Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) was “somewhat pleasantly surprised” to secure a federal grant worth more than $1 million for the Jewish Federation Los Angeles for its security program that works with Jewish institutions in southern California.
“It’s very hard to predict what will happen,” he told JNS.
Sherman and the Federation announced the $1,031,000 grant toward the organization’s community security initiative program on Tuesday. The program is “a link to a network of Jewish communal organizations and provides unprecedented access to local, state and federal emergency services,” the Federation states.
The Jewish representative states on his congressional website that he initially sought $1.4 million for the Federation program.
“We never get everything we ask for,” Sherman told JNS. “If you ever do get everything you ask for, you say, ‘Oh shoot, I should have asked for more.’”
The grant is in addition to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program and a separate $720,000 in funding, which recently passed through committee and is heading toward a budget vote for the next fiscal year, according to Sherman.
It was the first time the Los Angeles Federation’s program received this federal grant, the congressman told JNS.
“The rules change all the time,” he said. “This wasn’t eligible, and then it became eligible. You have to get a variety of different support letters. It’s not like they just say, ‘Sherman, here’s some money, go figure out what your district needs.’”
“It is a very complicated process that changes every year,” he told JNS.
The Republican majority on the House Appropriations Committee sets the policies, according to Sherman, who says that the “bad news” is that the money is necessary.
“I’d much rather get no money for security and not need security,” he told JNS. “But antisemitism is more flagrant now than it’s been at any time since my father was growing up.”
Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of the Federation, stated that it is “extremely grateful for Congressman Sherman’s unwavering support of the Jewish community.”
“For more than a decade, our CSI program has worked with determination to proactively identify threats, conduct security trainings and address physical risks associated with hundreds of Jewish institutions,” he stated.
“This funding ensures CSI can not only continue protecting our community but will also help improve CSI’s capabilities during this persistent threat environment,” he added.
