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“This rise in anti-Semitism, the attacks in churches, places of worship, and the notion that evil acts and intolerance might simply spread and reflect some new ‘normal’ is gravely unacceptable,” Sen. Schumer said.
By Forum Staff
Following a weekend filled with hate—the heinous Hanukkah attack against the Hasidic Jewish community Saturday night in Monsey, N.Y.; and the killings in West Freeway Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, during Sunday service—Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday demanded a much stronger federal response to such incidents, and outlined a plan to strengthen the federal government’s resources in the face of this rising hate and surge in domestic extremist attacks, especially those targeting religious organizations.
Schumer’s two-pronged strategy would: dramatically increase not-for-profit security grants; and boost support for the federal prosecution of hate crimes.
The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides funding to improve the security of organizations at risk of being targeted for terror attacks. Synagogues, churches, mosques, schools and other faith-based community centers, like JCCs, are just a few examples of nonprofit organizations that could apply for these funds, which are administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency. Schumer announced today that in the just-reached bipartisan budget deal that kept the government funded, he led negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to deliver $90 million to the efforts to protect places of worship, a $30-million increase over last year.
On Monday, Schumer pledged to fight to quadruple the federal funding for enhanced security measures at these places of worship in New York and across the country.
The second part of Schumer’s plan seeks to increase support for federal programs to prosecute hate crimes. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2009. Among other things, the law authorized $5 million for the U.S. Department of Justice to provide “technical, forensic, prosecutorial or any other form of assistance” to state and local law officials in the investigation or prosecution of a hate crime. It also allows DOJ to make grants for extraordinary expenses associated with the investigation or prosecution of a hate crime.
Schumer noted that, while state and local authorities are often closest to the threat and best equipped to neutralize it, federal resources are critical to ensuring officials have everything they need to go after these types of crimes with the full force of the law.
However, despite the need for these resources, this provision has never been fully funded. The President and Congress must support, for the first time, full funding for these grants to promote federal coordination and support for bias-motivated criminal investigations and prosecutions by state, local, and tribal law enforcement officials, Schumer said.
“This rise in anti-Semitism, the attacks in churches, places of worship, and the notion that evil acts and intolerance might simply spread and reflect some new ‘normal’ is gravely unacceptable. This is not the America our forefathers built, the America our founders envisioned or the one we represent today; and that is why I am demanding the federal government recalibrate its strategy to beat hate—because the status quo is just not working—and because we can fix this by working together,” the senator added.
