WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) introduced the Restoring Law and Order Act to increase funding for law enforcement and help keep violent criminals behind bars:

“Over the last few years, Democrats have made heroes out of criminals and have villainized police officers who risk their lives to defend us every single day,” said Senator Blackburn. “President Trump is already hitting the ground running to Make America Safe Again, and this bill would support the President’s agenda by empowering law enforcement to hunt down violent criminals and restore order in our communities.”

“The American people have had enough of the violent crime wave sweeping our nation,” said Senator Hagerty. “Unfortunately, for the past four years, Democrats in Congress have focused their efforts on snooping on hard-working Americans through the IRS instead of addressing violent crime. Our legislation would repurpose the wasteful, intrusive spending on thousands of new IRS agents and instead use it to address the rise in homicides, carjackings, robberies, and other violent crime unfolding in communities across the U.S. I’m pleased to join Senator Blackburn in reintroducing this legislation to help address this urgent need.”

“The Restoring Law and Order Act provides critical resources for law enforcement to combat crime, and is a critical measure for enhancing the safety of Americans,” said Senator Cruz. “I urge my colleagues to advance and pass this legislation.”

“One of my top priorities is making sure law enforcement has the tools they need to effectively protect and serve our communities. This bill is common-sense, supports our police departments, and enables police officers to do their job. Any effort that keeps violent criminals off the streets, helps departments retain qualified officers, and ultimately makes America safer is an effort I am for,” said Senator Justice.

BACKGROUND

• During President Trump’s first term, he launched Operation Legend, which surged law enforcement personnel to cities across the country, including Memphis. Immediately upon taking office, President Biden ended this successful program.

• Between 2016 and 2020 under the Trump administration, violent crime fell by 17%. Just in the first two years of the Biden administration, between 2020 and 2022, it soared by 43%. 

RESTORING LAW AND ORDER ACT

The Restoring Law and Order Act would increase resources for law enforcement by establishing a “Make America Safe Again” federal grant program to:

• Hire more police officers and detectives, so that states can better target violent crime.
• Provide funding for law enforcement agencies to target drug-related crimes such as fentanyl.
• Detain and deport illegal aliens who have committed crimes in the United States.
• Use public safety tools such as bail and pretrial detention to prevent dangerous offenders from returning to communities.
• Give state and local governments the funds to eliminate investigatory backlogs and more-quickly process criminal evidence.

This legislation would rescind unobligated funds from the Democrats’ harmful Inflation Reduction Act, which poured fuel on the fire of inflation, to pay for this grant program. It would also reallocate divisive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) funds to be utilized for the grant program.

Click here for bill text.

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• Blackburn, Hagerty Introduce the Restoring Law and Order Act