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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Congress Restores Funding to Drug Courts!!! Together NADCP and Drug Court Field Prior to the Fourth of July Congressional recess, the drug court field made great strides in restoring the funding for the grant program. Congress has listened and favorably responded to your requests!!!! The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science allocated $40 million for the grant program. The full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill after the recess. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science has allocated $25 million to drug courts. The full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill after the recess. This is great news!! Your outreach to and education of Members of Congress has been extremely successful in accomplishing the first steps toward restoring drug court funding to historical levels and beyond. As more than 3,000 drug court practitioners came to Washington, D.C. in June for the 13th Annual Training Conference, the NADCP took advantage of the field’s show of strength to organize a Capitol Hill Day – an opportunity to meet with Members of Congress to raise consciousness of the need for restored federal funding for drug courts, presently at dangerously-low levels following the drastic cuts in FY2006 and the Continuing Resolution in FY2007. With Retired Four-Star Army General Barry McCaffrey and Emmy Award Winning-Actor Martin Sheen, the NADCP held a press conference on Capitol Hill to introduce the organization’s drive to take drug courts to scale, beginning with the restoration of appropriations for the Department of Justice (DOJ) Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program, to $40 million. With Congressmen Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) in attendance, each took the opportunity to voice their support for fully-funding drug courts at historical levels and beyond in the years to come. “In my home state of Washington, Snohomish County's drug court has a 94 percent success rate,” said Congressman Rick Larsen, (D-WA), co-chair of the House Methamphetamine Caucus. “When drug courts intervene, crimes are prevented, families reunited, addictions overcome, and lives saved. I urge my colleagues to restore funding for drug courts and invest in a strategy that works for our communities.” Congressman Jim Ramstad (R-MN), co-chair of the House Addiction, Treatment and Recover Caucus added, “Drug courts have become a critical tool in confronting America's #1 public health problem -- chemical addiction. They provide an innovative and cost-effective approach to combat addiction-related crime and promote the promise and possibility of recovery.” Each Member was recognized for their leadership and support of this life-saving program. Following the Congressmen, Maine drug court graduate Linda Jalbert, who now works with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), highlighted the life-saving work of the programs with her personal story of addiction and recovery. “If it wasn’t for drug courts, I most likely would not be alive today,” Jalbert said. “Drug and alcohol problems affect every community in America. This is a non-partisan issue,” said General Barry McCaffrey, former drug czar with the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “Drug courts are our best hope of breaking the cycle of addiction and crime. Every dollar spent on drug courts saves $7 to $10 when compared to the high cost of incarceration.” Following the press conference, Martin Sheen was interviewed for ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” which aired on June 17, 2007. Mr. Sheen underscored the need for Congress to restore the funding drug courts, relating his personal brushes with addiction in his family and the life-saving role drug courts play for those suffering from substance-abuse in the criminal justice system. Referring to the high cost of incarceration for addicted offenders, Mr. Sheen concluded, “It's a very serious problem and very costly, and the monies that are spent on drug court and training and in rehab, the dollars are the biggest bargain you can possibly get in public health.” (Story linked: http://abcnews.go.com/search?searchtext=MARTIN%20SHEEN%20&type=) With the NADCP Capitol Hill Day underway, the more than 3,000 conference attendees gathered for a networking luncheon, at which Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) provided the keynote address, letting the room of drug court practitioners know what to expect from the new Congress. In a high-spirited speech, the Congressman declared that drug courts needed far greater appropriations than the historical $40 million level, vocalizing his ardent support for the programs and the goal of taking drug courts to scale. Energized and well-equipped with the latest information on drug courts, the conference attendees took to the Hill, holding more than 300 meetings with their elected representatives in Congress by day’s end. With the NADCP conference coinciding with a pivotal juncture in the FY2008 appropriations process, the central focus of the Hill visits was to urge the restoration of funding to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program at the historical average $40 million mark. The DOJ program represents the primary source of federal seed money for drug court start-up nationwide and is critical to the NADCP goal of taking drug courts to scale with a program in each of the 3,143 U.S. counties, municipalities and parishes. The Capitol Hill Day concluded on the Capitol Campus, as over 500 attendees joined in a rally to make heard the voice of drug courts with the U.S. Capitol Building serving as the backdrop to the event. Fifteen Members of Congress were honored with the NADCP Congressional Leadership Award for their dedication to the restoration of funding for the DOJ discretionary program. In attendance were Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), along with Representatives Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), John Barrow (D-GA), Lois Capps (D-CA), Artur Davis (D-AL), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), Sam Farr (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Michael Honda (D-CA), Darlene Hooley (D-OR), David G. Reichert (R-WA), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). Each Member was formally recognized before the crowd of drug court practitioners with the presentation of the NADCP Congressional Leadership Award for their championship and support of drug courts. |