216 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

overlooking the "nuts and bolts" of this problem. We should be put-
ting more and better qualified law enforcement officers on the street,
more and better qualified correctional officers in our penal institutions,
and finally, more and better qualified officers in a position to supervise
our parole and probation subjects.

We have attempted in our State to do something about this aspect
of the problem this year by specific State grants to local governments
for public safety. Included in a new fiscal reform package enacted by
the Legislature is $15, 846, 000 in State aid for this purpose.

But increasing the budgets of police departments is only a fragment
of the job to be done. Prosecutors, judges, the prison administration
and the parole board all must cooperate in a coordinated effort to im-
prove law enforcement. All are indispensable links in the chain.

Necessary to all of these efforts, if we are to successfully combat
crime, is a larger effort to rehabilitate the environment which breeds
and sustains crime. The struggle against poverty, slums, ignorance and

prejudice is Overwhelming in scope and by its very nature slow and

gradual. But unless we prevail in this effort, all others will be for
naught. It encompasses the whole spectrum of our community life—
education, family organization, employment opportunities, and hous-
ing.

H. R. 5037 should serve as a catalyst to encourage our states and
cities, with the assistance of the Federal government, to begin remedial
action in a concerted effort to fight crime. It is a beginning only. The
challenge is not solely a law enforcement problem but summons all
the resources of the community. While we may dispute the priorities
that must be established, and the mechanics to be employed through
legislation such as this, there is certainly no dispute as to the enormity
of the problem and the absolute necessity for cooperative and concerted
action at every level of government. I therefore endorse wholeheart-
edly H. R. 5037 as a first step in our nationwide effort to fight crime
and strongly urge its passage by the Congress.