Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) called on Friday for a 10% increase in immediate funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, from $454 million to $500 million.
“After this week’s horrific antisemitic attack, it’s clear that the need is more urgent than ever,” the Jewish congressman told JNS. “Our Jewish communities must be able to worship, gather and live without fear.”
“I’m calling on leaders in Congress to increase NSGP funding to $500 million to ensure the safety and security of our Jewish institutions,” he said.
Gottheimer talked with JNS a day and a half after a gunman killed two Israeli embassy staffers after they left an American Jewish Committee event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
Federal security funding must increase “to ensure the safety and security of our Jewish institutions,” the congressman told JNS.
The New Jersey Democrat led a bipartisan congressional effort in March urging U.S. President Donald Trump to lift his freeze on the grant program. The 78 members of Congress called the grant program “one of the most effective and critical programs for protecting the Jewish community and all faith-based communities from attack.”
A coalition of Jewish groups called on Thursday for an increase in program funding and steps to make it easier for Jewish organizations to obtain the federal dollars needed to improve security, including hiring more personnel, such as off-duty police officers.
“Much, much, much more needs to be done at this critical time to face the rising threat levels and confront a growing problem of domestic terror,” Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said on a conference call with reporters.
On Thursday, 44 U.S. Jewish groups asked the federal government to increase the nonprofit security grants budget to $1 billion annually.
