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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Amid a historic rise in hate crimes in the U.S., U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) is calling for additional funding to protect synagogues, mosques, gurdwaras, African-American churches, and other religious or non-profit institutions from potential attacks. Peters – alongside U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) – urged the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to allocate $500 million in funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) for Fiscal Year 2024 as Congress negotiates a government funding deal in the coming weeks. As Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has continuously fought to increase funding for the NSGP, which provides grant funding to religious institutions and other nonprofits to help strengthen their security in the face of these rising threats and attacks. Last year, the NSGP distributed $305 million in funding, however, not all organizations that applied for funding received it. In August, $7.5 million in NSGP grant funding went to faith-based and other nonprofits across Michigan to help secure their facilities. Peters is pushing for an increase in funding to help meet growing demand for the program.

"Every American has a fundamental right to practice their faith and live in their community safely and peacefully," said Senator Peters, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "I've repeatedly fought to increase funding for this critical program to help houses of worship-including synagogues, mosques and gurdwaras-as well as other community nonprofits secure their facilities, particularly as the number of hate crimes in our country continues to rise. As hostilities in the Middle East lead to increased tensions at home, I strongly urge my colleagues to fund the program at $500 million to help keep our communities safe."

Last year, the FBI recorded more than 11,000 hate crime incidents, the most since it started collecting this data in 1991. Organizations can use NSGP funds to invest in a variety of security measures, including installing physical target hardening measures like gates and motion lights, conducting preparedness and prevention planning exercises, and contracting security personnel.

This effort comes after Peters recently joined Jewish leaders at the Woodward Avenue Shul in Royal Oak to discuss his efforts to support the NSGP and help houses of worship protect their facilities and communities. In recent years, Peters also led bipartisan legislation to reauthorize this program and ensure it continues to have sufficient funding.