Sep 05 2006

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint today announced the South Carolina Office of Rural Health will receive a $98,368 grant to provide technical assistance to rural medical facilities. All qualified EMS and rural medical facilities will be eligible to apply for assistance, but special focus will be given to the 104 Rural Health Clinics located in medically underserved communities. Technical assistance workshops will focus on: billing, coding, and practice management; coding training and certification for rural physician and EMS personnel; human resources training; and loans to rural health care providers for renovation, expansion, acquisition, or equipment purchase. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ####

Sep 05 2006

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint today announced the Georgetown County United Way will receive a $2,650,870 grant to support early childhood reading. The funds will be used by United Way of Georgetown County along with coalition partners First Steps of Georgetown and Williamsburg Counties, Little Smurfs Child Care Center, and the Georgetown and Williamsburg School Districts to implement the Building Literacy Opportunities for Coastal Kindergartens (BLOCK) program. BLOCK helps provide enhanced learning opportunities for students in rural, poverty-stricken areas of coastal South Carolina. The program seeks to improve students’ oral language, alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and print awareness skills. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. ####

Aug 31 2006

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint today announced community health centers in Little River and Ridgeland will receive Community Health Center grants totaling more than $370,000. Community Health Center grants are designed to promote the development and operation of community-based primary health care service systems in medically underserved areas. The grants will allow both centers to expand services to their surrounding communities. Little River Little River Medical Center will receive a $270,907 grant. Ridgeland Beaufort-Jasper Comprehensive Health Services will receive a $102,248 grant. The grants were awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ####

Aug 31 2006

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint today announced the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) will receive two grants for nearly $1 million to improve future capacity to conduct DNA tests and to help reduce the backlog of DNA analysis cases. SLED will receive a $666,200 grant to improve DNA-testing infrastructure and analysis capacity at government-owned labs to prevent future DNA backlogs. In addition, SLED will receive a $332,766 grant to analyze backlogged forensic DNA casework in government-owned labs and private vendors. Both grants were awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice. ####

Aug 30 2006

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint today announced nearly $300,000 in Drug-Free Community (DFC) Grants for Columbia, Lancaster, and Sumter. The DFC Program provides grants to community organizations that serve as catalysts for citizen participation in local drug prevention efforts. Columbia Richland One Community Coalition will receive a $99,997 grant. Lancaster Lancaster County Prevention Coalition will receive a $98,021 grant. Sumter Sumter Citizens Coalition will receive a $99,985 grant. The grants are awarded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. ####

Aug 30 2006

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint today announced more than $500,000 for emergency response initiatives in Beaufort and Kershaw schools. Beaufort County School District will receive a $294,771 grant and Kershaw County School District will receive $211,460. Emergency Response and Crisis Management Grants provide funds to local education agencies to improve and strengthen emergency response plans in all four areas of crisis response: prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. ####

Aug 28 2006

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint today announced the South Carolina Department of Public Safety will receive a $616,000 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention grant to improve our state’s juvenile justice system. The funds may be used for a variety of programs and activities including: planning and administration, compliance monitoring, juvenile justice issues for American Indian tribes, substance abuse prevention, crime prevention, gang involvement prevention, identification of at risk youth, treatment programs, and aftercare. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice. ####

Aug 28 2006

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham today announced Orangeburg County will receive a $54,409 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant. The funds will be used to purchase security cameras to monitor the Orangeburg County Courthouse. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice. ####

Aug 10 2006

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made the following statement on the foiled terror plot to blow up flights from Great Britain to the United States. “To win the War on Terror, our will as a nation must be greater than the will of the terrorists. This is another reminder our enemy remains out there -- plotting and scheming -- to do harm to us and other freedom-loving people around the world. "I want to congratulate the intelligence and law enforcement agencies in Great Britain and the United States for working to stop this terror plot. Lives were saved because of their work. “Our enemies’ desire to harm us has not changed. The evil they represent needs to be confronted. “We need to keep the terrorists on the run and win the War on Terror being fought in Iraq. The terrorists understand what is on the line -- it is why they are so brutal and vicious. They know if a democracy can emerge from a dictatorship, it will be a mighty blow to their efforts to spread evil throughout the Middle East and around the globe. “As a nation, we should learn two lessons from today's events. Stopping this plot shows the need for us to have good intelligence, well-trained law enforcement officers and agencies, and valuable allies like Britain. Second, the enemy has not gone away. While they may have changed methods and forms, they still have the same desire to kill Americans and other freedom-loving people. They must be defeated.” ####

Aug 10 2006

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint today announced more than $635,000 in grants to fire departments in Cordova, Gaffney, Goose Creek, Hampton, Vance, and Williamston. “Firefighters and emergency service personnel dedicate themselves to protecting the health and safety of South Carolinians,” said Graham. “These grants help fire departments save lives by providing the means to obtain the best equipment and training available.” “I’m pleased to announce these grants that are important to the brave firefighters that risk their lives for the families of South Carolina,” said Senator DeMint. The Operations and Firefighter Safety Program grant may be used for training, wellness, and fitness programs; the purchase of firefighting equipment and personal protective equipment; and modifications to fire stations and facilities. The grants awarded include: Cordova Cordova Fire Department will receive $106,593. Gaffney Gaffney Fire Department will receive $160,466. Goose Creek Goose Creek Rural Fire Department will receive $93,216. Hampton Hampton Station 50 will receive $159,999. Vance Vance Volunteer Fire Department will receive $91,110. Williamston Williamston Fire Department will receive $26,410. The Assistance to Firefighters grant program awards one-year grants directly to local fire departments, enhancing their ability to respond to fire and fire-related hazards in the community. The program supports departments by providing the tools and resources necessary to protect the health and safety of the public and firefighting personnel. Grantees share in the cost of the funded project at a percentage based on the population of their respective jurisdiction. Grantees that serve jurisdictions of 50,000 or fewer residents are required to provide a non-Federal cost-share of 10 percent while grantees that serve jurisdictions of over 50,000 provide a 30 percent cost-share. The match must be in cash without the use of in-kind contributions. In addition, the maximum amount of federal funds that an applicant can be awarded is $750,000 during any fiscal year. The grants are made by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ####