Senator Blumenthal Calls for Restoration of CRS
In a December 18, 2025 letter to Senate appropriators, Senator Richard Blumenthal called for CRS’s restoration, as he also urged for a $1 billion investment in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and significant funding for the NO HATE Act.
Senator Blumenthal’s letter calling for a dramatic increase in resources for programs that combat hate-based violence was addressed to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Chairs and Ranking Members of its Subcommittees on Homeland Security and Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies.
“Over the weekend, the global Jewish community was devastated by the horrifying terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia. This terrible tragedy is sadly not an anomaly and reflects a worldwide rise in antisemitism, extremist ideology, and hate-based violence,” Senator Blumenthal wrote. “That is why I urge you to show the Senate’s commitment to protecting our religious institutions and minority communities by . . . reestablishing and fully funding the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Community Relations Service (CRS).”
Senator Blumenthal also wrote: “We also know that local communities are integral in peacebuilding amongst citizens and tampering hate. To best support them, I also urge you to support reconstituting DOJ’s CRS, which was established by law as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For more than sixty years, CRS provided mediation services to help communities heal after attacks on houses of worship and hate crimes, and peacebuilding to prevent future violence. CRS mediators were deployed to Selma after Bloody Sunday; to South Dakota when members of the American Indian Movement occupied the village of Wounded Knee; to Skokie following the Nazi march; and to communities across America experiencing less high-profile, but no less impactful, incidents of conflict or violence.”
The full text of Senator Blumenthal’s letter is here.