Department of Justice Seal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AG

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1999

(202) 616-2777

WWW.USDOJ.GOV

TDD (202) 514-1888


STATEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL RENO ON THE FY 2000 BUDGET


The Department of Justice remains without a budget for the Fiscal Year which began 28 days ago.

That's in part because Congress has not fully funded the President's request for several critical law enforcement programs. As a result, this past Monday, President Clinton vetoed the appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State.

President Clinton took this action because Congress was shortchanging programs including funding for more police officers, new community prosecutors, and sufficient funding to enforce our civil rights laws.

Together this nation has made great strides in the seven years of this Administration. Crime is down for the seventh straight year - and violent crime is at its lowest level since 1973. We have worked to ensure better coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement; we have expanded the use of innovative programs such as drug courts and community prosecutions; and, we have made grants to fund 103,000 new police officers through the COPS program. More than 55,000 of these new officers are already on the street. But, just because crime is down doesn't mean that we should become complacent. We have a lot of work yet to do. I very much hope that Congress will fund COPS and other important law enforcement programs at the President's requested level so we can continue to bring crime down in this country.

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