Butcher

SENATE LEGISLATIVE RECORD OF 118th CONGRESS

Voting YES On Legislation

• No Current Votes

Voting NO On Legislation

• No Current Votes

Voting PRESENT On Legislation

• No Current Votes

Sponsored Legislation

• Community Law Enforcement And Renewal Act (CLEAR) Act

PRESS OFFICE OF SENATOR DOUGLAS BUTCHER (R-TX)

CLEAR Act: Senator Butcher Introduces Policing, Community Development Bill

Washington - Sen. Douglas Butcher introduced the Community Law Enforcement And Redevelopment Act to the United States Senate. The CLEAR Act  would provide funding for law enforcement, increasing efforts to combat crime and supporting efforts like Weed And Seed. The bill would also invest in local businesses through the Community Development Financial Investments Fund and New Market Tax Credits. Senator Butcher spoke on the legislation:

“This legislation will invest in law enforcement and improve the efforts on community policing which are vital to addressing the rampant increase in crime which we have seen in recent years. As so many of our communities find crime on the rise, we need to support our law enforcement community in their efforts to turn back the tide of crime. For nearly 20 years, I was proud to wear a badge and stand a post in the efforts to create safer communities.

However, we also know that the elements of crime that affect our communities are often a reflection of economic situations where opportunity is in short supply. That is why this legislation will invest in programs like CDFI and New Market Tax Credits which can get small businesses up and running and serve those communities, creating jobs and stronger communities in the process.

In the past few years, we’ve seen this country go through changes. In a response to the tragedy of George Floyd, communities began a move to defund police departments. Liberal prosecutors began to let crime go unchecked, particularly in response to theft. The aftermath of failing to prosecute has left businesses taking measures we would never have thought we would see. Products are now locked up on shelves because they can’t trust that they will be secure. We’ve seen flash mobs of targeted theft. It is my hope that this legislation can send a clear message that we support law enforcement as well as the communities they serve.

We know that insane ideas have come to pass as supposed common sense in progressive circles. We’ve seen high-profile Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez advance ideas like prison abolition, releasing studies from a communist like Angela Davis as the blueprint for our future. To the prison abolition movement, the idea of prisons is rooted in slavery and what academics like Dorothy Roberts call ‘racial capitalism.’

While it is easy to spout off that spectacular level of bullshit to the bowels of academia or to the dilettantes in Che t-shirts, the idea of shutting down our prisons is an insult to every mugging victim, every rape victim, and every mother and father who had to bury their murdered child. There is a reason we support law enforcement and must continue to do so.

It is my belief that this bill will work to support those in local law enforcement who are on the front lines and working for those safer communities. Together, this Congress can pass this legislation send that message that we still value law and order in America.”

Senator BUTCHER, for himself, introduces to the United States Senate:

AN ACT

To provide funding to improve local law enforcement capabilities through material support and provide funding for community development in areas of high crime.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Community Law Enforcement And Renewal Act” or “CLEAR Act”.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

A. The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program is a program which is administered by the Department of Justice. Named for slain NYPD Officer Edward Byrne, the program provides funding to local, state and tribal law enforcement entities to provide for personnel, equipment and training of law enforcement;

B. The Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Program is a program which is administered by the Department Of Justice. The program invests in the development of practitioner-researcher partnerships that use data, evidence, and innovation to create strategies and interventions that are effective and economical;

C. The National Weed and Seed Program is a program which is administered by the Department of Justice. The program provides an innovative and comprehensive approach to law enforcement and community revitalization, and to prevent and control violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity in target areas. To achieve these goals, Weed and Seed integrates law enforcement, community policing, prevention, intervention, treatment, and neighborhood restoration efforts;

D. The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and the New Markets Tax Credit are administered by the Department of Treasury. They provide access and availability of credit and financial services to underserved markets and populations, often in communities with high crime rates.

SEC. 3. PROVISIONS.

A. There shall be allocated for each of the next five fiscal years, an additional amount of $1.5 billion per year to the Department of Justice, designated solely for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program;

B. There shall be designated for each of the next five fiscal years, an additional amount of $500 million per year to the Department of Justice, designated solely for the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Program;

C. There shall be designated for each of the next five fiscal years, an amount of $2 billion per year to the Department of Justice, designated solely for the National Weed And Seed Program;

D. There shall be designated for each of the next five fiscal years, an additional amount of $2 billion per year to the Department of Treasury, designated solely for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund as well as for the expansion of New Markets Tax Credits.

SEC. 4. OFFSETS.

A. The total expenditure of this legislation shall be $6 billion;

B. Expenditures in the bill shall be offset by the elimination of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program which shall account for $1.7 billion;

C. Expenditures in this bill shall be offset by the reduction in the outlay of sugar subsidies by an estimated amount of $4 billion.

The Senate roster was updated. I changed it back to Class 2. My bio is now back to the original sign-in. I took the Cornyn seat.

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE OF SEN. DOUGLAS BUTCHER (R-TX)

PRESS RELEASES - PUBLIC APPEARANCES - PUBLISHED MEDIA

PRESS RELEASES

★ CLEAR Act: Senator Butcher Introduces Policing, Community Development Bill

PUBLIC APPEARANCES

PUBLISHED MEDIA

Changed to reflect the seat. To compensate, added a House term.

Thirteen

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY

SEN. DOUGLAS E. BUTCHER (R-TX)

Name: Douglas Evan Butcher

Seat: Texas, Class 2

Political Party: Republican

Major Caucus: Republican Study Committee

Special Talent: Rhetorician

Born: October 31, 1968, in New Braunfels, Texas

Residence: San Antonio, Texas

Avatar: Chris Sununu

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Race: White 

Religion: Roman Catholic

Family History: Middle Class

Family 

1996-Present: Married to Nina Calderon (b. 1975, Cienfuegos, Cuba)

• Children: Luke Butcher (Son, b. 1998), Diego Butcher (Son, b. 1998), Christina Butcher (Daughter, b. 2005)

Education

1986: Valedictorian – Canyon High School – New Braunfels, Texas

1990: B.S. in Criminology – Texas Tech University (Cum Laude)

Career History

1990-2006: San Antonio Police Department

• 1990-1993: Police Officer
• 1993-1996: Detective-Investigator
• 1996-1999: Sergeant
• 1999-2001: Lieutenant
• 2001-2004: Captain
• 2004-2005: Deputy Police Chief

2005-2007: Austin Police Department

• 2005-2007: Chief Of Police

Political History

2004-2007: Executive Board, Texas Fraternal Order Of Police

2006: Republican – Elected, House Of Representatives, Texas 21^st District

2007-2015: U.S. House Of Representatives, Texas 21^st District

2014: Republican – Elected, United States Senate, Texas, Class 2

2015-Present: United States Senator – Texas, Class 2   

Published Works

2002: A Walk Along The River – Inside The San Antonio Cult Murders (347 pages, Harper & Row)

•  Mystery Writers Guild of America – 2003 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime Book

Congressional Voting Record

110th Congress 2007-2009
 NAY: Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (H.R. 976)
111th Congress 2009-2011
 AYE: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
112th Congress 2011-2013
 AYE: American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
113th Congress 2013-2015
 NAY: Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013
114th Congress 2015-2017
 AYE: USA FREEDOM Act
115th Congress 2017-2019
 AYE: Health Care Freedom Act of 2017
116th Congress 2019-2021
 NAY: Trump Impeachment Articles I and II

BIOGRAPHY OF SENATOR DOUGLAS E. BUTCHER

Douglas Evan Butcher was born on October 31, 1968, in New Braunfels, Texas to a middle-class family as the youngest of four brothers. He excelled in academics, graduating as valedictorian from Canyon High School in 1986. After graduating high school, Doug would enroll in Texas Tech University, where he studied criminology. In 1990, he would graduate from Texas Tech, graduating cum laude.

After graduating the city’s police academy, Doug Butcher would be hired by the San Antonio Police Department in 1990, beginning what would be a distinguished near-20-year career in law enforcement. Over the next two decades, he would rise to the position of deputy police chief with San Antonio P.D. – a position he would hold until being hired as the police chief of Austin, Texas. He would serve in that position in Austin for three years until his run for elected office. 

Doug Butcher’s most notable case during his career was a series of cult-based murders that shook the greater San Antonio area in 1997. The discovery of five corpses along the San Antonio and Guadalupe Rivers, murdered by ritualistic means, would lead to a two-year extensive investigation and manhunt that led to the arrest of members of the Nephews Of God cult. The story of the murders prompted the writing of the book A Walk Along The River, in which Doug detailed the gripping and honest account of bringing the killers to justice. The book became a best seller and earned him an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime Book in 2003.

In 2006, Doug Butcher would run for the House of Representatives, winning the Republican nomination to fill the seat in the Texas 21^st District after the retirement of Lamar Smith. He would go on to serve four terms in the House where he earned a reputation as a solid conservative voice in Texas politics. With the decision of John Cornyn not to run for re-election, he would put forward his candidacy for the United States Senate in 2014, winning a contested Republican primary and going on to defeat businessman David Alameel in the general election. Butcher was re-elected comfortably in 2020.

Sen. Douglas Butcher currently resides in suburban San Antonio with his wife Nina. In his spare time, Senator Butcher enjoys cooking, bowling, painting, fishing, and playing piano. They have a black Labrador retriever named Pancho.

BIOGRAPHY OF NINA CALDERON-BUTCHER

Nina Calderon was born in Cuba in 1975 and moved to the United States at the age of five when her parents fled the Castro regime and moved to Houston. Nina has worked for several decades as a professional chef in the San Antonio area, having graduated with associate’s in culinary arts (A.A.S.) from Galveston College. She opened her own restaurant, Nigiri Cubano, in 2010 specializing in Cuban-Japanese fusion cuisine.

BIO POINTS (82): 20 (Notable - Police Captain), 10 (Activist – Police Union), 12 (House Of Representatives – 4 Terms), 5 (Previous Senate), 10 (Published Book), 15 (Cultural Award), 10 (Wife – Child Of Immigrants –  Latino Cuban)