H5514 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE July 31, 2012 

return submitted with the taxpayer’s social 

security number to confirm the validity of 

the return. We continue working to correct 

the taxpayer’s account until we complete the 

correction. 

How can the IRS better work with federal, 

state, and local law enforcement agencies to 

identify, investigate, and prosecute identity 

thieves while protecting the privacy of victims? 

Recently, we, with the Justice Department, announced the results of a nationwide 

investigation of suspected identity theft perpetrators. Working with the Justice Department’s Tax Division and local U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the nationwide effort targeted 

105 people in 23 states. This coast-to-coast effort included indictments, arrests, and the 

execution of search warrants involving the 

potential theft of thousands of identities and 

taxpayer refunds. In all, the resulting indictments included 939 criminal charges. 

Local law enforcement and other federal 

agencies play a critical role in combating 

identity theft. Thus, an important part of 

our effort to stop identity thieves involves 

collaborating with law enforcement agencies. Although the rules for protecting taxpayer privacy often make it difficult for us 

to share information that local law enforcement might find helpful, we are developing a 

procedure that would enable us to share falsified returns with local law enforcement 

after obtaining a privacy waiver from the innocent taxpayer. Also, proposed legislation 

H.R. 3482 (the Tax Crimes and Identity Theft 

Prevention Act) would expand section 6103 of 

the U.S. tax code to allow limited disclosure 

of returns and return information to law enforcement for the purpose of combating tax 

crimes. 

We share your concerns about identity 

theft. We will continue to review our processes to ensure that we are doing everything 

possible to minimize the affect of identity 

theft to taxpayers and help those who are 

victims of this crime. 

I hope this information is helpful. If you 

need further assistance, please call me at 

(559) 454–6004 or Mr. James Denning (Identification Number 1000160482) at (559) 454–6691 if 

we can assist you further. 

Sincerely, 

ROSALIND C. KOCHMANSKI, 

Field Director, Accounts Management. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. 

MEEHAN). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from 

Texas (Mr. SMITH) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 

4362. 

The question was taken. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the 

opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being 

in the affirmative, the ayes have it. 

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I 

object to the vote on the ground that a 

quorum is not present and make the 

point of order that a quorum is not 

present. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. 

The point of no quorum is considered 

withdrawn. 

f 

EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT 

OF 2012 

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I 

move to suspend the rules and pass the 

bill (H.R. 6062) to reauthorize the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program through fiscal 

year 2017. 

The Clerk read the title of the bill. 

The text of the bill is as follows: 

H.R. 6062 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 

Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Edward 

Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant 

Program Reauthorization Act of 2012’’. 

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF BYRNE JAG 

GRANTS. 

Section 508 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

U.S.C. 3758) is amended by inserting before 

the period the following: ‘‘, and $800,000,000 

for each of the fiscal years 2013 through 

2017’’. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 

Texas (Mr. SMITH) and the gentleman 

from Virginia (Mr. SCOTT) each will 

control 20 minutes. 

The Chair recognizes the gentleman 

from Texas. 

GENERAL LEAVE

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I 

ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within 

which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material 

on H.R. 6062 currently under consideration. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there 

objection to the request of the gentleman from Texas? 

There was no objection. 

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I 

yield myself such time as I may consume. 

Mr. Speaker, I thank my Judiciary Committee colleague Mr. MARINO for his leadership 

on this law enforcement priority. 

The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program is the centerpiece of the 

federal government’s assistance for state and 

local criminal justice initiatives. It was created 

in 2005 when two existing federal grant programs were combined. 

Byrne JAG is a streamlined block grant program that empowers states and localities to 

address specific law enforcement challenges. 

Byrne JAG funding is distributed by the Justice Department based on a formula that considers the jurisdictions’ population and crime 

rates. 

Some of the money is kept at the state level 

but much of it is distributed to localities. 

Jurisdictions can tailor their spending based 

on their own communities’ needs. These include prosecution and court programs, drug 

treatment programs and crime victims programs. 

In my district, Byrne JAG funds have been 

used by the City of Austin to hire additional 

911–call operators, purchase protective gear 

for law enforcement officers and provide training on forensics technology. These are all important public safety initiatives that were 

prioritized by local leaders. 

Byrne JAG is currently authorized at $1.1 

billion per year, although this authorization is 

set to expire at the end of September when 

the current fiscal year ends. 

In fiscal year 2012, Congress appropriated 

$470 million for the Byrne JAG program, although $100 million of this money was a onetime set aside for this year’s presidential nomination conventions. 

H.R. 6062 reauthorizes the Byrne JAG program for five years at $800 million a year. 

H.R. 6062 enjoys bipartisan support and is 

widely supported by the law enforcement community. 

I thank my Judiciary Committee colleague, 

Mr. MARINO, for his work on this issue and I 

urge my colleagues to support the bill. 

I would like to yield as much time as 

he may consume to the gentleman 

from Pennsylvania (Mr. MARINO), who 

is a member of the Judiciary Committee and the sponsor of this legislation. 

Mr. MARINO. Mr. Speaker, Chairman 

SMITH, I rise today in strong support of 

legislation I introduced, H.R. 6062, the 

Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2012. 

The Edward Byrne Memorial JAG 

Program is the primary provider of 

Federal criminal justice funding to 

State and local jurisdictions, and it has 

been referred to as the ‘‘cornerstone 

Federal crime-fighting program.’’ 

The JAG program provides State and 

local governments with critically needed resources to support a wide range of 

law enforcement activities, including 

prosecution, prevention, education, 

planning, corrections, treatment, evaluation, and technology. 

As a former district attorney and 

United States attorney, I understand 

the tremendous value of JAG-funded 

projects in fighting crime by improving 

the processes, procedures, and operations of criminal justice systems. 

My legislation being considered 

today reauthorizes the JAG program 

for 5 years—I repeat, for 5 years— 

through fiscal year 2017. 

This legislation is supported by the 

National Criminal Justice Association, 

the International Association of Chiefs 

of Police, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the National District Attorneys 

Association, and many more law enforcement organizations. 

H.R. 6062 enjoys bipartisan support, 

including Chairman SMITH and Ranking Member CONYERS of the House Judiciary Committee, who are cosponsors. The legislation was considered by 

the House Judiciary Committee and 

approved by a voice vote on July 18. 

I would like to thank the chairman 

and the committee for their help in ensuring that the authorization for this 

critical program does not lapse. I urge 

all of my colleagues to join in the support of our State and local law enforcement agencies by voting in favor of 

H.R. 6062. 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, 

I yield myself such time as I may consume. 

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 

6062, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2012. 

The Federal justice grants reauthorized under this legislation provide critical funding to State and local jurisdictions in their efforts to combat crime. 


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July 31, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H5515 

Especially during periods of national 

budgetary constraints affecting the 

bottom lines of States and local governments, the Byrne JAG grants are 

particularly important. Across our Nation, many jurisdictions, to shore up 

their budgets, are actually laying off 

police officers. When many of our citizens are experiencing economic hardship, we must not add to their burden 

by allowing public safety to suffer. 

H.R. 6062 reaffirms the Federal Government’s commitment to assisting 

State and local governments in their 

effort to prevent and fight crime. But 

reauthorization of the Byrne JAG 

grant program is obviously just a first 

step. We must also follow through with 

actually appropriating sufficient funds 

for the program. 

In addition, we should encourage allocation of grant funds to the full 

range of programs that State and local 

governments are allowed to fund. 

Under current law, State and local governments may use Byrne JAG funding 

for programs or projects that improve 

law enforcement efforts; prosecution 

and court programs; prevention and 

education programs; corrections and 

community corrections; drug treatment programs; planning, evaluation, 

and technology projects; and crime victim and witness programs. 

Each of these are essential to a comprehensive effort to protect us from 

crime, and, therefore, all of them 

should receive significant funding 

under the Byrne JAG grant program. 

An imbalance in justice assistance 

funding creates an imbalance in 

anticrime efforts. Specifically, an appropriate amount of funding should be 

allocated to prevent crime, which will 

help reduce the amount of money needed to fund the after-crime cost of investigation, prosecution, incarceration, 

and victim assistance. 

We must also assist State and local 

governments to fund public defender 

programs in recognition of the fact 

that the public is also protected from 

injustice when we safeguard the Sixth 

Amendment rights of our citizens. 

Finally, it is essential that the full 

range of other programs that assist 

State and local public safety initiatives, including the COPS program, are 

adequately funded. The COPS program 

has funded the hiring of more than 

123,000 State and local police officers 

and sheriff’s deputies in communities 

across our Nation, and it has been 

proven to be extremely effective in reducing crime. 

b 2040 

I am proud to be a cosponsor of H.R. 

6062, and I commend the gentleman 

from Pennsylvania (Mr. MARINO) for 

his work on the bill. 

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 

6062 so that we can reaffirm our commitment to funding public safety programs, and I reserve the balance of my 

time. 

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I 

reserve the balance of my time as well. 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, 

I yield such time as he may consume to 

the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 

PALLONE). 

Mr. PALLONE. I want to thank my 

colleague from Virginia for yielding me 

the time. 

I just want to reiterate what Mr. 

SCOTT just said. I have to say I have 

never had more requests and concern 

about programs from mayors and elected officials in my municipalities than I 

get for programs like this Byrne JAG 

program, like the COPS program, like 

the SAFER program that deals with 

fire prevention. 

I think a lot of it has to do with the 

fact that many of my towns—and I’m 

sure this is true across the country— 

because of the recession, because of 

budgetary constraints are laying off 

police, laying off firemen, don’t have 

the resources, if you will, to deal with 

a lot of the crime prevention problems, 

so these programs are crucial to them. 

I want to reiterate what Mr. SCOTT

said about the fact that right now it’s 

not only a question of reauthorizing, 

but also making sure that there’s adequate funding for it. If I could just use 

an example in my own district, and 

that is that last week I was able to announce that several towns in my district, the Sixth District, have been 

awarded grants under the Byrne JAG 

program to support a broad range of 

activities to prevent and control crime. 

One grant is administered by Neptune 

and is benefiting both Asbury Park and 

Long Branch—Long Branch being my 

home town. Another grant is administered by New Brunswick, and it’s helping Perth Amboy, Edison, and 

Woodbridge. 

The funding is used to purchase law 

enforcement equipment and supplies. 

In New Brunswick, it’s being used for a 

police vehicle, which will have mobile 

video and data equipment. This is really all about community safety, which 

is of utmost importance. At a time 

when our local law enforcement has to 

cope with difficult funding levels, these 

Federal grants make it possible for 

towns to support critical crime-prevention activities that protect New Jersey 

families and their residents. I can’t 

stress enough how important this is. 

So I’m just very pleased today that 

on a bipartisan basis we are reauthorizing this, I think, for 5 years. And as 

Mr. SCOTT said, the next step is to 

make sure that there’s adequate funding because this is a crucial program. 

That’s why I came down here tonight 

to speak about it. 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, 

I thank the gentleman from New Jersey, and I yield back the balance of my 

time. 

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I 

yield back the balance of my time. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

question is on the motion offered by 

the gentleman from Texas (Mr. SMITH) 

that the House suspend the rules and 

pass the bill, H.R. 6062. 

The question was taken. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the 

opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being 

in the affirmative, the ayes have it. 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, 

I object to the vote on the ground that 

a quorum is not present and make the 

point of order that a quorum is not 

present. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. 

The point of no quorum is considered 

withdrawn. 

f 

REPORT ON RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF 

H.R. 6169, PATHWAY TO JOB CREATION THROUGH A SIMPLER, 

FAIRER TAX CODE ACT OF 2012; 

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION 

OF H.R. 8, JOB PROTECTION AND 

RECESSION PREVENTION ACT OF 

2012; PROVIDING FOR PROCEEDINGS FROM AUGUST 3, 2012, 

THROUGH SEPTEMBER 7, 2012; 

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION 

OF MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE 

RULES; AND WAIVING REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6(a) OF RULE 

XIII WITH RESPECT TO CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS 

Ms. FOXX, from the Committee on 

Rules, submitted a privileged report 

(Rept. No. 112–641) on the resolution (H. 

Res. 747) providing for consideration of 

the bill (H.R. 6169) to provide for expedited consideration of a bill providing 

for comprehensive tax reform; providing for consideration of the bill 

(H.R. 8) to extend certain tax relief 

provisions enacted in 2001 and 2003, and 

for other purposes; providing for proceedings during the period from August 

3, 2012, through September 7, 2012; providing for consideration of motions to 

suspend the rules; and waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII 

with respect to consideration of certain 

resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules, which was referred to 

the House Calendar and ordered to be 

printed. 

f 

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 

PERSONNEL AND RESOURCES 

ALLOCATION IMPROVEMENT ACT 

OF 2012 

Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I 

move to suspend the rules and pass the 

bill (H.R. 1550) to establish programs in 

the Department of Justice and in the 

Department of Homeland Security to 

help States that have high rates of 

homicide and other violent crime, and 

for other purposes, as amended. 

The Clerk read the title of the bill. 

The text of the bill is as follows: 

H.R. 1550 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in 

Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Law 

Enforcement Personnel and Resources Allocation Improvement Act of 2012’’. 


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