WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that the Fiscal Year 2016 appropriations bill will provide needed security funding for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

“Clevelanders are proud to be hosting the Republican National Convention,” said Brown. “The world will get to see what a great city Cleveland is. But to make sure the event is successful, ensuring public safety is essential. With this funding, the City of Cleveland will be able to meet the convention’s security needs and make sure state and local law enforcement have the support they need.” 

In July, Brown met with Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson to discuss Cleveland’s security needs ahead of the 2016 Republican National Convention. Brown helped facilitate meetings with key members of Congressional leadership, where they discussed the need for the federal government to appropriate security funding for the conventions, as it has in the past, to help hosting states and cities afford overtime pay for local law enforcement that will be required to staff the events.

In June, Brown and  U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) urged the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies to include $100 million in funding for security costs associated with the 2015 Democratic and Republican National Conventions being hosted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Cleveland, Ohio.

National Conventions are considered “National Special Security Events,” for which security is coordinated by the U.S. Secret Service. However, the Secret Service has no authority to provide supplemental funding to state and local law enforcement for security operations – which is why Congress must appropriate the funding as they have done for every convention since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The $100 million – which is similar to amounts provided for past conventions – would be appropriated under the Department of Justice’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) program and would be divided equally between the two cities. This would ensure that state and local law enforcement have the manpower and equipment needed to keep the conventions safe.

The full text of the letter is available here.