Tel Aviv—Just before U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) left Washington for Israel for the August recess, he announced that that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded $75,000 in federal grants each to Netivot Shalom, Inc. in Teaneck, The Moriah School in Englewood and the Hawthorne Gospel Church in Hawthorne as part of the DHS Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
Pascrell is currently traveling through Israel with a bipartisan delegation of seven other members of Congress to gain a firsthand understanding of some of America’s most pressing foreign policy challenges, and said of the ceasefire that went into effect on Tuesday morning: “This ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will bring much needed humanitarian relief to those on the ground, while hopefully opening an opportunity to provide for a long-term security agreement and prevent further violence,” said Pascrell. “Israel is our nation’s strongest ally in the Middle East, and our visit will serve as an opportunity to take a closer look at U.S. policy in the region, particularly during this difficult time. I’ve already had a chance to meet with senior Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and I look forward to more meetings with a wide variety of leaders across the spectrum to discuss the quest for a lasting peace in the region.”
Many of Pascrell’s constituents are Jewish and Palestinian, putting him in a unique position to weigh in on Middle East issues, similar to representatives in Congress from the Detroit region, which also has a mix of Jews and Palestinians. And when it comes to racist and hate-inspired attacks on religious institutions, Pascrell has a no-tolerance policy.
Pascrell, an original member of the House Committee on Homeland Security said, “Several recent attacks, including one right here in Bergen County, underscore the vulnerability of non-profits such as houses of worship to terrorism and hate crimes,” said Rep. Pascrell. “This federal grant is vital to the security of these vulnerable targets and the safety of the community at large. As the incidence of hate crimes continues to rise, we must ensure locations at high risk of terror attacks have the resources they need to protect themselves.”
The DHS Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which saw an increase from $10 million for FY 2013 to $13 million for FY2014, provides federal funds to support target hardening and other physical security enhancements for nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of a terrorist attack and located within one of the 39 FY 2014 UASI-eligible urban areas.
In March, Rep. Pascrell led a letter signed by 34 of his House colleagues urging the co-chairs of the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Homeland Security to fund the Nonprofit Security Grant Program at $19 million in the FY2015 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. The letter cites a string of anti-Semitic attacks, including the firebombing of synagogues in Bergen County, as the need for increased security funding. In asking for the appropriation, Pascrell and his colleagues wrote:
“Several recent events illustrate the vulnerability of non-profits such as houses of worship to terrorism and hate crimes. Less than two years ago, a gunman killed six people and wounded four others in a tragic mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. In 2011, a string of anti-Semitic hate crimes targeting synagogues in Northern New Jersey culminated in arson when an incendiary device was thrown through the window of an Orthodox temple, that was the home of a rabbi, his wife, five children and his father. Five years ago, two synagogues in New York City were targeted by domestic terrorists, and a security guard was killed at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC in 2009. During a 2006 incident, an attacker shot six women at a Jewish community center in Seattle, killing one of them.
Credible threats against non-profit institutions across the country continue to be a problem. Last year, the FBI warned the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit last year that it was on the top of a hit list of a known white supremacist who was found in possession of a large cache of weapons and ammunition.
These incidents highlight the continuing need for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which was designed precisely so that at-risk nonprofit organizations that serve as community centers can acquire and install equipment to secure themselves against a potential terrorist attack. These capital improvements include upgraded security measures, such as installing cameras, physical barriers, or controlled entry systems.
Signatories of the letter include Reps. Pascrell, Nadler, Yvette Clarke, Holt, Loretta Sanchez, Keating, Sires, Brady, McCarthy, Cicilline, Schakowsky, Maloney, Payne, Hastings, Shea-Porter, Meng, Gary C. Peters, Wasserman Schultz, Ruppersberger, Rangel, Engel, Sarbanes, Fudge, Gwen Moore, Barbara Lee, Fattah, Cleaver, Conyers, Andre Carson, Heck, Meehan, Pallone, Enyart and Danny Davis.
