Merkley Unveils Plan to Protect Children and Families from Violent Crime

John Kroger, Law Enforcement Leaders Endorse New Plan

During his 100 Towns for Change Tour, House Speaker Jeff Merkley, candidate for U.S. Senate is announcing a new plan to protect children and families from violent crime. Merkley's plan will crack down on sex offenders and meth producers, protect victims of violent crimes, and add 50,000 more police on the street.

Merkley's plan to keep families safe is endorsed by law enforcement officials across the state, including candidate for Attorney General John Kroger, Attorney General Hardy Meyers, Josh Marquis, District Attorney for Clatsop County, Michael Dugan, District Attorney for Deschutes County, and Ed Caleb, District Attorney for Klamath Falls.

"Gordon Smith is all talk and no action when it comes to keeping our families safe," said House Speaker Jeff Merkley. "As a father of two I believe that keeping our children and our communities safe is our top priority and a never-ending job. For more than a decade I've worked with law enforcement to clean up our neighborhoods and keep Oregon families safe. In the U.S. Senate I will not rest until our law enforcement have the resources they need to protect us and our kids."

Merkley's Record

* Jeff Merkley helped pass "the nation's strictest anti-methamphetamine measure." [Governing Magazine, 10/05]
* As Speaker, Merkley fought to keep sex offenders away from our kids, making it illegal to lure children over the internet.
* Merkley led the charge to add 139 state troopers to Oregon highways to help law enforcement patrol roads and highways 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
* Merkley led the fight for funding to expand the state DNA crime lab to help erase the backlog and ensure that justice is served.

Smith's Record

While Merkley has delivered for law enforcement and public safety, Gordon Smith has voted with George Bush to cut critical funding for Oregon law enforcement.

* Smith opposed over $30 billion for law enforcement and other first responders. [Vote 73, 3/21/03; Vote 88, 3/25/03; Vote 123, 4/3/03; Vote 291, 7/22/03; Vote 293, 7/23/03; Vote 299, 7/24/03; Vote 50, 3/15/05; Vote 6, 1/17/03; Vote 92, 3/25/03]
* At least five times Gordon Smith tried to cut or eliminate funding for the Community Oriented Police program (COPS), which puts more police on the street to combat crime in our neighborhoods. [Vote 109, 5/12/99; Vote 139, 5/20/99; Vote 78, 3/21/03; Vote 70, 3/17/05; Vote 226, 9/13/05;]
* Smith opposed funding for Byrne Grants, which help local communities combat drug and gang activity. [Vote 109, 5/12/99; Vote 6, 1/17/03; Vote 78, 3/21/03; Vote 92, 3/25/03]
* Smith voted to kill a program to assist and protect children who were witnesses to domestic violence. [Vote 125, 5/18/99]
* Smith opposed increased funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by $10 million and the Office of Violence Against Women by $9 million. [Vote 226, 9/13/05]
* Smith failed to join Senator Wyden to protest Bush Administration cuts to the Victims of Crime Act, which provides critical services to crime victims and their families. [National Center for Victims of Crime, 4/4/08]

The Jeff Merkley Plan to Protect Children and Families from Violent Crime

Merkley Will Fight Meth

Jeff Merkley understands that the meth epidemic has ravaged our communities causing increases in child abuse, property crime and identify theft. Recognizing this serious problem, Merkley created stiffer penalties for meth producers and restricted the availability of key meth ingredients by making certain cold medicines available only with a prescription.

* Increase federal resources to prosecute meth producers

In the U.S. Senate, Merkley will work to launch a national crackdown on meth use by adding more federal prosecutors in Oregon and agents from the Drug Enforcement, to ensure that Oregon and other states in the region get their fair share of federal anti-drug funding.

* Overhaul drug treatment programs

The nation's drug treatment system is failing to deal with meth, fueling property crime, identity theft, and violent crime. As a Senator, Merkley will help lead a major overhaul of how drug treatment programs are conducted - investing in proven, successful meth programs at the local, state and federal levels.

* Strengthen sentences for property crime and identity theft

To stop meth addicts who commit crimes to fund their drug use, Merkley will support tough, mandatory sentences for persons who violate federal drug trafficking laws.

Merkley Will Crack Down on Sex Offenders

In the U.S. Senate, Merkley will continue his work to protect our kids from sex offenders on the streets and online. Merkley will:

* Increase supervision of registered sex offenders

Merkley will push the federal government to help local law enforcement protect our kids from registered sex offenders. Many communities in Oregon and across the country lack the funding needed to supervise some of the most dangerous sex predators. Merkley will fight for more federal funds for states to help local law enforcement protect children from sex offenders.

* Strengthen child pornography laws

Currently federal law only bans child pornography that is shipped across state or international borders. Merkley will work to expand the definition of "child sexual exploitation" and "child pornography" to include criminal activities that "affect" interstate or foreign commerce. He will introduce the Effective Child Pornography Prosecution Act in the Senate which passed the House last year.

* Require sex offenders to register their online identifiers

As more of our children access the internet, sex offenders are going online and threatening their safety. Merkley will champion tough new legislation to crack down on internet predators that threaten our kids.

Merkley will work to expand the National Sex Offender Registry to include email addresses, websites, social networking site usernames, and other online identifiers. Registered sex offenders will be required to provide this information just like they provide their current address.

* Ban online impersonation of children

Another growing threat online are adults soliciting and harassing children by portraying themselves as other children. As Speaker, Merkley made it a crime for an adult to solicit a child online. In the U.S. Senate, Merkley will work to make it a federal crime for an adult to solicit or harass children online.

Merkley Will Add 50,000 More Police on the Street

Merkley will reverse the cuts Smith has made and fight to add 50,000 more police officers on America's streets. With more police on the streets, our communities will be able to stem the tide of violent crime in America's cities. In the 1990's the Clinton Administration added 100,000 police officers to America's streets through the COPS program, reducing crime rates to historic lows.

Gordon Smith, the Bush Administration and others have slashed this funding decimating many of Oregon's police departments.

* Portland's Police Bureau is understaffed by at least 40 positions;

* Gresham faces the potential of being short 70 officers in the next few years;

* Forest Grove is understaffed;

* TriMet is understaffed by about 150 officers;

* Lane County is understaffed, which has led to a rise in crime there.

[The Oregonian, 6/12/08; The Oregonian, 3/6/08; The Oregonian, 1/24/08; University Wire, 1/10/08]

Merkley will restore the damage that has been done, adding police officers Oregon needs to keep communities safe.

Protect Victims of Violent Crime

As Oregon's Senator, Jeff Merkley will work to ensure that crime victims get the support they need. By fully funding Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), Merkley will ensure that state and local authorities have the resources to provide counseling, health care, outreach, emergency travel, and other support for crime victims and their families, particularly in rural areas, where victims are most isolated.

VOCA is not taxpayer funded. It is supported by fines and penalties paid by federal criminals. Yet Gordon Smith and the Bush Administration have failed to fully fund the program, diverting revenue to pay for other budget items.

Increase DNA Technology

Merkley created 15 new forensic lab positions to eliminate the backlog of DNA samples that must be analyzed for the state criminal forensics database. States all across the country are facing similar backlogs. DNA evidence in these states could help convict criminals that may now be located in Oregon. Merkley will champion efforts at the federal level to help state and local law enforcement address DNA backlogs across the country.

Posted July 2, 2008
Press

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