McDaniel to testify before Congress today

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel will testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee today at 10:00 Arkansas time on H.R. 3546, a bill to authorize the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistant Grant Program at fiscal year 2006 levels through 2012.

H.R. 3546 will restore 2006 funding levels to the Byrne- JAG Program, and maintain them thru 2012. The grant funding has steadily declined since 2002. Byrne-JAG is currently the only source of funding available to local and state law enforcement for multijurisdictional drug enforcement, including methamphetamine initiatives, and is a critical source of funds for drug courts, law enforcement collaboration, gang prevention, and prisoner reentry programs. Currently, there are 19 multijurisdictional drug task forces receiving money from Byrne grants in Arkansas.