A group of law enforcement officers from across eastern Iowa will meet with U.S. Senator Tom Harkin for a roundtable discussion on Friday in Cedar Rapids. Harkin, a Democrat, says he wants to hear how law officers are doing with the amount of federal dollars Congress is sending their way.

Harkin says he wants to talk with them about the budgets and what happened with the last appropriations bill in terms of cuts to rural law enforcement programs, and how it may be effecting the problem of methamphetamine abuse in Iowa.

Harkin says two critical nationwide law enforcement programs, the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant and the COPS program, were cut by a combined 320-million dollars last year. He says he wants a first-hand look at how crime-fighting in Iowa is being effected by the cuts. The roundtable is at 2:30 P.M. Friday at the Linn County Sheriff’s Office. It’s open to the public.