Dems propose to boost DOJ funding by $41M

Senate Democrats unveiled a proposal Thursday to allocate an additional $41 million to Department of Justice (DOJ) programs that work to prevent bias-motivated attacks and discrimination following the mass shooting in Orlando on Sunday.

The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act calls for an additional $30 million for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division (CRT) and $11 million for the Community Relations Service (CRS).

{mosads}Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who introduced the bill with Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), called the mass shooting at the gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday night a “cold reminder” that hate crimes are too common in America.

“We must have the courage to stand up, speak out and act,” she said in a statement. “When we turn a blind eye to intolerance and discrimination against any community or group we allow the things that fuel hate crimes to go unchecked. We must do more.”

The additional funding would allow the CRT to hire another 100 attorneys to focus on enforcing federal civil rights and hate crime laws and the CRS to hire 10 new mediation specialists.

The CRS helps state and local officials find solutions in places where tensions exist or hate crimes have occurred.

The Democrats’ proposal, which increases DOJ funding by $197.4 million over fiscal 2016, comes on the heels of a 15-hour filibuster Democrats — led by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) — waged to protest Congress’s inaction on gun control.