AUSTIN, Texas — Synagogues are being denied federal grants to boost security and infrastructure despite available funding, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Friday.
Cruz, who met with Jewish leaders in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Friday to discuss the synagogue hostage crisis that took place this month, said they told him their applications for the federal government to cover the costs of boosting security at their places of worship were overwhelmingly ignored, leaving them to cover the expenses.
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“There are federal programs right now that provide funding to help with synagogues and churches and mosques, houses of worship, harden their physical safety and infrastructure, be able to stand against an act of terror or an act of violence,” Cruz said during a press conference in Colleyville Friday afternoon.
“One of the things I heard is that many of the synagogues who have applied for this grant program have been turned down. They’ve been turned down, and they don’t have clear visibility on why they’ve been turned down,” Cruz said. “I and my team are going to work to try to get answers from the Biden administration, from the Department of Justice, from FEMA, as to how many houses at worships have applied for these programs, how many haven’t received funding, how many have been turned down, what the criteria have been, and … which houses of worship have been subjected to acts of violence in the aftermath.”
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Under the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, the government made $180 million available last year for such grants. However, $220 million worth of records were not funded last year, according to the Jewish Federations of North America and other groups.
This week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer backed a plan to double funding and make $360 million available to DHS for the place of worship security grants.
Cruz vowed to “significantly increase” funding available to places of worship.
Cruz’s meetings come two weeks after a British terrorist took four people hostage inside the Beth Israel Congregation in Colleyville on Jan. 15. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker credited training the congregation had undertaken as the reason for their survival.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Cruz and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, State Secretary Antony Blinken, and FBI Director Christopher Wray in letters this week to explain why Malik Faisal Akram was not listed on the U.S. terrorist watchlist or barred from admission for another reason. They cited claims he had a criminal record and had been investigated by British authorities for ties to an Islamic terrorist group.
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The Biden administration has not yet responded to Republicans’ inquiries, Cruz said Friday.
