Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy
On The Specter-Leahy Amendment #2378 (To Fund Justice Programs)
To The Budget Reconciliation Act, S. 1932
Congressional Record
November 3, 2005

Mr. LEAHY:  Mr. President, I am thrilled that the Senate has agreed to accept by unanimous consent to the Budget Reconciliation Act, S. 1932, a bipartisan amendment offered by Senator Specter and myself to allocate the extra $278,000,000 in revenue provided from the Judiciary Committee markup on reconciliation to supplement funding for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership, programs authorized by the Justice For All Act, and the Copyright Royalty Judges Program.

I thank my good friend and colleague, Senator Specter, for his leadership on and commitment to seeing that these important programs are funded as much as we can during these tough fiscal times.  As Chairman and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Specter and I have joined forces before to champion funding for these programs.  I am privileged to partner with him again in that pursuit.

The Judiciary Committee markup on its reconciliation title provided $278,000,000 more in revenue than was mandated by the Budget Resolution instructions.  We now seek to include additional provisions within the jurisdiction of our Committee into the Senate reconciliation package. Our bipartisan amendment funds a number of Judiciary programs that enjoyed broad bipartisan support when Congress authorized them.  These mandatory spending changes would simply spend some of the additional revenue that we raised through increases in immigration fees during our markup.

Our proposal would provide $60,000,000 over the next five years for such initiatives as the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program, which helps law enforcement agencies purchase or replace body armor for their rank-and-file officers.  Recently, concerns over body armor safety surfaced when a Pennsylvania police officer was shot and critically wounded through his new vest outfitted with a material called Zylon(r). The Justice Department has since announced that Zylon(r) fails to provide the intended level of ballistic resistance.  Unfortunately, an estimated 200,000 vests outfitted with that material have been purchased

- many with Bulletproof Vest Partnership funds - and now must be replaced.  Law enforcement agencies nationwide are struggling to find the funds necessary to replace defective vests with ones that will actually stop bullets and save lives.  Our amendment will help them replace those faulty vests.

Our amendment also provides over $216,000,000 for programs authorized by the Justice For All Act of 2004, a landmark law that enhances protections for victims of Federal crimes, increases Federal resources available to State and local governments to combat crimes with DNA technology, and provides safeguards to prevent wrongful convictions and executions.  The bipartisan amendment that Senator Specter and I propose will, among other things, allow for training of criminal justice and medical personnel in the use of DNA evidence, including evidence for post-conviction DNA testing.  It will promote the use of DNA technology to identify missing persons.  With these funds, State and local authorities will be better able to implement and enforce crime victims' rights laws, including Federal victim and witness assistance programs. State and locals can apply for grants to develop and implement victim notification systems so that they can share information on criminal proceedings in a timely and efficient manner.  The amendment will also help improve the quality of legal representation provided to both indigent defendants and the public in State capital cases.

Last, but certainly not least, our amendment provides $6,500,000 over five years for the Copyright Royalty Judges Program at the Library of Congress.  The Copyright Royalty Distribution Reform Act of 2004 created a new program in the Library to replace most of the current statutory responsibilities of the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panels program. The Copyright Royalty Judges Program will determine distributions of royalties that are disputed and will set or adjust royalty rates, terms and conditions, with the exception of satellite carriers' compulsory licenses.  Our amendment would help pay the salaries and related expenses of the three royalty judges and three administrative staff required by law to support this program.

Mr. President, the Specter-Leahy amendment will give to programs that help protect police officers and victims of violent crime, allow State and local governments to combat crimes with DNA technology, and provide safeguards to prevent wrongful convictions and executions.  Chairman Specter and I are proud that the Judiciary Committee was able to agree to a reconciliation package that will provide $278 million more in revenue than was mandated by the Budget Resolution instructions.  I thank our colleagues for supporting our amendment and agreeing to use that additional money to fund some of these important priorities that continue to lack adequate Federal resources 

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