Representative Malinowski Hosts Security Briefing for Local Faith Leaders

Press Release

This week, Representative Malinowski hosted a virtual Interfaith Security Briefing for local faith leaders in New Jersey's 7th District. Representative Malinowski was joined by representatives from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness who provided guidance on how to apply for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP).

The NSGP is a federally funded program that helps faith based and non profit organizations prevent, protect themselves against, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. Grant awards focus on the nation's highest risk areas that face the most significant threats, including faith-based organizations and non-profits in urban areas. For Fiscal Year 2020, nearly $700,000 was awarded to 7 faith-based institutions serving the 7th Congressional District. This was a significant increase over Fiscal Year 2019, when the district received no federal funds through this program.

"Our country is experiencing a spike in hate crimes, and our places of worship have increasingly been targeted," said Representative Malinowski. "I'm doing all I can to help churches, synagogues, mosques and other faith based institutions in my district get the support they need to be secure."

Since his first days in office, Representative Malinowski has been a leading voice in Congress in the fight domestic extremism, including anti-Semitism and white supremacy. At Representative Malinowski's request, the FY 2021 budget included over $35 million for Department of Homeland Security programs to prevent domestic terrorism, including the Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) and TVTP grants. Representative Malinowski led the effort to restore funding that the Trump administration cut from this program, and championed additional funds this year, securing an additional increase of $21 million.

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