Nevada senators get feds to release 1 October funds
Nevada’s two U.S. senators said Friday the Department of Justice released some of the $16.7 million promised in 2018 to help survivors of the Oct. 1, 2017, Route 91 Harvest festival mass shooting.
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen wrote to Attorney General William Barr on Jan. 15 saying that the delayed release of the money was “hindering the ability of service providers to assist survivors and family members impacted by the worst mass shooting in modern American history.”
A gunman killed 58 people and wounded hundreds in the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
In a joint release Friday, the senators said the Justice Department released six months’ worth of the money the day after they sent their letter.
“Survivors and families who lost their loved ones are still dealing with the physical and emotional scars from this tragedy, and they depend on Nevada’s dedicated service providers for the resources and support they need to heal,” the Democrats said in a statement.
The Justice Department announced the grant of $16.7 million in November 2018 under its Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program for crime victims. The money is intended for concert attendees and staff, vendors, law enforcement personnel and other first responders, family members, medical personnel and others who assisted. The money is to defray the costs of counseling and therapy, vocational rehabilitation and trauma recovery for victims and emergency responders.
Neither members of the senators’ staff nor a DOJ representative could be reached for additional comment Friday. The Senate remains involved in the impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
DOJ letter re 1 October victims' funds by Las Vegas Review-Journal on Scribd
Contact Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @DentzerNews on Twitter.