Yeah, sure, and we'd also have less sick people if we stopped building hospitals.
Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argued Thursday that authorities should stop building prisons and instead focus on underlying public health issues as New York City seeks to address a recent surge in violent crime.
New York Democrats, including Ocasio-Cortez, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jamaal Bowman, called on Congress to earmark $400,000 toward a program called "Stand Up To Violence," which seeks to address gun violence through counseling and community outreach. Ocasio-Cortez said it was "not acceptable" to use jails as "garbage bins."
"If we want to reduce violent crime, if we want to reduce the number of people in our jails, the answer is to stop building more of them," Ocasio-Cortez said. "The answer is to make sure that we actually build more hospitals, we pay organizers, we get people mental health care and overall health care, employment, etc. It’s to support communities, not throw them away."
Ocasio-Cortez and fellow Democrats are seeking congressional funding through a process called "earmarking," a newly reintroduced method that allows lawmakers to request financial support for causes within their districts. The "Stand Up To Violence" program is based at a hospital located in Ocasio-Cortez’s home district.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 03: Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) answers a question during a press conference at Jacobi Hospital in the Morris Park neighborhood on June 03, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), joined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), held a press conference urging Congress to provide $400,000 to Jacobi Hospital's Stand Up to Violence (SUV) Program, a youth violence reduction program, on the heels of a Memorial Day weekend that saw a total of nine shootings across NYC. One of the victims was a 15-year old Bronx resident. The program is modeled after Chicago's Cure Violence program that responds to shootings to help prevent retaliation and to assists family members of those who have been injured or killed. The money would allow Stand Up to Violence (SUV) Program to add an emergency room social worker, case worker, part time psychiatrist and a creative arts or music therapist. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)