SENATOR JOE BIDEN: FIGHTING…

                        SENATOR JOE BIDEN:
                 FIGHTING CRIME IN OUR COMMUNITIES
"Fighting crime is like cutting grass. In the summer I cut my grass on a Saturday and it
looks great. I let it go for a week, it looks a little shaggy. Let it go for two weeks, I notice
it. Let it go for a month, I have the weeds back."
                                                                           ­ Senator Joe Biden

                          HOMETOWN AND HOMELAND SECURITY

Nothing is of greater value to Americans than our security. Senator Biden has made fighting crime a top
priority. He has worked to restore billions of dollars in funding cuts President Bush made to local law
enforcement officials. And he has his own plan ­ to invest $10 billion a year for five years ­ to make
America safer. Here's what he wants to do:

Hire 50,000 Cops and 1,000 FBI Agents: In the 1990s, the Biden Crime Bill added 100,000 cops to
America's streets, helping to bring down murder and violent crime rates eight years in a row. But after
President Bush made cuts to the program, crime is on the rise again, as are threats of terrorism, so the
Senator wants to put an additional 50,000 cops on America's streets and add 1,000 FBI agents. His
legislation is now working its way through Congress.

Bring Dangerous Fugitives to Justice: State and local law enforcement need more resources to enter
felony warrants into the national fugitive database. U.S. Marshals task forces need more funds to work
with state and local law enforcement to extradite fugitives to face trial. An officer should never perform a
traffic stop unaware that he's dealing with a dangerous fugitive and a sheriff should never have to release
a violent fugitive into his community because there is no money to extradite him. Senator Biden's bill will
help ensure that dangerous fugitives are found, captured, tried, and convicted by making state warrant
systems compatible and interoperable with the national fugitive database and by providing Marshals' task
forces with the money to extradite fugitives to face justice.

Scan 100 Percent of Cargo Containers Entering Our Ports: Today, only 5 percent of cargo entering
our seaports is scanned, even though our ports are among America's most vulnerable targets. If there is
a terrorist attack and we have to suspend operations at every port, as we did after 9/11 at every airport, it
would cost this economy $58 billion in 12 days. Senator Biden would scan 100 percent of containers to
prevent radiological and other dangerous materials from being smuggled into America.

Implement the 9/11 Commission Recommendations: After the tragedy of 9/11, a bi-partisan
Commission looked at where America is most vulnerable and recommended how to make our ports,
chemical plants, railways, and other critical infrastructure more secure. Senator Biden would implement
their recommendations.

Help First Responders Communicate: America's first responders still cannot easily communicate with
each other in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. Why? The communications equipment
between a unit of the National Guard, the local fire fighter or cop, or other first responders is not
interoperable. Senator Biden wants to give first responders the equipment they need, so if there is
another Katrina or a 9/11, the dedicated professionals or volunteers can communicate.

Reduce the Number of Repeat Offenders: Two-thirds of people released from state prisons are re-
arrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within three years of release. These offenders are re-
entering our communities with insufficient monitoring, little or no job skills, inadequate drug treatment,
insufficient housing, limited health services, and few positive influences. Senator Biden's Second Chance
Act, which provides ex-offenders with housing, drug and alcohol treatment, job training and other life skills
they need to rejoin their families and communities as productive, law-abiding citizens, became law on
April 9, 2008.
                    A HISTORY OF MAKING OUR COMMUNITIES SAFER
T
Stopping Violence Against Women: Senator Biden often says the Biden Violence Against Women Act
is his proudest accomplishment. It set up a system of national shelters so that victims of abuse have a
place to go. It also established a national hotline that 1.5 million victims have called. As a result, domestic
violence is down by 50 percent and rape by 60 percent. Senator Biden's National Domestic Violence
Volunteer Attorney Network Act will create a national system to recruit and train volunteer lawyers and
infuse 100,000 new volunteer lawyers into the justice system to represent victims.

Passing the Biden Crime Law: The landmark law the Senator wrote in 1994 put 100,000 cops on the
street; reduced crime eight years in a row; built drug courts, where non-violent offenders are forced into
mandatory drug treatment and testing; and helped communities establish safe havens to keep children off
the streets, through programs like Boys and Girls Clubs and the Police Athletic Leagues.

Protecting America's Kids: A series of laws the Senator authored in the last two decades have
increasingly protected kids against sexual predators. In 1994, he required every state to establish a
registry for convicted sexual offenders; in 1996, he helped create the national registry of sexual predators,
so these criminals could not move from state to state to avoid being tracked. In 2003, he authored the
Victims of Child Abuse Act, increasing funding for Child Advocacy Centers. And in 2006, he authored the
Adam Walsh Act that establishes registration requirements to ensure convicted sex offenders can't slip
through the cracks and harm our children. Most recently, Senator Biden's Combating Child Exploitation
Act would develop a national strategy to combat child exploitation, fund Internet Crimes Against Children
Task Forces, and hire additional federal law enforcement officers dedicated to child exploitation cases.
The Child Protection Improvements Act will expand and make permanent a pilot program established by
the Protect Act to allow youth-serving organizations to run background checks on prospective volunteers
and protect our children from those with a history of violence or sexual abuse of minors.

Curbing Drug Use: Senator Biden is well known for his work to curb drug use in America. He created the
Drug Czar's office in the White House to coordinate federal programs in the war against drugs. He wrote
the Biden Drug Free Schools Zone law, imposing special penalties for dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a
school, and enabling schools to provide drug education and prevention programs, like DARE. In addition,
he was instrumental in classifying steroids as a drug and funding programs to deter steroid use by
students. Senator Biden's Drug Enforcement Special Agent Restoration Act would help hire 500 DEA
special agents and support personnel.

Restoring Corporate Integrity: In light of high-profile crimes by CEOS of corporations like Enron,
Senator Biden sponsored legislation requiring top executives of public companies to certify the accuracy
of their financial statements, and penalize those who make false statements.

Keeping Criminals Behind Bars: Legislation the Senator wrote provides funds so states can build
prisons, if they agree to keep their violent offenders behind bars for at least 85 percent of their sentence.
Previously, state prisoners averaged only 40 percent of their sentence behind bars.

Honoring Law Enforcement for Exceptional Acts of Bravery: Senator Biden's Law Enforcement
Badge of Bravery Act, passed by the House and Senate, will establish an award to honor local, state and
federal law enforcement officers who have taken extraordinary risks in the line of duty.