Raising the awareness of the need for crime prevention in communities across the country and expressing support for designation of October 1, 2009, through October 3, 2009, as "Celebrate Safe Communities" Week, and October as "Crime Prevention Month".

I stand here today, Mr. Speaker, as a former sheriff. I also stand here today as a former member of the law enforcement community for 33 years. This is a new world for me, and it's a proud moment for me to be here to introduce this bill and to have the support that we have here today from both sides of the aisle.

I know from firsthand experience the challenges associated with our communities and with keeping them safe. The truth is that safety and security are the business of every citizen. We all have to work together to make this country safe, to make our communities safe, to keep our neighborhoods safe. We always have to remain vigilant, and we always have to watch out for our neighbors' homes and for our own homes to keep them safe. Together, we will raise awareness about crime prevention and about what we can do to keep our own homes safe and our entire communities safe.

So I am pleased today to support my resolution to designate the first week of October as Celebrate Safe Communities Week and recognize October as Crime Prevention Month.

I want to thank my colleagues from across the aisle--Mr. Stupak from Michigan--for joining me in sponsoring this important effort.

Crime affects everyday decisions--where we go in public, where we travel,

what neighborhoods we visit, and where we might stop to shop for services or goods. Although the national crime rate has gone down in recent years, many cities and communities have actually seen a rise in crime rates over the past year or so. I've seen the devastation that even perceived crimes can cause and the harmful effects on our communities, especially for our children.

Children sometimes will feel threatened even going to school, and we've had to pass laws for school safety and school violence. It's a sad state of affairs today when we recognize that our children are sometimes not even safe on the school grounds or on the playgrounds of our schools across the country. Sometimes it causes them to even turn inward and to feel insecure and unsafe, and their schoolwork even suffers. They, themselves, may even turn to crime.

People of all ages and of all walks of life can be affected by crime. As we know, increases in crime can harm the economy. Residents can stay away from local businesses in certain neighborhoods because they might feel it's unsafe to shop there and to do business there.

Crime also affects the comfort and willingness of residents to work with law enforcement on community safety initiatives. Sometimes community policing efforts in working with a community will suffer if we don't all engage in ensuring our communities are safe. By engaging with communities in efforts such as Celebrate Safe Communities Week and Crime Prevention Month, connections to deter and to prevent violence can be made between members of law enforcement and their communities in order to serve and protect the public.

This initiative spotlights communities' crime prevention efforts; it enhances public awareness of violent crime prevention and safety messages; and it recruits year-round support for ongoing prevention activities that help keep neighborhoods safe from crime. Crime Prevention Month highlights the positive effects that prevention efforts have on a community through community efforts events, public service organizations, public service announcements, and other coordinated activities.

I am pleased that the House has chosen to recognize these important community efforts while respecting the work of our law enforcement officers in their responding without hesitation to every call that comes over the radio. We'd rather receive fewer calls and see less violence in our communities. It all starts with prevention.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 177) raising the awareness of the need for crime prevention in communities across the country and expressing support for designation of October 1, 2009, through October 3, 2009, as ``Celebrate Safe Communities'' Week, and October as ``Crime Prevention Month''.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative

days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution, H. Con. Res. 177, recognizes the importance of citizen and community involvement in an effort to prevent crime and express support for the designation of October 1 through October 3 as Crime Prevention Week and October as National Crime Prevention Month.

Celebrate Safe Communities is a relatively recent crime prevention initiative of the Justice Department in partnership with the National Sheriffs' Association and the National Crime Prevention Council.

The goal of this initiative is to strengthen the partnership between citizens and law enforcement. In Memphis, my hometown, Stevie Morris formed a group called FFUNN, which works with young people to prevent crime. There are neighborhood associations. Neighborhood Watch is an effective group that works in the community, and so are Crime Stoppers programs.

During the first week in October, communities throughout the country held events, educating the public about crime prevention and public safety programs. Not only do these events highlight crime prevention, but they encourage citizens to become personally involved in these programs. That's what the FFUNN group in Memphis and Stevie Moore did.

Similarly, during the month of October, communities and law enforcement organizations commemorate Crime Prevention Month, promoting awareness of important issues such as victimization, volunteerism, and creating safer, more caring communities. The monthlong celebration highlights successful crime prevention efforts at the local, State, and national levels, all of which are important in our communities.

I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Reichert) for introducing this resolution. I urge my colleagues to support it.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, in Memphis, we've got many programs similar to these that have been discussed.

The Freedom from Unnecessary Negatives with Stevie Moore is in the community, often visited by our sheriff, Mark Luttrell, who was named National Sheriff of the Year, with District Attorney General Bill Gibbons and with others, who visit and have cookouts, who talk about crime and who get the community oriented with their law enforcement officers--where they'll be wanting to report and work with the law enforcement officers. It has been a successful program.

Crime Stoppers is a successful program where people get rewarded for turning in criminals. They get rewarded with financial incentives.

The Neighborhood Watch programs are great programs where people work together to be aware of crime.

These are all important, and this is an important effort to fight against crime, and that's why I ask everybody to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak) and the gentleman from Washington, Sheriff Reichert, for introducing this legislation.

H. Con. Res. 177, which is Celebrate Safe Communities Week, supports the designation of October 1, 2009, through October 3 as Celebrate Safe Communities Week and October as Crime Prevention Month. H. Con. Res. 177 also calls attention to the need for crime prevention in communities across the country.

In 1984, the National Crime Prevention Council established Crime Prevention Month to encourage public education on awareness and prevention of criminal activity within communities and neighborhoods. Every year since then, government agencies, volunteer groups, schools and businesses have reached out to the public to do just that.

In conjunction with the ninth National Crime Prevention Month, the National Sheriffs' Association and the National Crime Prevention Council, in partnership with the Department of Justice, they all came together to create the Celebrate Safe Communities initiative. In its very first year, the program recruited 153 communities in 32 States as well as the District of Columbia to participate in the weeklong event.

This year, from October 1 through October 3, Celebrate Safe Communities Week kicked off their recognition of October as Crime Prevention Month. Crime Prevention Month and Celebrate Safe Communities Week strive to enhance the public's awareness of local law enforcement- led community safe initiatives, thus motivating people in the United States to learn what they can do to stay safe from criminal conduct in their communities.

While Celebrate Safe Communities Week highlights the importance of citizens protecting themselves through crime prevention, initiatives also stress the importance of community participation with local law enforcement agencies after a crime has taken place.

Volunteer organizations have proven to be invaluable in their coordination with law enforcement officials and with other community leaders. After all, a partnership of those who have firsthand knowledge of their neighborhoods is, without a doubt, the most effective way of attacking crime head on.

This resolution reminds us that prevention is critical to the fight against crime in our society. This resolution also reminds us that crime is a local problem. There is no better time than Crime Prevention Month and Celebrate Safe Communities Week for citizens to start learning how they can take control in protecting their families and their communities.

I urge all of my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 177.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Cao).

Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he wishes to consume on this resolution to the author of the resolution, the gentleman from Washington, Sheriff Reichert.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I would like to thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 177 to raise awareness of the need for crime prevention in communities across the country. The fight to reduce crime remains a top issue for my constituents in the Second Congressional District. Unfortunately, New Orleans, like any other great city in this country, is struggling to fight the issue of violent crime, and this has been the case for 9 straight years.

Last month in New Orleans, an innocent 3-year-old girl was shot following a violent 11-hour stretch that saw 12 people shot and two people fatally wounded. Last week, an unsuspecting man was shot just two blocks away from a New Orleans school, and just this weekend, New Orleans was hit by a spate of eight armed robberies.

That is why we must work to require local and Federal law enforcement agencies to coordinate their efforts in cities like New Orleans. We should provide resources for drug and violent crime sweeps, funding for additional prosecutors, and we should help create a police and court system database to help track and prosecute criminals.

This resolution to designate October 1, 2009-October 3, 2009, as Celebrate Safe Communities Week and October as Crime Prevention Month will be an important step in fighting crime not only in my district but around the country.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to join the national fight against crime and to support House Concurrent Resolution 177.