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Miami HeraldThe White House wants to cut funding for a popular anti-crime program to $200 million -- but wants $600 million for Iraqi police. Democrats vowed to put up a fight.WASHINGTON --At the same time the Bush administration has been pushing for deep cuts in a popular crime-fighting program for states and cities, the White House has been fighting for approval of $603 million for the Iraqi police.
The White House earlier this year proposed slashing to $200 million the federal contribution to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, named after a New York City police office who was killed in the line of duty. The program helps local law enforcement officials deal with violent crime and serious offenders. In 2002, the year before the Iraq War, the program received $900 million.
The administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress are headed for a showdown over the domestic money, probably next month. When the Senate last week passed the emergency Iraq War funding bill, it allotted $490 million for the domestic grants while keeping the Iraqi police funds intact.
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White House spokeswoman Dana Perino did not single out the Byrne grants but made it clear the president is not happy with items that don't deal with the war on terror .... She talked about how Congress wants ``to ladle on lots of special projects. The president thinks that some of those projects may be meritorious. But they should have that debate outside of funding for the troops.''
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