Transcripts For CSPAN3 Attorney 20240702 : vimarsana.com

CSPAN3 Attorney July 2, 2024

Things such as upholding the rule of law and keeping our country safe. It is the job of congress to examine whether Agency Priorities line up with these themes and fund the department appropriately and accordingly. Unfortunately, the departments budget underwhelmed and has not identified areas where Strategic Options could be made aside from eight to local Law Enforcement. I am not advocating for arbitrary, largescale reductions that would make the department ineffective and our country less safe. I do believe robust Law Enforcement is not a conflicting goal. Lets examine the departments 25 fiscal 20 five hours. And you know that the fentanyl epidemic accounts for some two thirds of the more than 110,000 Drug Overdose deaths each year. The submission rightly highlights defeating drug cartels and combating the communities the budget puts a departmentwide emphasis on equipping federal agents with body cameras. Drug cartels and their crime syndicates in the United States must be decimated. The death and devastation cartels and gangs are flicking on american families, bringing them to justice are to be the departments top priority. Whether they are doing the decimated, have a camera attached to them is secondary by far. Despite the administrations best efforts to push the issue to the back burner. People and drugs continue to flow. 51 chinese citizens were apprehended. 50 times. 50 times worse. When landowners attempt to protect their property, they end up being arrested. When will this madness stop . Perhaps when this demonstration takes the caps off caps off Law Enforcement and allows them to do their job. They noted a decrease in homicide, rape, robbery and American Assault and cities. These decreases were slight and the numbers remain unacceptably high. Nevertheless, i am hopeful this change in direction signifies a lasting aboutface for those who embraced the defund the Police Movement and vindication for those of us who decried it from the very beginning. With the trends seem to go to go in the right direction, it confounds me that the Department Seeks to cut Law Enforcement assistance. This is protecting National Security by countering terrorism, Cyber Threats and nationstate threats. To that end, i will commend the National Security division for acknowledging in their budget submission the october 7 terrorist attack on israel by the terror group hamas. Noting that the attack has led to an increase in terror related activity. Both domestically and overseas. Such a warning has taken on greater importance in recent weeks. This chance of these cha nts are now being heard on american streets. If such chants are not terror related conduct, i tell you it is pretty close. I would like to hear if the attorney general agrees and what action the Department Might take regarding these us information statements of condemnation. The department of justice over the last 40 years has picked sides in prosecuting and fails to hold the rule of law equally when it comes to american citizens and even american businesses. It is not surprising. Are at odds with what we consider good government, we will respond accordingly. Recognizing that you have an incredibly demanding job, i appreciate you being here today. We look forward to working with the Ranking Member and all members of the subcommittee to appropriately fund the Important Missions of the department of justice as this years appropriations process moves forward. At this time, i want to recognize mr. Cartwright for any remarks he may wish to make. Mr. Cartwright thank you. I would like to welcome Merrick Garland back to the subcommittee to discuss the department of justices fiscal year 2025 budget west. Ag garland, thank you for your continued leadership at the department of justice for leading the men and women who worked tirelessly to continue the pursuit of truth and justice. Resources provided to the Justice Department are and will continue to be under a microscope but the mission of the Justice Department remains unchanged. I look forward to working with you to ensure we are making smart investments, keep our communities safe. Just last week fbi director ray was before us and we heard about the real challenges the fbi along with the state local and tribal Law Enforcement partners are facing, especially in keeping deadly sentinel off the streets. Sentinel fentanyl. We are asking for more from fbi, not less, and i am sure that can be said for other bureaus as well. The defense of our National Security and mitigation of emerging foreign and domestic threats including cyber is critical. I view it as the main mission, our power mount responsibility, keeping americans safe in congress and the departments role in upholding the rule of law and preserving our Democratic Values of free and Fair Elections cannot be understated. Your fiscal year 2025 budget request seeks 38 point 9 billion in discretionary funding, a 5 increase above the last fiscal year. You prioritize the funding for the over 100,000 employees at the department of justice and makes vital increases to every federal lawenforcement agency in the u. S. Attorneys offices. You have requested a strong increase in the violence against women act grants as well as strong increases for cops hiring grants and formula funding for state and local Law Enforcement and i look forward to working with chairman rogers and you, attorney general garland, on ensuring we sustain investments at our that our state and local Law Enforcement partners rely on. Congress cannot ignore the challenges our communities at home face. Once again, welcome, thank you for being here, i look forward to your testimony and working with you on ensuring that we provide what the department of Justice Needs for fiscal year 2025. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Mr. Attorney general, you are now recognized for an Opening Statement. Without objection, your written statement will be entered into the record. I ask that you keep your statement to around five minutes so we can have additional time for questions from the panel. Merrick garland thank you, chairman rogers, Ranking Member cartwright, and distinguished members of the subcommittee for the opportunity to discuss the Justice Departments funding request for fiscal year 2025. Since i last appeared before you, the more than 115,000 Public Servants who make up the Justice Department have continued to work tirelessly to fulfill our mission to keep our country safe, to protect civil rights, and to uphold the rule of law. Over the past year, our u. S. Attorneys offices, Law Enforcement agents, and grantmaking experts have worked together with police and Community Partners across the country to help drive down Violent Crime. We have zeroed in on the individuals and gangs responsible for the greatest violence; made critical investments in Police Departments to hire more officers; and dedicated resources to initiatives aimed at preventing and disrupting violence before it occurs. We have gone after the cartels responsible for trafficking deadly fentanyl into our communities and brought their leaders to justice here in the United States. We have prosecuted fraud, recovered funds stolen from american taxpayers, and challenged illegal monopolies that hurt consumers and workers. We have worked to defend the reproductive freedoms that are protected by federal law, and to monitor laws and actions that infringe on those protections. We have worked to combat a disturbing spike in threats of violence against those who serve the public against judges, police officers, members of congress, and even our own employees. We have worked to aggressively investigate, prosecute, and disrupt the hate crimes that not only harm individuals, but strike fear across entire communities. And in everything we do, we have worked to ensure the equal protection of law that is foundational to our democracy. I am proud of the work we have done. And i am deeply proud of the way the departments Public Servants from our agents to our attorneys to our administrative staff have gone about their work. They have conducted themselves in a way that would make the American People proud. But we recognize that we have so much more to do. Our fiscal year 2025 budget request reflects the difficult budget environment we are in, and the extremely difficult budget choices we have had to make because of it. It also reflects the resources that we need, now more than ever, to continue our work. When i became attorney general three years ago, i knew that grappling with the Violent Crime that surged during the pandemic would be one of the greatest challenges we would face at the Justice Department. I am glad to be able to report that last year, we saw a significant decrease in overall Violent Crime across the country compared to the Previous Year including an over 13 decline in homicides. That is the largest oneyear decline in homicides in over 30 years. And data indicates this decline is continuing. As the wall street journal recently reported just this week, in the first three months this year, homicides dropped 20 across 133 cities compared to the same time period last year. But i want to be very clear there is no acceptable level of Violent Crime. Too many communities are still struggling, and too many people are still scared. The hardfought progress we are seeing can easily slip away. So, we must remain focused and vigilant. To continue our efforts to drive down Violent Crime, and to help keep our country safe from a range of threats, we are seeking a total of 21 billion to support the efforts of the fbi, atf, dea, u. S. Marshals service, and u. S. Attorneys offices, as well as the Criminal Division and the National Security division. We will use these resources to continue our fight against gun violence, to prosecute illegal gun traffickers and straw purchasers, and to invest in advanced technological tools like ballistics analysis, firearms tracing, gun intelligence centers, and local fusion cells. We will also use these resources to strengthen our work to counter both foreign and domestic terrorism. As the fbi director has testified, we are facing an increasing threat of foreign terrorism since october 7. We will also use these resources to continue to counter the threats that the governments of iran, russia, china, and north korea pose to our National Security and our economic stability. And we will use these resources to continue our efforts to dismantle the global fentanyl supply chain and to break apart the cartels responsible for flooding poison into our communities. As we deploy our own prosecutorial and investigative resources, we also recognize that the departments partnerships have been and will continue to be some of the most powerful tools we have to battle Violent Crime. That is why we are seeking investments in the departments three grantmaking components the office of justice programs, the office of Community Oriented policing services, and the office on violence against women. They provide direct support to community and Law Enforcement partners through more than 200 Grant Programs. Our budget requests more than 4. 3 billion to support the Public Safety efforts of our state, local, tribal, and territorial Law Enforcement and Community Partners. Of that amount, we are requesting 2. 5 billion for our Cops Hiring Program to support Law Enforcement agencies across the country in their efforts to hire fulltime Law Enforcement professionals. And we are requesting 120. 5 million as part of our new Violent Crime reduction and Prevention Fund to fund 940 detectives at the state and local level. As i have noted before, when the Justice Department was founded in 1870, one of its principal purposes was to protect civil rights. Today, protecting both the safety and the civil rights of everyone in this country remains our urgent obligation. Our budget seeks 201. 3 million for the Civil Rights Division to continue its essential work, including its efforts to deter and prosecute hate crimes, to ensure constitutional policing, to enforce federal laws prohibiting discrimination in all its forms, and to protect the right of all eligible citizens to vote and to have that vote counted. The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. Protecting that right also requires us to protect the citizens who we rely on to fairly administer voting. Our democracy cannot function if officials, workers, and volunteers who administer our elections have to fear for their lives just for doing their jobs. The Justice Department is aggressively investigating and prosecuting those who threaten election workers with violence. And we will continue to do so. As i said, i am extremely proud of the work the departments employees are doing to advance the departments mission. Every day, their work brings them facetoface with some of our countrys greatest challenges. Every day, many of them risk their lives to protect the public. I am grateful to them. I respectfully ask for your support for the president s fiscal year 2025 budget request so that we can continue our work on behalf of the American People. Thank you, attorney general garland. We will proceed with the five minute rule with questions from the witness. We will begin by recognizing myself. You mentioned in your testimony about being here last year at this time. This time last year there were 120,000 people who died because of our inability to stop the flow of fentanyl, especially. Most recent data from cdc shows for may 2022 until may 2023, for the first time in american history, over 12,000 americans died from a Drug Overdose. 2200 of them from kentucky alone. Fentanyl remains the primary driver of the increase in Overdose Deaths and Young Americans have been particularly hardhit. For teenagers, 84 of fatal overdoses involved fentanyl. Almost all. Director wray testified here last week and he said, the last two years in a row the fbi has seized enough fentanyl to kill 270 million americans. There can be no doubt that a tragically high amount of narcotics are slipping through our southern border and the border crisis created by thiS Administration is a dream scenario for cartels. They have never had it so good. Departments budget submission has listed combating Drug Trafficking and preventing Overdose Deaths as a top priority. With multiple agencies and components within the department of justice implementing strategies to counter fentanyl, how are you assuring and ensuring that agencies do not silo their intelligence and that these efforts complement rather than inhibit each other . Ag garland a very important point. Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat the country has ever faced because it is extraordinarily cheap to make, profitable to sell, and how often it can be fatal. As the dea has said, just one pill can kill. So justest department the Justice Department and the government as a whole, you are exactly right we have to prevent any kind of siloing so fbi, dea, marshalls, Criminal Division, civil division, grants to local and State Government Law Enforcement are all combined to Work Together to battle discourage. It begins battle this scourge. It begins with the precursors in china. We have charged and indicted the precursor companies, the treasury department, at the precursors then move into mexico. I personally traveled to mexico three times and the Deputy Attorney general has also traveled three times, other high government officials have traveled to persuade the Mexican Government

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