Following the Oct. 27 killing spree by a gunman at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in which 11 people lost their lives and six others were wounded, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) urged U.S. Senate leaders to approve pending legislation that would prevent such future attacks.
Specifically, Sen. Portman seeks to have the Senate approve the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Authorization Act, H.R. 2825, which would provide resources to improve protections for synagogues and other nonprofit institutions in the United States that are at risk for terrorism attacks, according to a summary from the senator’s office. The U.S. House approved the measure in July 2017, and it has been under consideration in the Senate since that time.
“I am calling on the bipartisan leadership of the Senate to complete work this year on the DHS Authorization Act and provide appropriate resources to synagogues and other nonprofits across our country that are vulnerable to acts of terrorism,” Sen. Portman said on Oct. 30. “We need to get this done this year and show that we are doing everything we can to protect synagogues in Ohio and across our country.”
Earlier this week, Sen. Portman said he met with leaders of the Jewish Community Center in Youngstown, Ohio, “to express my solidarity with them in the face of the worst anti-Semitic incident in American history and to discuss where we go from here to stop anti-Semitism and hatred and to keep the Jewish community safe.”
Sen. Portman added that he’s “been working to ensure Jewish facilities across Ohio have access to federal security grants to help improve the safety at their facilities.”
Toward that goal, the lawmaker also sent an Oct. 30 letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to approve H.R. 2825.
The most recent action on H.R. 2825 came on April 16 when the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee reported on the measure with an amendment and placed it on the Senate legislative calendar.
Before that action, the committee on March 7 approved two bipartisan amendments to H.R. 2825 authored by Sen. Portman and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI).
One amendment would require at least 30 percent of the funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to be distributed to nonprofit institutions in non-Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) metropolitan areas. UASI funds help a set number of high-threat, high-density Urban Areas in efforts to build and sustain the capabilities necessary to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism.
“While I am encouraged that the Appropriations Committee has included $60 million for the Non Profit Security Grant Program in the DHS appropriations bill, only $10 million of that funding is allocated to communities that do not qualify for UASI funding,” Sen. Portman wrote in his letter to Senate leadership. “While it is a good start, it is not sufficient. Currently no cities in my home state of Ohio would qualify for UASI funding.”
The other Portman-Peters amendment would ensure that nonprofit institutions have a seat at the table at Joint Counterterrorism Awareness Workshops. “These are important forums for all regional stakeholders that provide important information to help them as they assess any threats to their community,” Sen. Portman wrote.
In his letter, Sen. Portman called for “swift action by the Senate to provide appropriate resources to synagogues and other nonprofits.”
“I urge the full Senate to act this year to provide the authorities and funding to better protect synagogues and other nonprofits across the country,” he wrote.