Not Taking Security for Granted

Nathan Diament, the Orthodox Union’s executive director for public policy, spoke with Hamodia on January 27, a day after he was one of a number of religious leaders who joined Senate majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) at a press conference calling for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to be doubled to $360 million annually. (See related article in this week’s newspaper.) As the OU’s chief lobbyist in Washington, Mr. Diament was one of those who spearheaded the NSGP nearly two decades ago.

Tell us a little bit about how the NSGP got started.

We started it in 2005. We began advocating for it not long after the Department of Homeland Security was created in late 2002, as a response to 9/11. Prior to that, you didn’t really have in the United States the notion of things like homeland security preparedness.

In the wake of 9/11, you had, particularly overseas, anti-Israel and antisemitic groups that were calling for attacks on America in general, and also for attacks on the Jewish community and synagogues, etc.

Not to say that security was never a concern, but the post-9/11 world definitely brought about a heightened concern. And we realized that security is really expensive.

The newly formed DHS was going to be doing a lot of work in the preparedness arena in general. And we said, “We need preparedness, we need security in the Jewish community, because of this impending threat.” So we started developing this concept. At the time, Joe Lieberman was the top Democrat on the newly formed Homeland Security Committee in the Senate. He was an ally at the outset. And, actually, Susan Collins, who’s still in the Senate, was the Republican chairperson. So we developed the concept in partnership with them.

It started off as a $25-million-a-year program, and it was very restricted geographically. The way we were able to get it through in the legislation, it was underneath the umbrella of a much larger grant program, which was mainly targeted at the largest metropolitan areas across the country.

So, for example, back then it might apply to a congregation in New York or Los Angeles, but not in Colleyville, Texas, or Poway, California?

I’ll give you one better: In those early years, it applied to a shul in the Bronx or Westchester, but a shul in Monsey would not be eligible. Under the rubric they were using, Rockland County was not considered part of the New York City metropolitan area.

It started off at $25 million, then there were some years where it went down, not because of opposition to this program in particular, but because there were all kinds of federal budget cuts. It went down as low as $10 million.

In more recent years, we got it back up to $25 million, then up to $50 million. Now it’s at $180 million. We also got it expanded geographically, beyond the major metropolitan centers, so Monsey can apply, and so can Colleyville, Texas. In fact, that congregation in Colleyville that was taken hostage had received funds for security training from NSGP.

NSGP is closely associated with the OU, though other groups have been lobbying for it, including Agudah and UJA, since Jews are a prime target for hate crimes. But various Christian organizations have been lobbying for it, too. Have most of the disbursements gone to Jewish congregations? Or are other groups and institutions benefiting from it as well?

The program applies to any nonprofit that is at risk of an attack, religious or secular.

For the first 10 to 12 years of the program, about 75% of the money went to Jewish institutions like shuls, yeshivos, day schools and JCCs, with the rest going to Christian, Muslim, and other institutions. In the past three or four years, the non-Jewish groups have been getting a bigger percentage of the funds. There have been more attacks and incidents in different kinds of religious communities. There was an attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin; there were various attacks on churches, including the Emanuel AME in Charleston. So there has been more awareness in other religious communities of the importance of security. And there has been more money available as the funds have increased. So other institutions at risk have been getting approved for the grants recently.

Still, more than 50% is going to the Jewish community, in part because we work it very proactively, like we do webinars for shuls and schools, explaining how they can apply for the program.

What exactly can the funds be used for?

It can be used for physical improvements like shatterproof glass, surveillance cameras, alarm systems, and fencing. It can be used to hire professional security guards or off-duty policemen. And you can use it for training members of the congregation, like active shooter drills.

The maximum amount per institution has varied. Last year it was $150,000.

How do institutions apply?

The timing depends on when Congress does the appropriations bill. Once they do the appropriations bill, DHS puts out a notice of application.

When the application window opens, we notify everybody and send emails around and do webinars.

You have to have a security assessment of your building, to assess what has to be done to improve the security of that particular building.

You’ll fill out the application through the New York State Department of Homeland Security or the New Jersey Department of Homeland Security, etc., because they’re the ones that are receiving and processing the applications.

The DHS office in that state reviews and ranks the applications and sends them to Washington. FEMA is the grant-making part of DHS. So FEMA reviews the applications, and awards the funds depending on how much is available.

The funds are distributed as grants, not reimbursements. It can’t be used for past expenditures. The government gives the money for the institutions to spend; they spend it, then submit receipts to prove it was spent properly.

Can an institution apply now?

No.

Right now, the federal budget across the board is up in the air.

The deadline for the Fiscal 2022 budget is February 18. They’re already late. And the appropriators in Congress are negotiating over what to do. Hopefully, the deal will come together. And let’s say it comes together by the end of February, that would mean that — whether they settle on $180 million or $360 million — the application period will open probably sometime in late March or early April.

Yesterday, you participated in a press conference at UJA headquarters in Manhattan, with Senator Schumer and leaders of Jewish and other religious groups, calling for the funding to be doubled to $360 million. Why is a doubling of the program necessary?

Last year, there were more than $400 million worth of grants applied for, but only $180 million to give out. That tells you that $360 million is much more in the ballpark of the level of need and demand that’s out there than $180 million.

Do you think there will be bipartisan support for this?

There’s bipartisan support for increasing this program. In fact, we have “Dear Colleague” letters circulating right now, both in the Senate and the House, and there are a lot of Republicans and Democrats signing on.

Whether we get to the $360 million has more to do with the broader politics around funding the government than anything with regard to this particular program. Republicans and Democrats are negotiating right now over what they call topline numbers — like, how much money overall will they give to the Department of Homeland Security? Once they come to an agreement on that, then you get more into how much they may increase a particular program within the department.

There might be a little bit of partisan friction because Democrats want to spend more money and Republicans want to spend less money. But the fight is not ideologically over this cause.

There are many small shuls and shtiebels that can’t afford security guards, and no matter how much government funding may be increased, there’s no way the government will provide funding for a security guard for every shtiebel. What can be done to improve security in such places?

The OU is eager and ready to work with shtieblach just as much as larger kehillos. And there is a related program we are working on — I actually just had a conversation with somebody at the Justice Department about this today: The federal government, through the Justice Department, gives a lot of federal money to local police departments for various purposes. Oftentimes, the federal money is for specific purposes, like for keeping school areas more safe and drug-free, or to combat domestic violence, or whatever. So we’ve been talking with some allies in Congress and with the Justice Department about earmarking some of that money specifically to fund police departments having more patrols and presence at shuls and other houses of worship, certainly at high-use times, like Shabbos for shuls and Sundays for churches.

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rborchardt@hamodia.com