WASHINGTON -- The United States Senate today passed the Fiscal Year 2010 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill, which contains $5.25 million for Louisiana secured by Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La. Among the funds for Louisiana, is $2.3 million for justice-related programs, including $500,000 to the New Orleans Crime Coalition. Funding will be used for initiatives designed to prevent crime and substance abuse. This appropriation will provide much-needed crime fighting tools, resources and infrastructure to help the community fight criminal activity as the city continues its post-Katrina recovery.

"Crime continues to be a serious problem, not just in our urban areas, but in rural Louisiana as well," said Sen. Landrieu. "To fight this growing epidemic, Congress must provide our local law enforcement officers with the tools and resources to keep our communities safe. This bill is a good start. We need to protect the police on the street but also fund programs that prevent domestic violence, substance abuse, and other societal ills."

The bill passed the Senate after a controversial amendment, offered by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was dropped. At a cost of $1 billion to American taxpayers, the Vitter amendment would have only added a question to the 2010 Census. This question has been part of past censuses, but in no census have illegal immigrants ever been excluded, nor would the Vitter amendment require that they be excluded.

Landrieu noted that to fix the Congressional apportionment process, Congress would need to amend the Constitution, something that the Vitter amendment fails to do.

"Demonstrating that Louisiana means business when it comes to reforming our schools and our police departments and our basic infrastructure takes serious work," Landrieu said. "That's the work that I engage in every day. Blaming immigrants for our problems doesn't take much effort, but it won't make our state a better place to live either."

Sen. Landrieu's funding priorities included channeling $200,000 to Tulane University for its domestic violence clinic. This clinic is a successful interdisciplinary program combining the strength of the Tulane School of Law with the expertise of the School of Social Work to train future lawyers and social workers to address the national epidemic of violence against women. The clinic also has provided civil legal services to low-income domestic violence victims in the New Orleans metro region. At Sen. Landrieu's urging, the Committee appropriated $400,000 to Catholic Charities and the New Orleans Region Family Justice Center. Funds will be used to expand services and operations to serve more victims of family violence and child abuse.

Sen. Landrieu also requested and successfully secured appropriations for sheriff offices around the state. The Committee allocated $200,000 to Louisiana Sheriff's Association for the Louisiana Sheriff's Institute; $200,000 to the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office to enhance Bossier Parish public safety interoperable communications; and $200,000 to Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office for a regional K-9 training facility.

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges was a beneficiary of Sen. Landrieu's efforts to bolster law enforcement and crime prevention activities around the nation. The Senator worked with her colleagues to provide $500,000 to the Council's Judicial Training, Research and Technical Assistance Project, which strives to improve system effectiveness and judicial decision-making for children and their families in cases involving juvenile delinquency and child abuse and neglect. Louisiana will receive a portion of these funds.

In addition to law enforcement initiatives, the bill provides funding to continue NASA activities at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East, including to retrofit the facility to support the Constellation Program. The House's version of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill stripped out this important NASA funding.

Other funding provisions secured by Sen. Landrieu include:

* $1 million to LSU A&M for Center for Digital Innovation. This project will focus on the intersection of science, technology and creativity and their application to advanced computational solutions for science and technology to spur economic development in the region.

* $200,000 to the Orleans Parish Court Team for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers' Zero to Three program. These funds will ensure all children monitored by the organization receive a pediatric health visit.

* $400,000 to Xavier University for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Summer Program. The program will be used to recruit and retain qualified minority high school students through enriched educational programs. Funding will be used to enhance the summer component of the program.

* $300,000 to Reconcile New Orleans Inc. for the Reconcile New Orleans Work force Development Training Program. This program will teach life, interpersonal and work skills to at-risk youth entering into hospitality and construction industries.

* $300,000 to Dillard University for their Eighth Grade Initiative, which enrolls eighth grade student into a pre-collegiate program that enables them to meet the requirements for college.

* $200,000 to the After School Partnership of Greater New Orleans for their Youthline America Gulf Coast pilot program. The program will allow youth and adults to find opportunities and services in their neighborhood.

* $300,000 to the Sci-Port Louisiana's Science Center for Renewing Science Education in the South. The center is not only a tourist destination, but also offers after school programs, professional development for educators, and specialized programming for rural schools throughout the south.

* $250,000 to the University of New Orleans National Center for Advance Manufacturing.

* $100,000 to the City of Bogalusa in order to properly equip the Bogalusa Police Department with computers, a tracking system and proper tools.