FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1995                      (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
                  ATTORNEY GENERAL RENO ATTACKS
         CONGRESSIONAL EFFORTS TO WEAKEN LAW ENFORCEMENT


In response to last night's vote by the Senate Appropriations
Committee, Attorney General Janet Reno released the following
statement today:


     "One year ago today, President Clinton signed the toughest,
smartest crime bill in American history.  It offered a balanced
program of policing, punishment and prevention to fight crime.

     "Last night, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to
undercut the 1994 Crime Act, a move that would weaken our nation's
crime fighting effort if enacted.

     "The Senate bill would result in fewer cops on the beat, more
addicts on our streets, and more domestic violence and rape victims
on their own with nowhere to turn.

     "This bill is a stinging rebuke of our nation's major police
organizations, who unanimously agree that this is the one crime
program that is working to make our streets safer.

     "That's why the President has threatened to veto any attempt
to kill the COPS program and undo the work of the past year.

     "We can't go back now, just as the Crime Act is beginning to
work.  And by eliminating the Community Relations Service -- which
does so much to keep the peace and defuse tense situations -- the
Senate would be taking away one of the most effective anti-crime
tools we have."

                               ###

95-481