On their respective budget proposals for fiscal year 2024. Theyre praying for the center probation on commerce injustice. Live coverage here on cspan 3. Subcommittee on unrelated agencies will come to order. Senator moran who is the Ranking Member will join us shortly, hes on the phone. There are also votes going on right now, two votes. We expect members of the subcommittee to come in and out. We want to go ahead and begin because we know that they have a hard stop at 4 30. Want to make sure we can get as much of the hearing is possible. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to todays hearing to review the president s fiscal year 2024 funding request for the federal bureau of investigation and Drug Enforcement administration. Our Witnesses Today our fbi director christopher wray. And the dea administrator, anne milgram. Its nice to have you here, again thank you for joining us. I want to begin by saying how deeply saddened i am that once again, we have our hearing with the fbi in the aftermath of yet another mass shooting. Nearly a year ago, we met just after the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School in uvalde, texas. Today, we meet after a gunman opened fire over the weekend in a Shopping Mall in dallas, texas. Killing eight people. I offer my condolences, and im sure i speak for everyone on this subcommittee to all those who have lost loved ones. But i know what we really want is policies that help keep americans safe. I personally stand ready to work across the aisle, to build on the bipartisan communities act, and to do everything i can working with the department of justice to better serve and protect. We are protecting our country from violent criminals, terrorists, and those who mean as great harm. We have charged more than 9000 employees of the dea to combat the most devastating drug prices in our nations history. I want to thank all of those for their dedication and service to this country. We need to do more to help them do their job and prevent needless merrick and deaths, whether they are buying guns, fentanyl poisoning, or other drugs. The fbis budget request of 11. 3 billion includes Additional Resources for combatting domestic terrorism and Violent Crimes. I want to hear from hear from you director wray. Where the fbi has flagged the resources to address rising violence against vulnerable americans. By criminals and criminal organizations, and how this request will help fill those gaps. We also have a different kind of violence being waged against americans, with illicit drugs like fentanyl that are flowing into this country. The introduction of fentanyl to the Substance Abuse disorder crisis has had a deadly and devastating impact in my home state of new hampshire. And throughout United States we have a generation of grandparents are raising their grandchildren, and four summits because parents were separated from kids due to their addiction. And for others its because parents did not serve either addiction. With the rise of social media, were seeing yet another Younger Generation become more vulnerable than ever to marketing of these drugs and to the increased accessibility that that means. Everything must be done to stop this next generation from succumbing to this epidemic, as well as new threats on the horizon. This includes the spread of xylazine, which is narcan resistant. Which means that it is even more deadly and its a growing problem in new hampshire, in new england, and across this country. Administrator milligram, i want to hear from you. As the dea has requested increase of 98 million and to combat the mexican cartels and their buyers. I was pleased here last weeks announcement on the announcement of operation last mile. It targeted the Sinaloa Cartels responsible for fentanyl and opioid trafficking. But these criminal organizations are sophisticated, they weaponize the tools of social media, chemistry, violence, and intimidation. Bribery, trade, and money laundering. All to trick people into taking deadly drugs. What do both the dea and fbi need to take on these Transnational Criminal Organizations . Not just sufficient funding, but are there other tools given to you, for example section 702 of the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act, which is set to expire at the end of this year. And how important is that. Director wray and administrator milgram, i look forward to your testimony and our session today. I think we will go ahead and get you to begin your testimony. When Ranking Member moran comes in, he will submit his opening remarks. So i will ask you to begin, director wray. Thank, you and good afternoon to members of the subcommittee. There is no question that todays threats are more sophisticated and move more quickly than ever before. Just stay ahead of them, only have requested important enhancements to our budget that will help us tackle the wide range of threats that we face, and i look forward to discussing those with you this afternoon. We start with cyber. Todays Cyber Threats are more pervasive, hit a wider variety of victims and carried the potential for greater damage than ever before. You take china. A key part of the Chinese Governments multipronged strategy to lie, cheat, and steal their way to surpassing us as a global superpower is cyber. The scale of the chinese cyber threat is unparalleled. Theyve got a bigger Hacking Program than that of every other major nation combined. And they have stolen more of americans personal and corporate data than every nation, big or small, combined. To give you a sense of what were up against, if every single one of the fbis cyber agents and intelligence analysts focused exclusively on the china threat, nothing but china, chinese hackers would still outnumber fbi cyber personnel by at least 50 to 1. And of course, china is hardly the only challenge in cyberspace. Not even close. As we speak, we are investigating over 100 different ransomware variants, each of them with scores of victims. As well as a host of other novel threats posed by both cyber criminals and actors alike. In addition to china, countries like russia, iran, and north korea. And its getting more and more challenging to discern where nation students would ultimately ends, and cybercriminal threat activity begins. Recently, we have seen Cyber Threats targeting the services the target ordinary americans every day. Im talking about places like hospitals, schools, 911 call centers. And the fbi has investigations into this all over the country, and communities both large and small. Which is why, in this years budget request you will see our needs for 192 more cyber positions and a little over 63 million. We will put those Critical Resources towards ensuring that the fbi remains the worlds premier cyber investigative agency. By taking the fight to our adversaries to join sequenced operations and rapid information sharing with the private sector. By building out our michael cyber squad, each tackling multiple threats and more field offices. Placing investigators and analysts close to the victims that need us. And by providing our workforce with critical cutting edge training. Our opponents in the space are relentless and we need your help to make sure weve got the resources to keep responding in time. Switching gears, almost every week i am speaking with chiefs and sheriffs from all over the country to discuss the threat we are fighting together. And i can tell you that in those conversations, invariably, the number one issue is always the same. A Violent Crime. Last year, working with our state and local partners through our hundreds of fbi led Violent Crime we arrested more than 20,000 violent criminals. Thats an average of 55 bad guys per day, every day, taken off the street. As part of our 24 budget, we are requesting an increase to build on our efforts to combat Violent Crime that affects communities across the country. A big part of that will also go towards our investigation into crimes against children. As Human Trafficking every, year the fbi and our partners identify and locate thousands of victims of child exploitation, and Human Trafficking. The enhancements weve requested will allow us to add even more personnel to that vital effort. And finally, ive described a threat of gangs and cartels moving fentanyl and other deadly substances across borders and into communities all over the country. As a threat of epidemic proportions. And im not the kind of guy that uses like epidemic lately. We are now pursuing investigations against transnational criminal groups and all 66 fbi field offices. And have more than 300, close to 400 active investigations into cartel leadership, specifically. On top of that, we are leveraging International Partnerships through or legalistss offices, to gather and share intelligence. And we are actively participating in six owes a Strike Forces, along the border. And although we, at the fbi, are not the agency tasked with the physical security of our borders, we are committed to doing our part to work with our partners, to tackle these very real, and very serious threats. Its part of that effort, five ask for 53 million, in part, to keep pace with the and dna samples from individuals crossing the border that were testing on behalf of the dhs. Over the past couple of years, we have provided critical dna testing support to 223 investigations, including more than 100 Sexual Assault and a dozen homicides. All based on matches from dna samples collected at the border by customs and border protection, and we expect that volume to increase as Border Crossing increase, and we need your support to continue to process these samples, which so often provide the missing piece of the puzzle to solve serious Violent Crimes that might otherwise go unsolved if we are not able to process those Border Crossing dna samples. The depth of the threats the American People look to us to protect them from is staggering, and im proud to be here today representing the 38,000 men and women of the fbi who worked tirelessly and selflessly to meet that challenge every single day. I want to thank you for your support of the men and women helping us carry out that mission and im happy to answer any questions that you may have. Well, thank you very much. Ranking member moran has joined us and he has very graciously suggested that we go ahead with your testimony, administrator milgram, before he gives his opening remarks. [inaudible] thank you so much, chair shaheen and Ranking Member moran. The members of the committee. Americans today are experiencing the most devastating drug crisis in our nations history. It is like nothing we have seen before. This is because one drug, fentanyl, has transformed the criminal landscape. Fentanyl is cheap to make, easy to disguise, and deadly to those who take it. Just two milligrams, the equivalent of a few grains of salt, can kill a person. It is the leading cause of death for americans between the ages of 18 and 45 today. More than terrorism, more than car accidents, more than cancer, and more than covid. And its killing americans from all walks of life, in every state and community in this country. Nearly 200 americans each day. The drug cartels responsible for bringing fentanyl into this country are transnational and extremely violent criminal enterprises. They rely on a Global Supply chain to manufacture and traffic fentanyl, and they rely on a global illicit Financial Network to pocket billions of dollars from those drug sales. At the epa, we have undertaken a transformation of our own to meet this moment. We have transformed our vision. We are now laser focused on the criminal organizations responsible for flooding our fentanyl into our communities. The Sinaloa Cartel and the hala scow cartel. We have transformed our plans. Weve built an entirely new strategic layer with to counter threat teams. One for the Sinaloa Cartel, and one for the hollis go cartel. These teams are made up of special agents, intel analysts, targeters, data scientists, and chemical and finance experts from across our agency. The teams centralize all of intelligence. They map these cartels and they analyze the criminal networks that today exist in more than 40 countries around the world. They are also developing targeting information on the members of those networks wherever they operate around the world. And weve transformed our execution. We are drawing on the talent and intelligence of the men and women in our 334 offices worldwide. And we are working as one dea, to defeat the criminal networks. Weve made all of these changes in the last two years with urgency, to save lives, stop fentanyl, and to defeat the drug cartels that are responsible for bringing fentanyl into our communities. And we are already starting to see results. On april 14th, 2023, dea announced indictments against the network that is primarily responsible for the massive influx of fentanyl into the United States. The capitos network of the Sinaloa Cartel. The tiptoes pioneers, the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl into the United States and they control a global criminal enterprise that has killed hundreds of thousands of americans. So, the dea proactively targeted the tiptoes network and we followed it across the globe. From china, where the tiptoes partners with chinese Chemical Companies and brokers, to acquire fentanyl precursors, the ingredients necessary to make fentanyl, to mexico, their home base, where they run secret laboratories and transform those chemicals into fentanyl powder and fake pills. And then smuggle it into the United States by land, by air, by sea, and by underground tunnel. And then in the United States, where the fentanyl makes its way from near the southwest border across our country, reaching both coasts and everywhere in between. The indictments we announced in april charge 28 members of the chapitos network. Eight members of that network are now in custody, seven of them overseas, and we are requesting their extradition. But dea did not stop there. Last week, on may 5th, 2023, we announced the result of operation last mile, where we tracked down and arrested 3337 associates of the sinaloa and elise go hard tells here in the United States. Our operation showed how the chapitos and others in the sinaloa and jalisoc cartels multi city distribution that works and individual drug dealers across their country to get fentanyl across the last mile of distribution on, to our streets, and on to social media. These networks use social media applications, facebook, instagram, tiktok, snapchat, and encrypted platforms like whatsapp, telegram, and signal, to run their operations and to get fentanyl into the hands of americans. They hide that fentanyl, they hide it in fake pills that look like oxycontin, percocets, adderall, or xanax. They hide it by mixing it in with cocaine, with heroin, and methamphetamines. All to induce americans to take fentanyl without knowing it, and to get them hooked. As part of operation last mile, we see more than 6500 pounds of fentanyl powder. More than 43 million fake pills laced with fentanyl. 91,000 pounds of methamphetamines, 8000 and 400 guns, and over 100 million. This is just the beginning. The 10,000 employees that i have the privilege of working with at dea are the most committed and Mission Driven people that i have ever worked with, in my career. They are laser focused on one goal, to stop fentanyl, to defeat the cartels, and to save american lives. Every day, the men and women in our 334 offices around the globe risk their lives for this mission. As administrator, i have worked hard to empower our team with the people, technology, and resources they need to confront the current crisis. But we all must do more. I asked for congresss continued support so that together, we may protect in the National Security, safety, and health of the American People. Thank you. Thank you both for your testimony. We now have a critical number of senators here, so let me just point out that we hope to go into a closed session for a classified discussion at 3 45, so we are going to ask folks if they could try and stay within the five minute question period, after asking questions and again, we need to go back to senator moran for his Opening Statements. Thank you very much and i will shorten my statement significantly, and i also would just want you to know that i appreciate the efforts to coordinate todays hearing and the vote, having classified briefing. I would, also as the chair woman did, note the massive shooting and allen, texas. Painful, sickening reminder that evil still exists in our world and under director wray, i trust the fbi will lead other owen vest occasion into this shooting and your the work your team does to help determine why and how this could happen, and inform federal, state, and local Law Enforcement how we prevent more Mass Shootings from happening. Director wray, youve appeared before the subcommittee many times. Annually since ive been a member of it. Administrator, you are new to the subcommittee. I think its been eight years since the dea ad