WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, voted to expand eligibility for security grants to include non-profits in South Jersey. The Securing American Non-Profit Organizations Against Terrorism Act of 2017, H.R.1486, which Norcross co-sponsored, passed the House of Representatives unanimously.

For years, Norcross has led criticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) for excluding South Jersey from application eligibility for federal Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) funds that safeguard our communities from terror attacks and threats. The bill that passed the House today will prevent exclusions in the future.

“We need all the resources we can muster to stop acts of violence and hate before they happen. Today’s vote moves us a step closer to providing South Jersey organizations, with the resources needed to keep our neighbors and loved ones safe,” said Congressman Norcross.

In early 2017, dozens of Jewish Community Centers across the country were targeted by sophisticated bomb threats, including in South Jersey. Following the threats, Norcross requested additional funding and applauded the State’s decision to provide new Security Enhancements Countering Unmitigated Risk in New Jersey (SECUR-NJ) grants to local non-profit agencies and religious organizations.

Norcross added: “Unfortunately we have seen a rise in hateful threats against non-profits and community centers. We need to counter those threats with access to robust funding for security enhancement projects, without exclusions. I encourage the Senate to take up this bill immediately, and I vow to keep fighting for all of the federal funding that South Jersey needs and deserves.”

Related Content

• In April 2017, Norcross and Dr. Christopher Rodriguez, former Director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, stressed the importance of security enhancement funding for non-profit agencies and religious organizations at a community meeting.
• In March 2017, Norcross applauded the State’s decision to provide new SECUR-NJ grants to local non-profit agencies and religious organizations. Later in the year, several South Jersey organizations received the SECUR-NJ funding.
• In February 2017, Norcross wrote to PEMA to request they share resources with South Jersey to protect all of the Philadelphia-area’s Jewish communities.

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Contact: Ally Kehoe, Communications Director
ally.kehoe@mail.house.gov