Hillary Clinton: Sad that Bush finds billions for Iraq, but cuts police funding here at home

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Fri Apr-11-08 05:44 PM
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Hillary Clinton: Sad that Bush finds billions for Iraq, but cuts police funding here at home

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, campaigning for president in a neighborhood of Philadelphia so rough the mayor said, "Osama bin Laden wouldn't last here," pitched a $4-billion-a-year anti-crime package today that would put 100,000 new police officers on the streets and help stem the tide of repeat offenders back into the country's prisons.

Claiming that her husband's administration "reduced crime to historic lows" in the 1990s, Clinton argued that "we have to get back to doing what we know works."

"I'm old-fashioned about that," she told a group at a YMCA gymnasium. "I think you should actually look for solutions to problems -- find out what works and execute. Enough with the talking, enough with the speeches, enough with the rhetoric."

Clinton said her program would include $1 billion for states that want to participate in anti-recidivism efforts through education, job training and drug rehabilitation. She also urged the end of the five-year term for crack users, who are disproportionately black, because the law punishes them more harshly than powder cocaine users, who are predominantly white.

"President Bush could have built on the successes of the 1990s," she said, but instead he "slowly but surely chipped away at all of the building blocks."

Mayor Michael Nutter, who has pledged to reduce crime in Philadelphia, where there were 392 homicides last year, introduced Clinton by saying many of his constituents were more worried "about al Gangster than al Qaeda."

Hillary Clinton unveiled an ambitious new anti-crime agenda that would cut the murder rate in big cities in half and put 100,000 new police officers on America�s streets. Through her plan called �Solutions for Safe and Secure Communities Now,� Hillary would also invest $1 billion competitive grant program to reduce the number of repeat offenders and the size of the population in prisons and juvenile lock-ups nationwide. In addition, Hillary will partner with states and communities to support early intervention programs that would prevent at-risk youth from engaging in criminal activity.

�It is a sad day in America when the President can find hundreds of billions of dollars to police another country�s civil war, but cuts funding for police officers right here at home,� said Clinton. �We deserve better. Our mayors like my friend Mayor Nutter shouldn�t be tackling this problem alone. At its core, my agenda is about responsibility. It�s about the federal government living up to its responsibility to help restore order in our communities, pave the way for economic development and new jobs, and help our families feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods.�

Hillary delivered her remarks at the West Philadelphia YMCA, joined by Mayor Michael Nutter, who has made fighting crime a top priority. In Philadelphia, there were 392 murders last year � an average of more than one murder a day. In the plan, Hillary addresses many of the issues that big city mayors confront, including gang violence, drug sales, and illegal gun trafficking. Mayor Douglas Palmer of Trenton, NJ and President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors also joined Hillary at the event.

Hillary also calls for additional funds to stop online crimes such as child exploitation and identity theft. Hillary will direct the Attorney General to make online child exploitation and harassment a major federal priority, and vigorously prosecute identity theft, particularly theft of children�s identities. She will strengthen and vigorously enforce federal laws against online child exploitation, and she will dramatically increase funding for state Internet Crimes Against Children task forces.

Representatives from numerous community organizations attended the event including the Philadelphia Housing Authority Tenants Association, Mothers in Charge, PA Ceasefire, Grandparents as Parents, and the NAACP.

After major reductions in the 1990s, violent crime has been on the rise in recent years, and in many places the threat is growing rapidly, fueled by a dangerous mix of drugs, illegal guns, and at-risk youth who often believe they have nowhere to turn but to gangs and violence. More than 1 in 100 Americans are now behind bars, 19 out of 20 will eventually return to their communities � 700,000 per year, not necessarily better than when they went in. Offenders leaving our nation�s prisons will account for almost 10 million new crimes by 2013. The Police Executive Research Forum has described a �gathering storm� of violent crime. The Third Way projects that � unless policies or facts on the ground fundamentally change � a growing youth population will account for additional 2.5 million crimes by 2012.

As President, Hillary Clinton will move swiftly and decisively to restore the federal government�s commitment to helping states and local governments reduce violent crime. Her agenda is built on the idea of partnership. The federal government will serve as a partner with states, counties and communities � supplying the necessary resources, innovative practices and technological support to help states and local governments confront the evolving challenges of crime and hometown security.

Hillary�s crime agenda will address the urgent challenge of violent crime rates and homicide, and work to close the prison revolving door, protect children and families from 21st Century threats like methamphetamine and online child exploitation.

"We'll start by setting a bold goal," Clinton said at a YMCA community center in the tough neighborhood of West Philadelphia. "We'll start by focusing on cities with high homicide rates and we will cut those rates in half."

"Violent crime is on the rise again in America," Clinton said. "There were 392 murders in Philadelphia last year, that's an average of more than one a day, every single day."

The plan foresees reinvigorating a 1990s police recruiting program known as "COPS" and would invest $1 billion a year to "close the revolving door" of prison inmates reverting to crime on release and going back behind bars.

"We don't want you to end up in jail, we're actually going to try to help you stay out of jail," Clinton said.

Clinton's plan has specific funding targets. She promises:

* To update the COPS program, established in President Bill Clinton's administration, by providing funding for 100,000 community cops. The program also would provide technology grants and $250 million per year for community prosecutors.

* To set up a $1 billion grant program to support local efforts to reduce the number of repeat offenders. Grants could help reform a probation system or set up a job-training service for ex-offenders.

* To renew the ban on assault weapons and repeal the Tiahrt amendment, which restricts federal authorities from sharing gun-trace information with local law enforcement.

* To help at-risk children by doubling their number in after-school programs and expanding the number of early-intervention mentoring programs. *

"We deserve better. Our mayors like my friend Mayor Nutter shouldn't be tackling this problem alone," she said. "Our police officers shouldn't be walking those beats alone. Our clergy shouldn't be ministering to our young people alone. Our parents shouldn't be fighting alone to keep their children on the right path. And our young people deserve every chance to fulfill their God-given potential - they shouldn't be struggling alone, either. The federal government should be standing as a partner with all of them . . . "

Hillary Clinton's �Solutions For Safe & Secure Communities Now� Plan: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=7033

America�s Mayors Applaud Hillary Clinton�s "Solutions For Safe & Secure Communities Now" Plan: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=7031