Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. letter to Harold Rogers, October 13, 1999

ROBERT L EHRLICH, JR. 2d District, Maryland 315 Cannon House Office Buiiding Ehflich@mail.houw.gov COMMERCE COMMITTEE ASSISTANT DEPUTY MAJORITY WHIP Congress of tfje Umteb States Цоибе of EepreSentattbeS ШайЬтдЮп, Ш€ 20515-2002 October 13, 1999 The Honorable Harold Rogers House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary H-309 The Capitol WashingtonjD.C. 20515 ram writing to express my strong support for including the same language in the Conference Committee report on Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations as that in the Senate legislation pertaining to funding for task forces to enforce Federal gun laws. Title I of the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, for fiscal year 2000 (S. 1217), contains language under Salaries and Expenses, United States Attorneys, allocating $25,000,000.00 to support or establishment of task forces to enforce Federal laws pertaining to possession of firearms by criminals. Of those funds, $5,000,000.00 is earmarked for task force operations in the areas of Baltimore, Maryland, and Prince George’s County, Maryland. While violent crime is decreasing on a national average, murder rose in Maryland by 3% in 1 998. Further, the Washington suburbs of Maryland, which includes Prince George’s County, experienced an approximate 18% increase in murder; for the first quarter of 1999, the Washington suburbs experienced a 43% increase in murder over the same period in 1998. In response, I have been meeting with the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland and state and local law enforcement officials advocating the implementation of a program to enforce federal gun laws and the targeting of felons in possession of a firearm. While there are programs in Maryland which target specific small areas, I advocate a more regional approach modeled after the highly successful "Project Exile" which is in place in Richmond, Virginia.