crime
through local, state and federal collaboration. Reauthorizing this critical
grant program will ensure communities receive the resources needed to reduce
dangerous crime in our communities. These resources are especially important as
we face a national violent crime wave,” Grassley
said.
Project Safe Neighborhoods brings together
law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders and other
stakeholders at the local, state and federal levels to address the most
pressing crime issues in their communities. It operates in all 50 states,
including all 94 federal judicial districts.
Full text of the bill is available
HERE.
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