Wagner Leads Bipartisan Group of House Members in Effort to Avert Cuts to Victims Assistance Funding in FY24 Appropriations

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO) released the following statement after she sent a letter to Congressional Leadership and Appropriations Chairs urging them to include her amendment language bolstering the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) in the Fiscal Year 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill.   This effort was co-led with Wagner by Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Jim Costa (D-CA).

The Members said: “We write to you with great concern regarding the impending reduction in obligations from the Crime Victims Fund (CVF). We urge you to include language in the final fiscal year (FY) 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill that would avert catastrophic cuts to victim assistance programs throughout the United States…This vital fund supports victim assistance programs through grants to states, local government, and other non-profit entities. Importantly, this funding comes at no expense to the taxpayer, as the CVF is financed entirely from the criminal fines, penalties, special assessments, deferred prosecution agreements, and non-prosecution agreements of federal criminal cases. The programs supported by the CVF serve an average of 3.7 million victims each year.

“The CVF has consistently received bipartisan and bicameral support, and Congress must act to safeguard the resources on which over 3 million victims rely. Therefore, we urge you to include the False Claims Act amendment language in the final FY2024 CJS appropriations bill.”

Read the full letter here.