Thank you for your steadfast commitment to expand Drug Courts. Today, 2,369 Drug Courts, located in every U.S. state, are reducing substance abuse and crime at significant savings to taxpayers and with considerable and lasting effects on community safety. I urge that an investment of $250 million in Drug Court be made in the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget to help put a Drug Court within reach of every American in need.

There is currently widespread support of Drug Courts on Capitol Hill. As Newsweek recently stated, Drug Courts represent “a bipartisan drug policy twenty years in the making.” Congress has voted to significantly increase funding for Drug Courts in the previous two budget cycles and a $250 million investment (consistent with what was originally authorized by Congress) would address their bipartisan efforts and allow for continued support.

Drug Courts annually serve over 120,000 people every year, with 70% never seeing another pair of handcuffs. They are an answer for broken families and an intervention for juveniles on the brink of a life of drug abuse and crime. Drug Courts keep our highways safe from drunk drivers and Drug Courts help our heroes in the armed forces, who, because of an alcohol or drug problem, have become involved in the justice system. For all these individuals, and many more, Drug Courts are a solution.

For the 1.2 million prison-bound, drug-abusing offenders currently involved in the justice system that the Department of Justice has identified would benefit from Drug Courts, Drug Courts hold the potential for a passport to a new way of life.

An investment of $250 million in FY’ 2011 would bring us significantly closer to putting a Drug Court within reach of every American in need, as well as provide an estimated return of $840 million in net benefits from avoided criminal justice and victimization costs alone. The verdict is in: Drug Courts work. I ask that you make the necessary investment so that we can once and for all break the cycle of drugs and crime in this country.