Allred Helps Lead Bipartisan Effort to Help Places of Worship Get Access to FEMA Security Grants

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Colin Allred (TX-32), Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne (TX-24), Congressman Mondaire Jones (NY-17) and Congressman Ted Lieu (CA-33) today led a bipartisan effort urging House Appropriation Committee leaders to provide $360 million in total funding for security grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in fiscal year 2022. This is in addition to a request for outreach training and educational resources to assist organizations, like churches, synagogues, mosques and other non-profits when they apply for the grants.   

“Now more than ever, we must make sure that our places of worship and non-profits can utilize these FEMA grants to help them protect their facilities and the people in them,” said Allred. “After the hostage crisis at Beth Israel in Colleyville, it is clear that Congress, in partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement must do all we can to protect our places of worship. We must all work together to root out hate wherever it exists.” 

The bipartisan letter was also signed by Reps. Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Kathleen M. Rice (NY-04), John Sarbanes (MD-03), André Carson (IN-07), Mark Takano (CA-41), Paul D. Tonko (NY-20), Jason Crow (CO-06), Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lloyd Doggett (TX-25), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Al Lawson (FL-05), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Mike Levin (CA-49), Ted Deutch (FL-22), Anthony Brown (MD-04), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Donald M. Payne Jr. (NJ-10), Thomas R. Suozzi (NY-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Shontel M. Brown (OH-11), Deborah K. Ross (NC-02), Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Alma S. Adams (NC-12), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) and Marc Veasey (TX-33).

Read a full copy of the letter below and download a copy here.

Dear Chair DeLauro, Ranking Member Granger, Chairwoman Roybal-Allard and Ranking Member Fleischmann:

We greatly appreciate your continued support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Nonprofit Security Grant Program. As members of Congress fully committed to ensuring safety in every community and house of worship throughout the country, we respectfully ask that you fund the Urban Area Security Initiative Nonprofit Security Grant (NSGP) and the State Homeland Security Grant Program NSGP at $180 million, respectively, as you work to finalize the FY2022 Omnibus Appropriations bill. Additionally, we ask for a set aside of up to 5 percent to allow FEMA and the State Administrative Agencies to provide outreach, training and educational resources for organizations applying for grant funding

On January 15, 2022, the country watched in horror as a gunman held four people hostage at the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas for over 10 hours. Unfortunately, the antisemitic attack in Colleyville is not an outlier. Domestic terrorism and violent hate crimes targeting faith-based and charitable organizations have drastically increased over the last decade. The number of hate crimes reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2020 was the highest level in 12 years. During a March 2021 Senate hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that “the top threat we face from DVEs [domestic violent extremists] continues to be those we identify as racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.” 

We are grateful for the quick response from first responders and law enforcement at every level of government that helped bring an end to the hours-long standoff. However, the attack in Colleyville is evidence that the federal government must do more to support efforts and initiatives that work to ensure safety for the Jewish community and other communities of faith. 

The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides much needed funding to help nonprofit organizations at risk of a terrorist attack. These grants allow organizations to prevent and protect against potential attacks by supporting critical security enhancements, training, and other emergency preparedness planning. 

Currently, the NSGP is unable to meet the growing security needs of faith-based, charitable, and other nonprofit organizations across the country that continue to see attacks from domestic violent extremists. We have heard numerous reports about a significant amount of grant applications that are denied every year, presumably due to limited funding and insufficient technical assistance and support from the State Administrative Agencies. Increasing funding for this grant program will allow the federal government to assist more organizations. For these reasons, we respectfully urge you to provide adequate funding in the amount of $180 million for the Urban Area Security Initiative NSGP and $180 million for the State Homeland Security Grant Program NSGP, as well as a set-aside of up to 5 percent to allow for training and technical assistance. 

Thank you for your continued support and consideration of our request. 

Sincerely, 

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