Aug 08, 2012
FACT CHECK: Congressman Crawford Opposed Hiring Arkansas Cops
While Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-01) tries to tout his support for local law enforcement, the reality is Congressman Crawford has voted to make it harder for Arkansas law enforcement to hire police officers. Since 2011, the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program has announced almost $2 million to hire cops in Arkansas and keep families safe, yet Congressman Crawford and Tea Party Republicans voted to completely eliminate this program.
Congressman Crawford’s priorities are clear: he voted to cut off all funding for the COPS Hiring Program that puts more cops on the beat, while voting for more tax breaks for millionaires and companies that ship jobs overseas.
Fact Check
Congressman Rick Crawford Voted Against Restoring Funding to the COPS Hiring Program. On February 16, 2011, Congressman Crawford voted against an amendment to increase funding for the COPS Hiring Program from $0 to $298,000,000. H.R.1 proposed elimination of the COPS Hiring Program, but this amendment restored funding for the program at fiscal year 2010 levels. [H.R. 1, Vote #53, 2/16/11; Congressional Record, p. H889, 2/15/11; H.R. 1, Introduced in the House, 2/11/11; PL 111-117, 12/16/09; see also: H.R. 1 Program Cuts, 2/11/11]
Congressman Rick Crawford Voted to Cut Over $203.1 Million from the COPS Program. On February 19, 2011, House Republicans voted to cut $203.1 million from the Community Orientated Policing Services (COPS) program. This bill included only $588.5 million for COPS. The previous year’s funding bill (FY2010) included $791.6 million for the program. The COPS programs helps keep the public safe by providing local law enforcement with aid to obtain crime-fighting technologies and helps hire and train police officers. [H.R. 1, Vote # 147, 2/19/11; Congressional Research Service, 3/21/11]
Arkansas Received Almost $2 Million for New Police Officers Through the COPS Program. From FY2011-FY2012, Arkansas received over $1.9 million dollars for the COPS Hiring Program, including $1.3 million in 2011 and over $610,000 in 2012. The COPS Hiring Program was “designed to advance public safety through community policing by addressing the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide.” [COPS Website, accessed 9/30/11; COPS FY 2011 Hiring Program Award List, accessed 8/08/12; COPS FY2012 Hiring Program Award List, accessed 8/08/12]
Conservatives Targeting COPS Hiring Grants for Elimination. “Conservative House Republicans are pushing to eliminate COPS, meaning 2011 could be the last year for the popular program Congress created in 1994 to help put 100,000 new police officers on the streets. […] Nationwide, COPS has helped pay for more than 120,000 officers at 13,600 state, local, and tribal police agencies over the past 17 years, the Justice Department said. […] Congress gave the COPS program $495 million to use this year, $247 million of which is meant to be distributed to state and local agencies to hire officers. In July, the House Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal 2012 funding bill with no money for the program.” [Courier Post, 9/5/11]
Congressman Rick Crawford Voted to Slash Medicare, Provide Tax Breaks to Millionaires and Companies That Ship Jobs Overseas. On March 29, 2012, House Republicans supported a budget that would end Medicare’s guaranteed benefit and provides people earning more than $1 million a year with an average tax cut of $394,000, and provides incentives for corporations to shift profits and jobs overseas. [H Con Res 112, Vote #151, 3/29/12; Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/27/12; Tax Policy Center, Table T12-0078 and T10-0132; Citizens for Tax Justice, 3/22/12]
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