[Senate Hearing 117-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



 
  COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2023

                              ----------                              


                        WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022
                        

                                       U.S. Senate,
           Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                    Washington, DC.

    The subcommittee met at 2:00 p.m., in room SR-192, Dirksen 
Senate Office Building, Hon. Jeanne Shaheen (Chair) presiding.
    Present: Senators Shaheen, Leahy, Moran, Collins, Graham, 
Boozman, Moore Capito, Kennedy, Hagerty, and Braun.

                    FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION


              opening statement of senator jeanne shaheen


    Senator Shaheen. The Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, 
Science, and Related Agencies, will now come to order.
    Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to today's hearing, to 
review the President's fiscal year 2023 funding request for the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
    Our witness today is FBI Director, Christopher Wray. 
Director Wray it is very nice to have you before the Committee 
again.
    I must admit, however, that I rewrote my opening statement 
for today's hearing, based on the tragic events in Texas. But I 
want to begin by recognizing the more than 36,000 employees of 
the FBI who protect our country from violent criminals, 
terrorists, and others who would mean us great harm. And I want 
to thank everyone at the FBI for their dedication and service 
to the country.
    The FBI remains on standby to jump into action to assist 
their State, local, and Tribal partners with investigating 
criminal activity. And the most recent example of this was 
assisting in the horrific aftermath of the shooting at Robb 
Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, yesterday, a shooting that 
has so far claimed 21 lives, 19 of them children.
    As a mother and grandmother I can only--really I can't 
begin to imagine the pain that these families are going 
through. I want to thank the FBI for sending the agents in and 
other key staff so quickly, to what I know has been a very 
difficult crime scene.
    I understand that the FBI has also made Victim Specialists 
available as part of the response, and I hope they are able to 
remain in this community as long as they are needed. And if 
this Committee can provide resources to help make that happen, 
please let us know.
    I know that we don't know yet what motivated this killer. I 
do know that several of our colleagues have already called for 
better mental health screening, from enforcing laws that keep 
guns out of the hands of felons, and for hardening schools.
    I would agree with all of those recommendations, but I also 
think Congress needs to act to strengthen background checks, 
and to stop allowing the sale of weapons of war.
    As, my colleague, Senator Murphy rightly pointed out 
yesterday, mental illness is not unique to the United States, 
but the devastating rate of gun violence is. We can't accept 
this status quo, the lives of Americans, of our children depend 
on Congress being willing to enact meaningful policies to 
address the scope of this crisis and to keep people safe.
    Weapons of war enable mass shootings like the one at Robb 
Elementary, where we don't know the motive. And others like the 
shooting at Tops market, where we know the motive all too well. 
People who are simply going about their everyday lives, whether 
it is attending religious services in Pittsburg, in Charleston, 
shopping at Walmart in El Paso, dancing at a night club in 
Orlando, or getting groceries in Buffalo. They were all 
murdered by individuals motivated by hate.
    The FBI's budget request of $10.8 billion includes 
additional resources for combating domestic terrorism, and mass 
violence. We have discussed this topic before here, in this 
Committee, yet again, and again, we have witnessed White 
supremacist targeting others based on their gender, sexual 
orientation, or faith.
    Now, we are fortunate that technological progress has given 
us advances in medicine, science, and manufacturing, as well as 
improving the ease of how we can communicate with others. But 
unfortunately, new technologies have also allowed the rapid 
spread of hate, conspiracy theories, and disinformation to 
wider audience, and they have allowed those with extremist 
views to find a community. I hesitate to call it a 
``community'', because I think of community as something 
positive. To find others who share those extremist views.
    While we should be able to freely express our ideas, it 
should not come at the expense of someone's life or wellbeing. 
We clearly need to find better solutions and actions to stem 
future violence, and I know that the FBI will be part of those 
solutions.
    Just as the FBI rapidly responds to crisis situations, I 
believe Congress needs to also find a way to more quickly and 
appropriately respond to the issue of mass violence, including 
those committed with firearms and domestic terrorism.
    I am certainly ready to work on common-sense legislation 
that I think the majority of Americans can support, and I am 
sure that many of my colleagues on this Committee who will join 
me as well.
    So, Director Wray, I look forward to your testimony, and to 
the discussion today.
    With that, I would like to recognize the CJS Subcommittee 
Vice Chair, Senator Moran, for his opening remarks.


                opening statement of senator jerry moran


    Senator Moran. Chairman Shaheen, thank you very much, thank 
you for convening this hearing.
    Director Wray, welcome back to the subcommittee.
    I, too, before considering the budget request, would like 
to make a brief word on yesterday's senseless act of violence 
that stole the lives of nineteen children and two teachers.
    My wife and I have had this conversation. It is 
heartbreaking. The murder of these innocent children is 
horrific. In a small town, tight-knit community like Uvalde, it 
is the size of a town I grew up in, I know there will not be a 
single member of the community who is not touched by this 
tragedy.
    Director Wray, I am confident that you will bring the full 
investigative powers of the FBI to bear, in determining the 
motives, the warnings, and how, and why. I am also confident 
there will be an introspection, examining whether all laws, 
NICS Section policies were properly followed, and we await your 
findings.
    The FBI is requesting $10.7 billion for salaries and 
expenses in 2023. That amount is 605 million, or 6 percent 
above the fiscal year 2022 enacted. But as we have demonstrated 
in Texas, and in Buffalo, and nearly every city across the 
country violent crime, including murders, assault and robberies 
is on the rise.
    I can give this Committee statistics, percentages on the 
rise of crime, but no one here, especially after yesterday's 
tragic shooting, doubts that violent crime is a growing problem 
in our country. We have also seen a dramatic increase in 
violent attacks on law enforcement officers.
    This is a matter that I know, you, Director Wray, care 
about deeply. I have seen it in your conversations, I have 
heard it in your testimony. I experience it on our telephone 
all yesterday, and I appreciate your efforts, your care, and 
concern, and your efforts to raise awareness about the violent 
crime occurring across our country.
    While I note the Bureau is working to keep us safe here at 
home, we also face ever-evolving threats from foreign 
adversaries as well. I recognize your job is really endless, 
you know, there is never enough that can be done. You have 
repeatedly warned that nothing presents a broader, more severe 
threat to our ideas, our innovation, and our economic security 
than the Chinese Government.
    I understand that as of January of this year, the FBI is 
investigating more than 2,000 cases of Chinese Government 
trying to steal our information in technology, and the FBI is 
opening a new counterintelligence case every 12 hours.
    I am interested to learn about the FBI's efforts to address 
cyber crime, and ransomware. The Bureau made transformational 
changes after 9/11, and these changes help keep our nation safe 
from acts of terrorism.
    Today, changes of a similar magnitude may be needed to 
combat cyber threats, including threats from both criminal 
organizations, and state actors.
    I appreciated your comments to the students of the 
University of Kansas when we were there together this past 
March, where you emphasized how important it will be for them 
to bring their talents to the frontline of the cybersecurity 
workforce.
    Director Wray, I look forward to hearing today about the 
Bureau's budget, your budget request. And I hope to be able to 
help you and the FBI address all of the challenges that we face 
in this country, related to law enforcement. The challenges are 
tremendous, the ones that we saw, reminded of again yesterday, 
are at the forefront, that the world is a dangerous place, 
every place we turn.
    I welcome you to the Subcommittee, and I look forward to a 
somber and sober discussion of the circumstances we find 
ourselves in.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Moran. At this time the 
Chair of the Full Appropriations Committee, Senator Leahy would 
like to make a statement.


               opening statement of senator patrick leahy


    Senator Leahy. Thank you, Chair Shaheen, and Vice Chair 
Moran for your comments.
    Director Wray, we have known each other for a number of 
years, and I will just tell you some of my concerns. Twenty-one 
victims; that is 21 families waking up this morning with broken 
hearts. Those of us who have had, whether we have had children 
or not, but those who have had children and grandchildren, we 
think 19 children, murdered.
    Gun violence is an epidemic. It can't be ignored, it can't 
be overstated, it can't be hidden behind the guise of an 
unassailable Second Amendment argument.
    And I don't want to politicize or overreact, I am just, I 
am angry, I am extremely angry that 19 more children, and two 
adults who were fighting to protect them have been murdered, 
murdered. Murdered!
    I am angry that today too many in Congress are just willing 
to accept these mass shootings as another breaking news story, 
as just another part of our daily lives. Oh, we are praying for 
the victims. Of course we are praying for the victims, but what 
the hell are we doing to stop further victims?
    I have owned firearms responsibly my entire life. I support 
a strong Second Amendment. I spent 8 years in law enforcement, 
but simple common sense and what should be our shared humanity, 
compel us to not simply quietly acknowledge the crisis. We all 
know that it is a crisis, but we need to do something about it.
    Nearly 10 years ago, a murderer took the lives of 26 
people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook. I led the Senate 
Judiciary Committee's action to advance legislation to help 
address the epidemic of gun violence. And over 2 years ago, as 
then Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I worked to 
break through the years long refusal to provide the CDC and the 
NIH with resources to simply study the roots of gun violence.
    The gun lobby had blocked those resources for years, even 
just having a study of gun violence, but now we need more! And 
we have got to stop saying, well, next week, next month, next 
year, we have to do it now. How many more people will die 
before this country says, enough is enough? I will say it 
today. It is enough.
    So Director Wray, thank you for being here today, as the 
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation you have a 
critically important job. You have to protect our country from 
threats of terrorism, and crimes, both foreign and domestic, 
and, while you are doing it, you have to uphold the rights and 
values that make this a great democracy.
    I don't envy that task. I respect that task, but the 
heinous mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, earlier this month 
is a stark reminder that domestic terrorism is still very much 
present in the United States. It is also a somber reminder that 
the majority of domestic terrorism perpetrated against innocent 
Americans is driven by those espousing white supremacists and 
racist ideologies.
    Now, that is not a controversial statement, it is a simple 
fact. And that is what makes this moment so dangerous. When 
facts are distorted into untruths, and parroted by those with a 
pulpit to do so, we tread dangerously far from the core tenets 
of our democracy.
    If we can't clearly and unequivocally condemn the actions 
of white supremacists, or simply acknowledge the January 6, 
2021, attack on our Capitol for what it was, an insurrection, 
we fan the flames of hatred and violence, and we allow them to 
grow. It is alarming to me. It should be to every American. It 
is in my State of Vermont, whether you are Republicans, or 
Democrats, Independents, it is alarming.
    But I will also further highlight the importance of the 
work of the dedicated men and women of the Bureau, and your 
leadership there, Director Wray. Each year this Appropriations 
Committee wrestles with how best to dedicate valuable taxpayer 
dollars. Next week I am going to have binders about this thick 
at my home in Vermont where it is nice and quiet, reading 
through all these budget requests. But in exchange, of course, 
for the money, we said we expect the FBI to confront 
forcefully, head on, the threat of domestic terrorism. We 
expect you to faithfully and fully adhere to the rule of law to 
investigate whatever crime is committed, to work with the 
Department of Justice and State and local law enforcement to 
hold the perpetrators of any crime accountable.
    I stand ready to support you. But I also want you to 
respond when we have questions, either Republicans or 
Democrats, on this Committee.
    So I can say a lot more. I won't. I would rather hear the 
Director, Chair Shaheen. But thank you for the courtesy.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Leahy.
    Director Wray, the floor is yours.
STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL 
            BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
    Mr. Wray. Well, thank you. Good afternoon, Chair Shaheen, 
Ranking Member Moran, Chair Leahy, Members of the Subcommittee.
    I know, of course, that we are here to talk about the FBI's 
budget, but like all of you, I want to begin with what is on 
everybody's hearts and minds.
    Yesterday we got the news that we all dread, including 
those of us in law enforcement, we do this work for the 
victims, both the actual victims, and the victims we are trying 
to prevent from being victims, and there is no category of 
victims that more motivates the men and women of law 
enforcement, including the men and women of the FBI, than 
children.
    And parents got calls yesterday that are too devastating to 
even fathom, and a community, really a whole Nation, was shaken 
by another horrific mass shooting, this time, once again, at an 
elementary school, full of young kids just days, days away from 
finishing their school year, and my heart goes out to the 
families of the victims, and to the entire community of Uvalde.
    I know that you are experiencing unimaginable pain and 
trauma, and the entire FBI family feels your heartbreak and 
stands with you.
    There will certainly be more that we are going to learn 
about this heinous attack in the days ahead, and I know the 
American people, and especially the people of Uvalde, are 
looking for answers. I do want to acknowledge the heroism of 
all law enforcement who responded immediately to the scene.
    For our part, the FBI will continue to work around the 
clock with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Uvalde 
Police Department, and our other State, local, and Federal 
partners, to assist in any way we can. We are dedicating the 
full resources of the FBI San Antonio Field Office, and a whole 
host of other FBI divisions to helping the Texas DPS, and the 
Uvalde Police, who have the lead in the investigation.
    On top of that we are devoting significant national 
resources, including investigative and analytical resources, in 
evidence response, and laboratory personnel, Victim Services 
professionals to assist the families of the victims, crisis 
management and behavioral analysis units.
    So bottom line, we are absolutely heartbroken about 
yesterday's tragic events, and committed to doing our part to 
support our partners in the investigation and the community of 
Uvalde, as we begin to try to move forward.
    Of course the range of criminal cyber and 
counterintelligence threats we face as a Nation has never been 
greater, or more diverse, and the demands and expectations 
placed on the FBI have never been higher.
    And before I take your questions, I want to spend just a 
few minutes talking about the FBI's efforts in some of those 
areas, namely, our efforts to combat terrorism both domestic 
and international, and our efforts to help tackle the rise in 
violent crime.
    Unfortunately this tragedy, as well as the recent tragedy 
in Buffalo, and way too many before, reinforce what we in the 
FBI have been so concerned about for so long, and that is the 
threat of lone actors who look to attack regular, everyday 
people going about their regular, everyday lives. And in fact 
it is that threat that we continue to be most concerned about 
here in the homeland.
    And while it is too soon to be commenting on the motivation 
behind yesterday's tragedy, and I don't want to get out ahead 
of Texas DPS which has the lead on that, as the horrific attack 
a little over a week ago in Buffalo shows, we have got to 
continue to stay laser focused on our efforts to counter 
violence motivated by hate and extremism.
    Even on the international terrorism side we are seeing 
home-grown violent extremists, inspired by groups like ISIS, 
like al-Qaeda, acting alone or in small groups, and leaving 
fewer dots to connect, and less time in which to connect them, 
and countering fast-moving threats like these requires a team 
approach, so we have requested an enhancement not just for 
additional investigators but also support personnel to help us 
perform the important outreach, and partnership building that 
is so essential to countering this threat.
    The scourge of violent crime, of course, extends beyond 
mass shootings, and beyond crimes motivated by extremist 
ideology. In fact, rising violence is the number one concern I 
hear about from chiefs and sheriffs all across the country with 
whom I speak just about every week.
    With those partners we are leading hundreds of task forces 
to get the worst of the worst off the streets. We are sharing 
intelligence to focus our collective efforts, and we are 
providing technical resources and expertise to bring more 
violent criminals to justice.
    Last fiscal year those task forces focused on violent 
crime, made more than 17,000 arrests, seized more than 8,000 
illegally possessed firearms, and dismantled nearly 300 gangs 
and criminal enterprises across the country. And that is all 
separate and apart, and in addition to all of our Joint 
Terrorism Task Force work on the counterterrorism side, 
domestic terrorism, international terrorism.
    I should add that with this hearing falling 2 years to the 
day, after the murder of George Floyd, I do want to emphasize 
that we and our State and local partners are also focused on 
improving interactions between law enforcement and the 
communities we all serve, to ensure equal justice for all.
    Of course these are just a few of the threats we are 
tackling. The FBI's budget request this year reflects the 
breadth, depth, and complexity of those threats. In addition to 
the things I have already mentioned each and every day our 
folks are also dealing with an ever-expanding array of threats 
on the cyber front from ransomware, and the theft of trade 
secrets, and personal information, to malign and influence 
campaigns, to intrusions targeting our critical infrastructure.
    And that includes working with our private sector, 
government, and foreign partners to meet the danger from 
Russian cyber actors during this time of Russia's unprovoked 
aggression in the Ukraine.
    We are also taking on the Chinese Government's broad-scale 
economic espionage campaign that targets our innovation, our 
ideas, our economic security. And today, as we mark the 40th 
National Missing Children's Day, it is important to highlight 
the work of our 400 FBI personnel and nearly 800 additional 
officers who serve on our Child Exploitation and Human 
Trafficking Task Forces, that we have dedicated to 
investigating crimes against children, and to identifying and 
locating child victims.
    Our fellow citizens look to us to protect the United States 
from all those threats, and a whole bunch more, and I am proud 
to see the men and women of the FBI step up and rise to meet 
those challenges every day.
    I would like to again thank this subcommittee for all the 
support you have provided the men and women of the FBI over the 
years.
    And to the community of Uvalde, we will provide whatever 
resources we can, we will support you however we can, and we 
will stand with you in our thoughts, and our prayers.
    And thank you. I am happy to take your questions.

    [The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Christopher A. Wray, Director, Federal Bureau of 
                             Investigation
    Good afternoon, Chairwoman Shaheen, Ranking Member Moran, and 
Members of the Subcommittee. Today, I appear before you on behalf of 
the men and women of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (``FBI''), who 
tackle some of the most complex threats every day with perseverance, 
professionalism, and integrity--sometimes at the greatest of costs. I 
am extremely proud of their service and commitment to the FBI's mission 
and to ensuring the safety and security of communities throughout our 
nation. On their behalf, I would like to express my appreciation for 
the support you have given them in the past, ask for your continued 
support in the future, and pledge to be the best possible stewards of 
the resources you provide. I would like to begin by providing a brief 
overview of the President's fiscal year 2023 budget request for the 
FBI, and then follow with a short discussion of key threats and 
challenges that we face, both as a nation and as an organization.
                    fiscal year 2023 budget overview
    The fiscal year 2023 budget request proposes a total of $10.8 
billion in direct budget authority to carry out the FBI's national 
security, intelligence, criminal law enforcement, and criminal justice 
services missions. The request includes a total of $10.7 billion for 
Salaries and Expenses, which will support 36,945 positions (13,616 
Special Agents, 3,287 Intelligence Analysts, and 20,042 professional 
staff), and $61.9 million for Construction. The request includes eleven 
program enhancements totaling $324.6 million. These enhancements are 
proposed to meet critical requirements and close gaps in operational 
capabilities, including $52.0 million to enhance cyber investigative 
capabilities, $48.8 million for additional personnel and tools to 
investigate and counter acts of mass violence and address threats to 
public safety, $34.1 million to mitigate threats from foreign 
intelligence services, $20.6 million to combat crime and corruption, 
$17.8 million to address the increase in civil rights investigations, 
$36.9 million to enhance the FBI's cybersecurity posture and protect 
internal networks, $25.0 million to address data analytics/technical 
tool development and technical surveillance, $27.4 million to support 
infrastructure needs related to the use of Body Worn Cameras, $39.4 
million for operations and maintenance of FBI-owned facilities, and 
$22.5 million to support the expansion of Federal jurisdiction for 
crimes committed on Tribal lands in response to the McGirt Supreme 
Court decision. When compared against the fiscal year 2022 President's 
Budget, the fiscal year 2023 request level represents a total increase 
of $527.8 million, all of which falls in the Salaries and Expenses 
account.
                       key threats and challenges
    Our nation continues to face a multitude of serious and evolving 
threats ranging from homegrown violent extremists to hostile foreign 
intelligence services and operatives, from sophisticated cyber-based 
attacks to Internet facilitated sexual exploitation of children, from 
violent gangs and criminal organizations to public corruption and 
corporate fraud. Keeping pace with these threats is a significant 
challenge for the FBI. As an organization, we must be able to stay 
current with constantly evolving technologies. Our adversaries--
terrorists, foreign intelligence services, and criminals--take 
advantage of modern technology, including the Internet and social 
media, to facilitate illegal activities, recruit followers, encourage 
terrorist attacks and other illicit actions, to spread misinformation, 
and to disperse information on building improvised explosive devices 
and other means to attack the U.S. The breadth of these threats and 
challenges are as complex as any time in our history. And the 
consequences of not responding to and countering threats and challenges 
have never been greater.
    The support of this Committee in helping the FBI do its part in 
thwarting these threats and facing these challenges is greatly 
appreciated. That support is allowing us to establish strong 
capabilities and capacities to assess threats, share intelligence, 
leverage key technologies, and--in some respects, most importantly--
hire some of the best to serve as Special Agents, Intelligence 
Analysts, and professional staff. We have built, and are continuously 
enhancing, a workforce that possesses the skills and knowledge to deal 
with the complex threats and challenges we face today--and tomorrow. We 
are building a leadership cadre that views change and transformation as 
a positive tool for keeping the FBI focused on the key threats facing 
our nation.
    Today's FBI is a national security and law enforcement organization 
that uses, collects, and shares intelligence in everything we do. Each 
FBI employee understands that, to defeat the key threats facing our 
nation, we must constantly strive to be more efficient and more 
effective. Just as our adversaries continue to evolve, so, too, must 
the FBI. We live in a time of acute and persistent terrorist and 
criminal threats to our national security, our economy, and indeed our 
communities. These diverse threats underscore the complexity and 
breadth of the FBI's mission: to protect the American people and uphold 
the Constitution of the United States.
                           national security
Top Terrorism Threats
    Preventing terrorist attacks, from any place, by any actor, remains 
the FBI's top priority. The nature of the threat posed by terrorism--
both international terrorism (``IT'') and domestic terrorism (``DT'')--
continues to evolve.
    The greatest terrorism threat to our Homeland is posed by lone 
actors or small cells who typically radicalize online and look to 
attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons. We see these 
threats manifested within both Domestic Violent Extremists (``DVEs'') 
and Homegrown Violent Extremists (``HVEs''), two distinct threats, both 
of which are located primarily in the United States and typically 
radicalize and mobilize to violence on their own. Individuals who 
commit violent criminal acts in furtherance of social or political 
goals stemming from domestic influences--some of which include racial 
or ethnic bias, or anti- government or anti-authority sentiments--are 
described as DVEs, whereas HVEs are individuals who are inspired 
primarily by global jihad but are not receiving individualized 
direction from Foreign Terrorist Organizations (``FTOs'').
    Domestic and Homegrown Violent Extremists are often motivated and 
inspired by a mix of socio-political, ideological, and personal 
grievances against their targets, and more recently have focused on 
accessible targets to include civilians, law enforcement and the 
military, symbols or members of the U.S. Government, houses of worship, 
retail locations, and mass public gatherings. Selecting these types of 
soft targets, in addition to the insular nature of their radicalization 
and mobilization to violence and limited discussions with others 
regarding their plans, increases the challenge faced by law enforcement 
to detect and disrupt the activities of lone actors before they occur.
    The top threat we face from DVEs continues to be from those we 
categorize as Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists 
(``RMVEs''), including those who advocate for the superiority of the 
white race, who were the primary source of lethal attacks perpetrated 
by DVEs in 2018 and 2019. It is important to note that we have also 
recently seen an increase in fatal DVE attacks perpetrated by Anti-
Government or Anti-Authority Violent Extremists, specifically Militia 
Violent Extremists and Anarchist Violent Extremists. Anti-Government or 
Anti-Authority Violent Extremists were responsible for three of the 
four lethal DVE attacks in 2020. Also, in 2020, we saw the first lethal 
attack committed by an Anarchist Violent Extremist in over 20 years. 
These Anti-Government/Anti-Authority Violent Extremists have 
specifically targeted law enforcement and the military as well as 
institutions or members of the U.S. Government.
    The number of FBI investigations of suspected domestic violent 
extremists has more than doubled since the spring of 2020. A few months 
ago, we marked the 1 year anniversary of the January 6 assault on the 
U.S. Capitol, which has led to unprecedented efforts by the Department 
of Justice, including the FBI, to investigate and hold accountable all 
who engaged in violence, destruction of property, and other criminal 
activity on that day. To date, the department has arrested and charged 
nearly 800 individuals who took part in the Capitol assault.
    The FBI uses all tools available at its disposal to combat domestic 
terrorism. These efforts represent a critical part of the first-ever 
National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism, which was released 
in June 2021, and which sets forth, for the first time, a 
comprehensive, whole of government policy to address the many facets of 
the domestic terrorism threat.
    The FBI assesses HVEs are the greatest, most immediate 
international terrorism (``IT'') threat to the Homeland. As I have 
described, HVEs are people located and radicalized primarily in the 
United States, who are not receiving individualized direction from 
global jihad-inspired FTOs but are inspired largely by the Islamic 
State of Iraq and ash-Sham (``ISIS'') and al-Qa'ida to commit violence. 
An HVE's lack of a direct connection with an FTO, ability to rapidly 
mobilize without detection, and use of encrypted communications pose 
significant challenges to our ability to proactively identify and 
disrupt it.
    The FBI remains concerned that FTOs, such as ISIS and al-Qa'ida, 
intend to carry out or inspire large-scale attacks in the United 
States. Despite its loss of physical territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS 
remains relentless in its campaign of violence against the United 
States and our partners--both here at home and overseas. To this day, 
ISIS continues to aggressively promote its hate-fueled rhetoric and 
attract like-minded violent extremists with a willingness to conduct 
attacks against the United States and our interests abroad. ISIS' 
successful use of social media and messaging applications to attract 
individuals seeking a sense of belonging is of continued concern to us. 
Like other foreign terrorist groups, ISIS advocates for lone offender 
attacks in the United States and Western countries via videos and other 
English language propaganda that have, at times, specifically advocated 
for attacks against civilians, the military, law enforcement and 
intelligence community personnel.
    Al-Qa'ida maintains its desire to both conduct and inspire large-
scale, spectacular attacks. Because continued pressure has degraded 
some of the group's senior leadership, we assess that, in the near 
term, al-Qa'ida is more likely to continue to focus on cultivating its 
international affiliates and supporting small-scale, readily achievable 
attacks in regions such as East and West Africa. Over the past year, 
propaganda from al-Qa'ida leaders continued to seek to inspire 
individuals to conduct their own attacks in the United States and other 
Western nations.
    Iran and its global proxies and partners, including Iraqi Shia 
militant groups, continue to attack and plot against the United States 
and our allies throughout the Middle East in response to U.S. pressure. 
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (``IRGC-QF'') 
continues to provide support to militant resistance groups and 
terrorist organizations. Iran also continues to support Lebanese 
Hizballah and other terrorist groups. Lebanese Hizballah has sent 
operatives to build terrorist infrastructures worldwide. The arrests of 
individuals in the United States allegedly linked to Lebanese 
Hizballah's main overseas terrorist arm, and their intelligence 
collection and procurement efforts, demonstrate Lebanese Hizballah's 
interest in long-term contingency planning activities here in the 
Homeland. Lebanese Hizballah Secretary- General Hasan Nasrallah also 
has threatened retaliation for the death of IRGC-QF Commander Qassem 
Soleimani.
    As an organization, we continually adapt and rely heavily on the 
strength of our Federal, State, local, Tribal, territorial, and 
international partnerships to combat all terrorist threats to the 
United States and our interests. To that end, we use all available 
lawful investigative techniques and methods to combat these threats 
while continuing to collect, analyze, and share intelligence concerning 
the threat posed by violent extremists, in all their forms, who desire 
to harm Americans and U.S. interests. We will continue to share 
information and encourage the sharing of information among our numerous 
partners via our Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country, and 
our Legal Attache offices around the world. The fiscal year 2023 
Request includes an additional 208 positions (including 55 Special 
Agents, 18 Intelligence Analysts, and 135 professional staff) and $48.8 
million to counter terrorism and the increasing acts of domestic 
terrorism, including acts of mass violence and threats to public 
safety, occurring across the United States.
Cyber
    Over the past 2 years, nation-state and criminal cyber actors took 
advantage of people and networks made more vulnerable by the sudden 
shift of our personal and professional lives online due to the COVID-19 
pandemic, targeting those searching for personal protective equipment, 
worried about stimulus checks, and conducting vaccine research.
    Throughout these last 2 years, the FBI has seen a wider-than-ever 
range of cyber actors threaten Americans' safety, security, and 
confidence in our digitally connected world. But these threats will not 
disappear when the pandemic ends. Cyber-criminal syndicates and nation-
states keep innovating ways to compromise our networks and maximize the 
reach and impact of their operations, such as by selling malware as a 
service or by targeting vendors as a way to access scores of victims by 
hacking just one provider.
    These criminals and nation-states believe that they can compromise 
our networks, steal our property, and hold our critical infrastructure 
at risk without incurring any risk themselves. In the last few years, 
we have seen--and have publicly called out--China, North Korea, and 
Russia for using cyber operations to target U.S. COVID-19 vaccines and 
research. We have seen the far-reaching disruptive impact a serious 
supply-chain compromise can have through the SolarWinds intrusions, 
conducted by the Russian SVR. We have seen China working to obtain 
controlled defense technology and developing the ability to use cyber 
means to complement any future real-world conflict. We have seen Iran 
use cyber means to try to sow divisions and undermine our elections, 
targeting voters before elections and threatening election officials 
after. As these adversaries become more sophisticated, we are 
increasingly concerned about our ability to detect and warn about 
specific cyber operations against U.S. organizations. One of the most 
worrisome facets is their focus on compromising U.S. critical 
infrastructure, especially during a crisis.
    What makes things more difficult is that there is no bright line 
where nation-state activity ends and cybercriminal activity begins. 
Some cybercriminals contract or sell services to nation-states; some 
nation-state actors moonlight as cybercriminals to fund personal 
activities; and nation-states are increasingly using tools typically 
used by criminal actors, like ransomware.
    So, as dangerous as nation-states are, we do not have the luxury of 
focusing on them alone. In the past year, we also have seen 
cybercriminals target hospitals, medical centers, and educational 
institutions for theft or ransomware. Such incidents affecting medical 
centers have led to the interruption of computer networks and systems 
that put patients' lives at an increased risk at a time when America 
faces its most dire public health crisis in generations. And we have 
seen criminal groups targeting critical infrastructure for ransom, 
causing massive disruption to our daily lives.
    We are also seeing dark web vendors who sell capabilities in 
exchange for cryptocurrency increase the difficulty of stopping what 
would once have been less dangerous offenders. What were once 
unsophisticated criminals now have the tools to paralyze entire 
hospitals, police departments, and businesses with ransomware. It is 
not that individual hackers alone have necessarily become much more 
sophisticated, but--unlike previously--they are able to rent 
sophisticated capabilities.
    We must make it harder and more painful for hackers and criminals 
to do what they are doing. The FBI, using its role as the lead Federal 
agency with law enforcement and intelligence responsibilities, works 
seamlessly with domestic and international partners to defend their 
networks, attribute malicious activity, sanction bad behavior, and take 
the fight to our adversaries overseas. We must impose consequences on 
cyber adversaries and use our collective law enforcement and 
intelligence capabilities to do so through joint and enabled operations 
sequenced for maximum impact. And we must continue to work with the 
Department of State and other key agencies to ensure that our foreign 
partners are able and willing to cooperate in our efforts to bring the 
perpetrators of cybercrime to justice.
    An example of this approach is the international seizure in April 
2022 of Hydra Market--the world's largest and longest-running darknet 
market. Hydra was an online criminal marketplace that enabled users in 
mainly Russian-speaking countries to buy and sell illicit goods and 
services, including illegal drugs, stolen financial information, 
fraudulent identification documents, and money laundering and mixing 
services, anonymously and outside the reach of law enforcement. 
Transactions on Hydra were conducted in cryptocurrency and Hydra's 
operators charged a commission for every transaction conducted on 
Hydra. In 2021, Hydra accounted for an estimated 80 percent of all 
darknet market-related cryptocurrency transactions, and since 2015, the 
marketplace has received approximately $5.2 billion in cryptocurrency. 
The seizure of the Hydra servers and cryptocurrency wallets containing 
$25 million worth of bitcoin was made in Germany by the German Federal 
Criminal Police (the Bundeskriminalamt), in coordination with the FBI 
and our other Federal partners in the Drug Enforcement Administration, 
the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and 
Homeland Security Investigations. The FBI used sophisticated 
techniques, our unique legal authorities, and, most importantly, our 
worldwide partnerships to significantly disrupt this illegal 
marketplace.
    Last year, cybersecurity companies including Microsoft disclosed 
that hackers were using previously unknown vulnerabilities related to 
Microsoft Exchange software to access email servers that companies 
physically keep on their premises rather than in the cloud. These 
``zero day'' vulnerabilities allowed the actors to potentially exploit 
victim networks, engaging in activities such as grabbing login 
credentials, installing malicious programs to send commands to the 
victim network, and stealing emails in bulk. The FBI issued a joint 
advisory in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security's 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (``CISA'') to give 
network defenders the technical information they needed to mitigate the 
vulnerability. However, while many infected system owners successfully 
removed the web shells, others were not able to do so. That left many 
systems vulnerable to adversaries who could continue to steal 
information, encrypt data for ransom, or potentially even execute a 
destructive attack. In response, through a court-authorized operation 
in partnership with the private sector, we were able to copy and remove 
malicious web shells from hundreds of vulnerable computers in the U.S. 
running Microsoft Exchange Server software. This is another example of 
how the FBI used its unique authorities, in this case, court-issued 
legal process, and its partnerships with the private sector to have 
tangible, real-world impact on the problem.
    We took over 1,100 actions against cyber adversaries last year, 
including arrests, criminal charges, convictions, dismantlements, and 
disruptions, and enabled many more actions through our dedicated 
partnerships with the private sector, foreign partners, and at the 
Federal, State, and local entities. We also provided thousands of 
individualized threat warnings and disseminated more than 100 public 
threat advisories by way of Joint Cybersecurity Advisories, FBI Liaison 
Alert System (``FLASH'') reports, Private Industry Notifications 
(``PINs''), and Public Service Announcements (``PSAs'')--many of which 
were jointly authored with other U.S. agencies and international 
partners.
    We have been putting a lot of energy and resources into all of 
those partnerships, especially with the private sector. We are working 
hard to push important threat information to network defenders, but we 
have also been making it as easy as possible for the private sector to 
share important information with us. For example, we are emphasizing to 
the private sector how we keep our presence unobtrusive in the wake of 
a breach; how we protect information that companies, and universities 
share with us. We are also committed to providing useful feedback and 
improving coordination with our government partners so that we are 
speaking with one voice. But we need the private sector to do its part, 
too. We need the private sector to come forward to warn us--and warn us 
quickly--when they see malicious cyber activity. We also need the 
private sector to work with us when we warn them that they are being 
targeted. The recent examples of significant cyber incidents--
SolarWinds, HAFNIUM, the pipeline incident-- only emphasize what I have 
been saying for a long time: The Government cannot protect against 
cyber threats on its own. We need a whole-of-society approach that 
matches the scope of the danger. There is really no other option for 
defending a country where nearly all of our critical infrastructure, 
personal data, intellectual property, and network infrastructure sits 
in private hands.
    In summary, the FBI is engaged in a myriad of efforts to combat 
cyber threats, from improving threat identification and information 
sharing inside and outside of the government to developing and 
retaining new talent, to examining the way we operate to disrupt and 
defeat these threats. We take all potential threats to public and 
private sector systems seriously and will continue to investigate and 
hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace. The fiscal year 
2023 Request includes an additional 137 positions (including 38 Special 
Agents, 15 Intelligence Analysts, and 84 Professional Staff) and $52.0 
million to enhance cyber information-sharing abilities and increase 
cyber tools and capacities. The Request also includes 9 positions and 
$36.9 million to help protect internal FBI networks.
Foreign Influence
    Our nation is confronting multifaceted foreign threats seeking to 
both influence our national policies and public opinion, and cause harm 
to our national dialogue and debate. The FBI and our interagency 
partners remain concerned about, and focused on, foreign malign 
influence operations--which include subversive, undeclared, coercive, 
and criminal actions used by foreign governments in their attempts to 
sway U.S. voters' preferences and perspectives, shift U.S. policies, 
increase discord in the United States, and undermine the American 
people's confidence in our democratic institutions and processes.
    Foreign malign influence is not a new problem, but the 
interconnectedness of the modern world, combined with the anonymity of 
the Internet, have changed the nature of the threat and how the FBI and 
its partners must address it. Foreign malign influence operations have 
taken many forms and used many tactics over the years. Most widely 
reported these days are attempts by adversaries--hoping to reach a wide 
swath of Americans covertly from outside the United States--to amplify 
existing stories on social media in an attempt to discredit U.S. 
individuals and institutions.
    The FBI is the lead Federal agency responsible for investigating 
foreign malign influence threats. Several years ago, we established the 
Foreign Influence Task Force (``FITF'') to identify and counteract 
foreign malign influence operations targeting the United States. The 
FITF is led by the Counterintelligence Division and is comprised of 
agents, analysts, and professional staff from the Counterintelligence, 
Cyber, Counterterrorism, and Criminal Investigative Divisions. It is 
specifically charged with identifying and combating foreign malign 
influence operations targeting democratic institutions and values 
inside the United States. In all instances, the FITF strives to protect 
democratic institutions; develop a common operating picture; raise 
adversaries' costs; and reduce their overall asymmetric advantage.
    The FITF brings the FBI's national security and traditional 
criminal investigative expertise under one umbrella to prevent foreign 
influence in our elections. This better enables us to frame the threat, 
to identify connections across programs, to aggressively investigate as 
appropriate, and--importantly--to be more agile. Coordinating closely 
with our partners and leveraging relationships we have developed in the 
technology sector, we had several instances where we were able to 
quickly relay threat indicators that those companies used to take swift 
action, blocking budding abuse of their platforms.
    Following the 2018 midterm elections, we reviewed the threat and 
the effectiveness of our coordination and outreach. As a result of this 
review, we further expanded the scope of the FITF. Previously, our 
efforts to combat malign foreign influence focused solely on the threat 
posed by Russia. Utilizing lessons learned since 2018, the FITF widened 
its aperture to confront malign foreign operations of China, Iran, and 
other global adversaries. To address this expanding focus and wider set 
of adversaries and influence efforts, we have also added resources to 
maintain permanent ``surge'' capability on election and foreign 
influence threats.
    These additional resources were also devoted to working with U.S. 
Government partners on two documents regarding the U.S. Government's 
analysis of foreign efforts to influence or interfere with the 2020 
Election. The main takeaway from both reports is there is no evidence-- 
not through intelligence collection on the foreign actors themselves, 
not through physical security and cybersecurity monitoring of voting 
systems across the country, not through post- election audits, and not 
through any other means--that a foreign government or other actors 
compromised election infrastructure to manipulate election results.
    The FBI will continue to investigate this threat leading up to the 
fiscal year 2022 mid-term election and will not stop working with our 
partners to impose costs on adversaries who have or are seeking to 
influence or interfere in our elections.
    In addition, the domestic CI environment is more complex than ever, 
posing a continuous threat to U.S. national security and its economy by 
targeting strategic technologies, industries, sectors, and critical 
infrastructures. Historically, asymmetric CI threats involved foreign 
intelligence service officers seeking U.S. Government and U.S. 
Intelligence Community information. The FBI has observed foreign 
adversaries employing a wide range of nontraditional collection 
techniques, including the use of human collectors not affiliated with 
intelligence services, foreign investment in critical U.S. sectors, and 
infiltration of U.S. supply chains. The FBI continues to adjust its CI 
priorities and posture to address the evolving and multifaceted threat.
    The fiscal year 2023 request includes an additional 88 positions 
(including 14 Special Agents, 35 Intelligence Analysts, and 39 
Professional Staff) and $34.1 million to help combat the threats posed 
by foreign, and potentially hostile, intelligence services and other 
foreign government actors.
                            criminal threats
    We face many criminal threats, from complex white-collar fraud in 
the financial, healthcare, and housing sectors to transnational and 
regional organized criminal enterprises to violent crime and public 
corruption. Criminal organizations--domestic and international--and 
individual criminal activity represent a significant threat to our 
security and safety in communities across the Nation.
Violent Crime
    Violent crimes and gang activities exact a high toll on individuals 
and communities. Many of today's gangs are sophisticated and well 
organized and use violence to control neighborhoods, and boost their 
illegal money-making activities, which include robbery, drug and gun 
trafficking, fraud, extortion, and prostitution rings. These gangs do 
not limit their illegal activities to single jurisdictions or 
communities. The FBI is able to work across such lines, which is vital 
to the fight against violent crime in big cities and small towns across 
the Nation. Every day, FBI special agents work in partnership with 
Federal, State, local, and Tribal officers and deputies on joint task 
forces and individual investigations.
    Like the FBI's work combatting gangs, the FBI also investigates the 
most serious crimes in Indian Country--such as murder, child sexual and 
physical abuse, violent assaults, drug trafficking, public corruption, 
financial crimes, and Indian gaming violations. As you are aware, there 
are almost 600 federally recognized American Indian Tribes in the 
United States, and the FBI has Federal law enforcement responsibility 
on nearly 200 Indian reservations. This Federal jurisdiction is shared 
concurrently with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (``BIA''), Office of 
Justice Services; the FBI works very closely with BIA and other 
Federal, State, and Tribal partners across the United States on crimes 
in Indian Country.
    Over the past year, the FBI's work in Indian Country increased 
significantly due to the July 9, 2020, Supreme Court ruling in McGirt 
v. Oklahoma, which determined that the territorial boundaries of the 
Muscogee Creek Nation (``MCN'') would fall under Federal Indian Country 
jurisdiction, expanding the FBI's responsibility for investigating 
felony offenses committed by or victimizing a Tribal member. The 
principles of the McGirt decision also apply to the status of the 
Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole, and Quapaw Tribal territories 
in Oklahoma. Combined, all six reservation territories encompass 
approximately 32,000 square miles, or 45 percent of the state of 
Oklahoma. The total population within the combined borders is roughly 
1.9 million, of which approximately 420,000 are enrolled Tribal 
members.
    This drastic increase in FBI jurisdiction poses significant and 
long-term operational and public safety risks given the challenges 
associated with the increased number of violent criminal cases now 
under Federal jurisdiction within Oklahoma's Indian Country territory. 
Since this decision, the FBI's Oklahoma City Field Office (``OC'') has 
seen a drastic increase in the total number of Indian Country 
investigations and now has the FBI's largest investigative 
responsibility. Since the Federal court ruling in the McGirt case, the 
FBI's Oklahoma City field office, which previously investigated 
approximately 50 criminal cases a year involving Native Americans, has 
managed thousands of Indian Country cases, prioritizing cases involving 
the most violent offenders who pose the most serious risk to the 
public.
    To effectively conduct these investigations, the FBI has conducted 
temporary duty (``TDY'') rotations of Special Agents, Intelligence 
Analysts, Victim Specialists and other professional staff to the 
Muskogee and Tulsa RAs, the offices most impacted by the decision. The 
FBI has also expanded State, local, and Tribal participation on task 
forces to assist with response and investigative efforts. The U.S. 
Attorney's Offices in the Eastern District of Oklahoma and the Northern 
District of Oklahoma also increased their staffing. To support the U.S. 
Attorney's effective prosecution of these crimes, the FBI must have the 
capability to sustain an enhanced presence in FBI OC. As such, the 
fiscal year 2023 request includes an additional 76 positions (including 
45 Special Agents, 1 Intelligence Analyst, and 30 professional staff) 
and $22.5 million to support the surge in personnel. In addition, the 
fiscal year 2023 Request includes 15 positions (including 10 Special 
Agents and 5 professional staff) and $5.3 million to investigate 
violence against women, specifically missing or murdered indigenous 
persons in the U.S. The Request also includes $27.4 million to fulfill 
the Department of Justice's policy and launch a Body Worn Cameras 
program for FBI Special Agents across all FBI field offices.
Transnational Organized Crime (``TOC'')
    More than a decade ago, organized crime was characterized by 
hierarchical organizations, or families, that exerted influence over 
criminal activities in neighborhoods, cities, or States. But organized 
crime has changed dramatically. Today, international criminal 
enterprises run multi-national, multi-billion-dollar schemes from start 
to finish. Modern-day criminal enterprises are flat, fluid networks 
with global reach. While still engaged in many of the ``traditional'' 
organized crime activities of loan-sharking, extortion, and murder, 
modern criminal enterprises are targeting stock market fraud and 
manipulation, cyber-facilitated bank fraud and embezzlement, drug 
trafficking, identity theft, human trafficking, money laundering, alien 
smuggling, public corruption, weapons trafficking, extortion, 
kidnapping, and other illegal activities. TOC networks exploit 
legitimate institutions for critical financial and business services 
that enable the storage or transfer of illicit proceeds. Preventing and 
combating transnational organized crime demands a concentrated effort 
by the FBI and Federal, State, local, Tribal, and international 
partners.
    While the FBI continues to share intelligence about criminal groups 
with our partners and combines resources and expertise to gain a full 
understanding of each group, the threat of transnational crime remains 
a significant and growing threat to national and international security 
with implications for public safety, public health, democratic 
institutions, and economic stability across the globe. TOC groups 
increasingly exploit jurisdictional boundaries to conduct their 
criminal activities overseas. Furthermore, they are expanding their use 
of emerging technology to traffic illicit drugs and contraband across 
international borders and into the U.S. To combat these efforts, the 
FBI's fiscal year 2023 Request includes an additional 3 Special Agent 
positions and $5.5 million.
Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking
    It is unthinkable, but every year, thousands of children become 
victims of crimes, whether it is through kidnappings, violent attacks, 
sexual abuse, human trafficking, or online predators. The FBI is 
uniquely positioned to provide a rapid, proactive, and comprehensive 
response; identify, locate, and recover child victims; and strengthen 
relationships between the FBI and Federal, State, local, Tribal, and 
international law enforcement partners to identify, prioritize, 
investigate, and deter individuals and criminal networks from 
exploiting children.
    But the FBI's ability to learn about and investigate child sexual 
exploitation is being threatened by the spread of lawless spaces 
online. For example, currently, there are at least 30 child pornography 
sites operating openly and notoriously on the Darknet, including the 
Tor network. Some of these child pornography sites are exclusively 
dedicated to the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers. The sites often 
expand rapidly, with one site obtaining 200,000 new members within its 
first four weeks of operation.
    The FBI has several programs in place to arrest child predators and 
to recover missing and endangered children. To this end, the FBI funds 
or participates in a variety of endeavors, including our Innocence Lost 
National Initiative, Innocent Images National Initiative, Operation 
Cross Country, Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Teams, Victim Services, 
80 Child Exploitation Task Forces, 53 International Violent Crimes 
Against Children Task Force Officers, as well as numerous community 
outreach programs to educate parents and children about safety measures 
they can follow.
    The FBI combats this pernicious crime problem through 
investigations such as Operation Pacifier, which targeted the 
administrators and users of a highly sophisticated, Tor- based global 
enterprise dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children. This 
multi-year operation has led to the arrest of over 348 individuals 
based in the United States, the prosecution of 25 American child 
pornography producers and 51 American hands-on abusers, the rescue or 
identification of 55 American children, the arrest of 548 international 
individuals, and the identification or rescue of 296 children abroad.
    Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Teams are ready response teams 
stationed across the country to quickly respond to abductions. 
Investigators bring to this issue the full array of forensic tools such 
as DNA analysis, trace evidence, impression evidence, and digital 
forensics. Through improved communications, law enforcement also has 
the ability to quickly share information with partners throughout the 
world, and these outreach programs play an integral role in prevention.
    In addition to programs to combat child exploitation, the FBI also 
focuses efforts to stop human trafficking--a modern form of slavery. 
The majority of human trafficking victims recovered during FBI 
investigations are United States citizens, but traffickers are 
opportunists who will exploit any victim with a vulnerability. Victims 
of human trafficking are subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking, 
and the FBI is working hard with its partners to combat both forms.
    The FBI works collaboratively with law enforcement partners to 
investigate and arrest human traffickers through Human Trafficking Task 
Forces nationwide. We take a victim- centered, trauma-informed approach 
to investigating these cases and strive to ensure the needs of victims 
are fully addressed at all stages. To accomplish this, the FBI works in 
conjunction with other law enforcement agencies and victim specialists 
on the local, State, Tribal, and Federal levels, as well as with a 
variety of vetted non-governmental organizations. Even after the arrest 
and conviction of human traffickers, the FBI often continues to work 
with partner agencies and organizations to assist victims in moving 
beyond their exploitation.
    The FBI commends the committee's dedication to these efforts and 
appreciates the resources provided to combat these horrific acts. The 
fiscal year 2023 Request includes an additional 4 positions (2 Special 
Agents and 2 professional staff) and $6.1 million to develop 
sophisticated tools to combat technology that allows child sex 
offenders to operate on the Dark Web, shielded from law enforcement 
action.
Civil Rights
    The FBI remains dedicated to protecting the cherished freedoms of 
all Americans. Civil rights crimes are among the most egregious 
violations of Federal law--they include color of law violations, hate 
crimes, Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (``FACE'') Act 
violations, and voter suppression. These crimes cause long-term, 
enduring damage to communities and economic infrastructure, compromise 
law enforcement and judicial system capabilities, and provoke 
widespread fear and trauma. We also support the work and cases of our 
local and State partners, as needed.
    The investigation of hate crimes is the number one priority within 
the FBI's civil rights program due to the devastating effect these 
types of crimes can have not just on the victims and their families, 
but also on entire communities. A hate crime is a criminal offense 
against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by the 
individual's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic/national 
origin, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity. While the First 
Amendment to the Constitution allows for the free expression of both 
offensive and hateful speech, this protection does not extend to 
criminal acts, even those done to express an idea or belief. The First 
Amendment also does not protect someone who issues a true threat to 
inflict physical harm on individuals or groups, or who intentionally 
solicits others to commit unlawful acts of violence on his or her 
behalf. The FBI remains dedicated to investigating these types of 
crimes. In fact, the number of FBI hate crime investigations increased 
63 percent between fiscal year 2019 and fiscal year 2020.
    Beyond investigative work, the FBI recognizes proper and thorough 
handling of civil rights crimes does not begin the moment they are 
reported--it begins before they occur, with a solid and trusting 
relationship between the community and law enforcement. Each FBI field 
office will be taking specific actions to combat civil rights crimes in 
their area of responsibility (``AOR'') to encourage systemic change. 
These actions include identifying appropriate partner agencies and 
local groups to develop outreach relationships at all levels, 
especially those that will spark institutional change; increasing civil 
rights-focused working groups and task forces with State, local, 
private, public, and non-profit partners; and providing increased 
training for State and local agencies and community groups centered on 
color of law investigations and hate crimes statutes to provide 
education about civil rights violations, promote increased reporting of 
hate crimes, and rebuild community trust in law enforcement.
    Furthermore, we are focused on working with our State and local 
partners to collectively do a better job of tracking and reporting hate 
crime and color of law violations to fully understand what is happening 
in our communities and how to stop it. Our ability to address 
significant national issues, such as the use of force and officer-
involved shootings and jurisdictional increases in violent crime, 
depends on fuller statistical understanding of the underlying facts and 
circumstances. Some jurisdictions fail to report hate crime statistics, 
while others claim there are no hate crimes in their community--a fact 
that would be welcome, if true. We are dedicated to working vigorously 
with our State and local counterparts in every jurisdiction to better 
track and report hate crimes, in an accurate, timely, and publicly 
transparent manner.
    The fiscal year 2023 request includes an additional 92 positions 
(including 33 Special Agents and 59 professional staff) and $17.8 
million to effectively address the recent increase in civil rights 
violations and proactively mitigate future incidents before they occur.
             key cross-cutting capabilities and capacities
Data Analytics and Technical Tools
    As criminal and terrorist threats become more diverse and 
dangerous, the role of technology becomes increasingly important to our 
efforts. We are using technology to improve the way we collect, 
analyze, and share information. We have seen significant improvement in 
capabilities and capacities over the past decade; but keeping pace with 
technology remains a key concern for the future.
    The volume of data collected during investigations continues to 
rapidly expand. For example, in the case of the 2017 Las Vegas 
shooting, the FBI recovered one petabyte of data. Insufficient network 
bandwidth and tools necessitated the need for 260 FBI personnel to work 
over 10 days to manually review 21,500 hours of video footage. These 
bandwidth and data challenges are not limited to major cases or large 
offices. It is not uncommon for FBI investigations to generate more 
than one terabyte of data per day, an amount that could normally take 
two days to transit FBI networks at current bandwidth levels. As a 
result, the FBI has made dedicated efforts to upgrade and transform its 
information technology platforms to meet the demands of current and 
future investigations. We have upgraded hundreds of circuits and have 
been able to significantly reduce the time it takes to send large data 
files. To keep pace in an era where investigations and analysis will 
increasingly be conducted at the petabyte scale, the FBI needs to 
continue to build networks that can move bulk data, modernize 
investigative data analysis, and reduce reliance on stand-alone, ad-hoc 
systems.
    In fiscal year 2019, this Committee was instrumental in helping the 
FBI begin an IT modernization effort that included investing in network 
infrastructure, core data management for advanced analytics, and 
cybersecurity. Through this initiative, we have made significant 
progress in reducing current IT limitations hindering operational 
capacity and diminishing substantial security risks. However, more must 
be done.
    FBI special agents and intelligence analysts need the best 
technological tools available to be responsive to the advanced and 
evolving threats that face our nation. Enterprise information 
technology must be designed so that it provides information to 
operational employees rather than forcing employees to conform to the 
tools available. IT equipment must be reliable and accessible, thus 
decreasing the time between information collection and dissemination. 
Therefore, the fiscal year 2023 Request includes an additional $17 
million to ensure the FBI is sufficiently investing in its enterprise 
infrastructure to access, manage, transport, protect, and evaluate 
information to ensure mission-essential intelligence is reaching FBI 
investigators and key partners in sufficient time to comprehensively 
and strategically address threats.
                               conclusion
    Finally, the strength of any organization is its people. The 
threats we face as a nation have never been greater or more diverse and 
the expectations placed on the FBI have never been higher. Our fellow 
citizens look to the FBI to protect the United States from all of those 
threats, and the men and women of the FBI continue to meet and exceed 
those expectations, every day. I want to thank them for their dedicated 
service.
    Chair Shaheen, Ranking Member Moran, and Members of the 
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am 
happy to answer any questions you might have.

    Senator Shaheen. Thank you very much, Director.
    Let me just announce at the beginning that we will have 5-
minute questioning rounds. I will call on people in order of 
arrival, and all of the questioners will be in person, we will 
not have anyone on WebEx.
    I will begin the questions. And I know it is very recent, 
but are there any updates that you can give us from Uvalde for 
what we have found out about the shooter's motivation? I know 
the reports have been that he acted alone, as you pointed out, 
but is there any other information that you can share with this 
Committee?
    Mr. Wray. There is really, unfortunately, it is such a 
fluid situation right now, and I do really want to respect the 
fact that the Texas DPS has the lead on the investigation, so I 
don't want to get out in front of them right now. My experience 
teaches me that in these incidents the facts change as we 
understand them, often quite rapidly in the first few days.
    So with respect, there is not much I can add right now, 
beyond what has already been reported in the press.
    Senator Shaheen. You said in your testimony that one of the 
biggest threats is--and concerns is the threat of lone actors 
who attack people they don't know indiscriminately. Do we 
have--are there statistics over the years that show that there 
is been an increasing percentage of those kinds of crimes? And 
do we have any idea, any research into what is motivating those 
kinds of lone individuals?
    Mr. Wray. So on the first part, on the statistical side, I 
don't know that I could quote you statistics right here, but I 
can definitely tell you that we at the FBI, and I know I, from 
my first few months as FBI Director, have been highlighting 
this threat, the lone actors, or effectively lone actors using 
readily accessible weapons, attacking what is often referred to 
as soft targets, which are essentially, as I said in my 
opening, regular, everyday people wherever they are doing their 
lives.
    As to what motivates them, that is all over the map. I mean 
it is everything from the racially motivated violent 
extremists, to different sorts of anarchists, and militia 
violent extremists, to home-grown violent extremists, which is 
a term we use to sort of distinguish people who are here 
already in the U.S. but who are inspired by foreign terrorist 
organizations, like ISIS, like al-Qaeda.
    And then increasingly we are seeing people with this kind 
of weird, hodgepodge blend of ideologies. The old-school world 
of kind of people with some purity of radical ideology then 
turning to violence is often giving way to people who have kind 
of a jumble of mixed up ideas. And you know, we have seen cases 
where somebody, 1 month is saying they are an ISIS supporter, 
and then the next month they say they are a white supremacist.
    We had a case in Minneapolis where a bunch of guys that 
described themselves as Boogaloo Boys, then ended up deciding 
to provide material support to Hamas.
    I look at the El Paso shooter in the Walmart there, and if 
you look at his so-called manifesto, it is all over the place. 
So we are having more and more challenges trying to unpack what 
are often sort of incoherent belief systems, combined with kind 
of personal grievances.
    Senator Shaheen. And there is no doubt, as you pointed out, 
that violent crime is increasing. I see that in my Home State 
of New Hampshire, and it seems like over the last couple of 
years it has been a reaction to COVID, to the opioid epidemic, 
to factors obviously, the availability of weapons is another 
factor. Are there other things that we are thinking have 
happened over the last couple of years that have really 
contributed to the violent crime that we are seeing today?
    Mr. Wray. Well I would agree with the first, the several 
that you listed, I would add to that that we are seeing, for a 
variety of reasons, in some places way too many of repeat 
offenders, or dangerous offenders ending up back out on the 
street, certain prosecution practices or sentences that don't 
adequately keep somebody behind bars when they really need to 
be.
    And I would say that a lot of police departments in this 
country, if you talk to most chiefs and sheriffs, which I as I 
said, I am doing just about every week, most of them are really 
struggling with recruiting and retention, and that certainly 
doesn't help. So we need to support the men and women of law 
enforcement because that is who stands between us and the 
violent criminal element.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you. Senator Moran.
    Senator Moran. Chairman, thank you.
    Director Wray, this subcommittee has invested hundreds of 
millions of dollars in Stop School Violence Act since its 
enactment in 2018. As you would know these programs support 
school resource officers, hardening of our schools, anonymous 
reporting hotlines, threat assessment programs, and training 
for school personnel.
    Your team at the FBI has some of the best minds in the 
world when it comes to emergency situations. Have you heard 
from your experts? What have you heard from your experts about 
the most effective ways to prevent and respond to these 
terrible events?
    Mr. Wray. So I think what I would say is, we are doing a 
number of things on this front to try to help harden, if you 
will, and I hate the fact that we even have to talk about 
hardening our schools, but it is a reality that they have 
become targets. So we, in addition to all of our investigative 
work, our bread and butter, you know, the cases we are bringing 
of different sorts, violent crime, terrorism crime, gang crime, 
et cetera, we provide all sorts of support through training, 
and capacity building.
    So we have trained I think something like 110,000 different 
law enforcement officers on active shooter response, we have 
put out a whole bunch of different PSAs, and instructional 
videos, to schools, to school resource officers, to school 
administrators, to houses of worship, to communities, as well 
as to law enforcement, to help them better defend. And there is 
a host of information in there.
    In addition to that we are, obviously, providing forensic 
support through our lab, we are doing shooting incident 
reconstruction, I mentioned in my opening statement. In Uvalde 
we have Evidence Response. That is often one of the things that 
we are quickly asked to provide by our State and local 
partners. But that is of course after the fact. And what we are 
trying to do is figure out how to better get in front of it.
    Senator Moran. We would welcome your advice and 
suggestions. Last year in this room you and I spoke at least 
briefly about counterintelligence threats along the southern 
border. Two weeks earlier I had the opportunity to question the 
Attorney General about the cartels' activities there.
    The purpose of those questions a year ago were to address 
what I had learned on my visits to McClelland, Texas, that last 
year, just previous to those hearings, which is while 
immigration dominates the conversation about the southern 
border, there are also grave national security threats there.
    This was confirmed just yesterday when an FBI search 
warrant unsealed in Ohio, revealed that an assassination plot 
against former President George W. Bush included plans to 
smuggle assassins into the United States from Mexico.
    According to press reports the suspect, an ISIS operative 
was recording--was recorded claiming to have just smuggled two 
individuals associated with Hezbollah, into the United States.
    Yesterday's events compel me to start again on this topic 
that we discussed last year: What is the FBI's assessment of 
our national security threats along our border, southern border 
in particular, but borders generally? And what can you tell us 
in this setting about the number of known or suspected 
terrorists, or special interest aliens who have crossed into 
the United States from Mexico?
    Mr. Wray. Well, certainly border security is a major, major 
challenge that cuts across a whole host of the programs that we 
serve, and the national security piece of it that you are 
highlighting is one part of it. Obviously, I am very proud of 
the work that our folks did on the Ohio case that you 
mentioned. We obviously worked closely with Secret Service on 
that to coordinate that, to make sure that it was all done in a 
way that prevented any true threat from coming to fruition.
    Certainly any porous point of entry is a potential 
vulnerability that bad actors, of all sorts, including national 
security threats, can seek to exploit. And I have been down to 
all of our field offices that have border crossings as part of 
their area of responsibility, I have had CBP folks show me 
around so I can see firsthand what they are dealing with, and 
they have a heck of a challenge on their hands.
    And we, through our Joint Terrorism Task Forces, in 
particular, work very closely with our DHS partners to try to 
bring the counterterrorism dimension to the threat. I think 
that is probably all I would be able to say about it in an open 
hearing, but certainly you are right to be focused on it as an 
issue of concern.
    Senator Moran. Perhaps we will have the chance to have a 
closed session as well.
    Chair, thank you.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you Senator Moran. Senator Kennedy.
    Senator Kennedy. Mr. Director, I remember when you were 
nominated and confirmed, boy, was I glad to see you. I believe 
then and I believe now that you are not a politician, I think 
your predecessor was. And he and others did immeasurable damage 
to one of the most important institutions in American 
Government.
    Because I believe, as you do, that in addition to the DEA, 
the FBI is probably the premiere law enforcement agency in all 
of human history, and it should be above politics. For the 
record who is Michael Sussman?
    Mr. Wray. Well, Michael Sussman is a lawyer who is 
currently involved in a trial by the Durham Special Counsel 
Team.
    Senator Kennedy. His law firm, Perkins Coie, was counsel to 
Secretary Hillary Clinton's campaign, right?
    Mr. Wray. Senator, I am mindful, as I think you would 
expect me to be, that the case is currently in the middle of 
trial.
    Senator Kennedy. I know----
    Mr. Wray. And I am--well we have agents, and I have 
assigned agents to work on the Durham Team. I want to be 
really, really careful about not getting into a discussion 
about a case that is currently in front of a very independent 
and strong-willed Federal judge, and a jury right now, so.
    Senator Kennedy. Well, Mr. Sussman was counsel to Secretary 
Clinton's campaign, and we also know that he was the source of 
the information provided to the FBI that the Trump campaign had 
a back channel communication to Russia, which we now know 
wasn't true.
    Is it true that Michael Sussman, a partner at Perkins Coie, 
counsel to the Hillary Clinton campaign, and the source of this 
information about the allegations regarding the Trump campaign; 
is it true that he had a special--he had a badge that gave--an 
FBI headquarters badge that gave him special privileges in 
entering the FBI Building?
    Senator Kennedy. Well, Senator, what I would say to you is 
much in keeping with the gracious comments you made at the 
beginning about my commitment to trying to make sure I do this 
job the right way, that includes making sure that with a case 
that is currently in the middle of trial and an investigation 
being run by Mr. Durham, that we are actively helping him with, 
I just--I don't think I can really get into a discussion of 
those topics at the moment.
    Senator Kennedy. When the FBI opened the file, to 
investigate Mr. Sussman's allegations; is it true that the FBI 
concealed Mr. Sussman's identity?
    Mr. Wray. Again, I completely understand your interest in 
the question, and then I respect it, and I am just hope you 
will respect the fact that because I have got agents working 
with Mr. Durham on the case, and they are in the middle of 
trial right now I just don't think I can get into a discussion 
of that here.
    Senator Kennedy. When the FBI opened its file to 
investigate the allegations that Mr. Sussman, on behalf of the 
Clinton campaign made, now known to be untrue, about these back 
channel communications between the Trump campaign and Russia. 
When the FBI opened the file is it true that the file said the 
source of this information was not Mr. Sussman but the 
Department of Justice?
    Mr. Wray. Again, the same response. These are the very 
kinds of questions that are being litigated in front of the 
jury and Judge Cooper, right now.
    Senator Shaheen. Senator Kennedy, I would just urge you to 
follow a separate line of questioning, as Director Wray has 
said he is not going to answer questions----
    Senator Kennedy. I appreciate that, Madam Chair.
    Senator Shaheen [continuing]. Relative to this case that is 
being litigated.
    Senator Kennedy. I appreciate that Madam Chair, and, you 
know, how much I respect you. I want my time back by the way.
    Senator Shaheen. You can have those 3 seconds that I have.
    Senator Kennedy. No. You talked for about 10 seconds.
    Senator Shaheen. I am happy to give you those 10 seconds.
    Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I appreciate 
your help with my questions, but I can handle it myself.
    Chris, at some point you are going to have to address this. 
And I understand you don't want to address it in the middle of 
a prosecution, but there are millions of Americans that look at 
this and think, I am not saying they are correct, that the FBI 
has become a political organization. And at some point you are 
going to have to address that.
    The institution is just too important, and some of my 
colleagues may not want to talk about this, but we are going to 
have to talk about it at some point.
    Mr. Wray. Well, so first off, I totally appreciate your 
concern about our institution. And I will tell you that what I 
can speak to now is that I have implemented all sorts of 
reforms that I have spoken about quite publicly, over 40-plus 
corrective measures that deal with a lot of the same issues 
that are at the heart of the underlying investigation.
    I completely turned over the entire leadership team in the 
FBI. We have taken disciplinary action where we could, but we 
have also been in close cooperation and coordination with Mr. 
Durham, who is the special counsel, and I think that is the 
best thing I can do to help address the concerns you are 
talking about.
    As to the FBI's reputation, I will tell you, having been to 
all 56 of our field offices, now almost all of them twice. 
Having been New Orleans just earlier this month, and Baton 
Rouge just shortly before that, that what I find in talking to 
Americans out in the field, law enforcement partners, business 
leaders, community leaders, victims, prosecutors, families, is 
a widespread, even resounding appreciation, and respect for the 
men and women of the FBI.
    And you will be, I hope, relieved to know that in Louisiana 
over the last 3 years, the last 2\1/2\ years, the number of 
people in Louisiana applying to be special agents of the FBI 
has doubled what it was in the first few years when I took 
over. And so I think that speaks very well of the good citizens 
of Louisiana and their appreciation and view of the FBI's 
credibility again----
    Senator Kennedy. And I thank you for coming, Chris. And I 
thank you for all the hard work you have done, but I am going 
to stand by my comments. I think at the right time you are 
going to have to address this. And assure the American people.
    Senator Shaheen. Senator Hagerty.
    Senator Kennedy. That the rot is gone. Thank you. Thanks 
for being here, Chris.
    Senator Hagerty. Thank you, Chair Shaheen.
    And Director Wray, it is good to see you here again. I 
would like to turn my comments to something very disturbing 
that is happening right now with respect to the Supreme Court 
justices, and what we have seen in recent weeks are protests at 
the homes of Supreme Court justices and their families, 
something that I think that should be completely out of bounds. 
It also may be illegal.
    Federal law prohibits protesting at the residence of a 
judge with the intent of influencing the judge, and many of the 
protesters are doing just that. Protesting outside judges' 
homes, attempting to intimidate them, I think, and to changing 
their ruling on the Dobbs case.
    So Director Wray, is the FBI in any way investigating these 
protesters as a potential crime?
    Mr. Wray. So I don't want to get into any particular 
predicated assessment or investigation that we may have ongoing 
right now. I will say that we are working very closely with the 
U.S. Marshals, who, as you may know, are now providing round-
the-clock security at the justices homes, and with the Supreme 
Court Marshal and Supreme Court Police, together, they have 
responsibility for protection of the judges themselves and 
their facilities.
    But I will tell you this, my view, and my instructions to 
the FBI are: That there is a right way and a wrong way in our 
system, and under the Constitution, to express what you are 
upset about, and who you are upset with. And violence and 
threats of violence, no matter what you are upset about, or who 
you are upset with, is not the way to go.
    Senator Hagerty. I couldn't agree with you more.
    Mr. Wray. We will pursue all lawful and predicated 
investigations we can to ensure that.
    Senator Hagerty. The U.S. Supreme Court Police recently 
reported, I am going to use their quote, ``A significant 
increase in violent threats'', to your concern, against Supreme 
Court justices and the Supreme Court building. And as FBI 
Director it sounds, and I just want you to confirm, that you 
have received information that the Supreme Court's members are 
facing elevated threats that do warrant increased security, 
intelligence, and intelligence resources.
    Mr. Wray. As I have said, we are in close contact with 
them, receiving tips and leads, and things like that from them, 
and without, again, weighing in on what in the way of 
assessments and investigations we have open. But my charge to 
our people is that we are going to aggressively pursue violence 
and threats of violence against public officials, including 
against judges.
    Senator Hagerty. I appreciate that, Director Wray, and I 
think I share your concerns, and I think that many on our 
Committee I am working here on our side to make certain that, 
along with the extra help that the U.S. Marshals are providing 
right now, that if there is any shortfall in monetary resources 
needed, particularly in the very near term, to make certain 
that the justices and their families are properly protected, 
that we address that, because heaven forbid, these threats turn 
into, or manifest themselves into the violence, that I think 
concerns us both.
    I would like to turn to another issue now, and that is at 
our southern border. Specifically the case of a Colombian 
national named, Isnardo Garcia-Amado, who recently crossed our 
southern border and who was flagged by the FBI Terrorist 
Screening Center. He was released by Border Patrol agents into 
the United States on April the 18.
    Then on April the 21, 3 days after his release, the FBI 
alerted the Department of Homeland Security that this man was 
on the terrorist watch list. You would think that DHS would 
have then immediately arrested this person, yet, despite 
knowing that a suspected terrorist had been released in the 
United States, the leadership of the Department of Homeland 
Security didn't even authorize ICE to arrest him until two 
weeks later. He was in Florida by that time.
    So this Colombian national was caught by DHS, and then 
released into the United States before the FBI determined that 
he is on the terrorist watch list. Is that your understanding 
as well?
    Mr. Wray. I will confess, Senator, that I am not sure I am 
familiar with this specific case. It has a vague ring of 
familiarity from something I got briefed on, but I think I 
would have to circle back to you, which I am happy to do.
    Senator Hagerty. I would appreciate that. You can see my 
concern though. And I guess my broader question is, in your 
view, if this were to happen does that jeopardize American 
safety to catch and release border crosses before the FBI has 
had the opportunity to make that determination, as to whether 
or not they are terrorists?
    Mr. Wray. Well, certainly I think we need to have close 
lash up between FBI agents on the Joint Terrorism Task Forces, 
especially in the border States, with their DHS counterparts, 
who have a very tough job. Those folks, CBP folks down on the 
line there that I have met with, and they usually have people 
designated on our task forces which is designed, in part, to 
prevent some of the slippage that might----
    Senator Hagerty. Now, I would say the slippage is a great 
concern. And even further concerning is DHS taking 2 weeks, 
after receiving information from the FBI, to actually notify to 
arrest a person. I mean does that concern you as well; is a 
slippage that could, again, endanger American safety?
    Mr. Wray. Well, I certainly understand the concern. I think 
I would need to kind of drill in further on the facts to make 
sure I have got the full context.
    Senator Hagerty. Okay. I would appreciate that. And also 
when you come back to me if you could let me know how many 
border crossers have been apprehended, that are on the national 
terrorist list. I am deeply concerned about this.
    When I went to the border myself, a couple of--about 6 
weeks ago, I was informed that 157 different nationalities have 
been apprehended at our southern border in the past year. That 
is a deep, deep national security concern, and I would very 
much appreciate your following up with me in terms of, what is 
known, and also if you have any estimates on what is not known, 
because I think that is an even greater concern, are those 
people that are coming here using the border, as Senator Moran 
talked about, for some very nefarious purposes. Thank you.
    Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Hagerty.
    Senator Capito.
    Senator Moore Capito. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank 
you, Director, for being with us today. We are going to be 
asked to consider legislation, I believe, tomorrow, regarding 
domestic terrorism, and much of your statement, written 
statement was devoted to the topic of domestic terrorism. The 
DOJ has a unit dedicated to anti-domestic terrorism efforts 
presently, and you testified last year that your agency has 
significantly boosted resources directed towards these 
initiatives.
    Can you elaborate on the FBI's existing initiatives on 
domestic violence or domestic terrorism prevention and 
investigation? And how you are already working with existing 
agencies and departments? And I would say that one of the fears 
that I would have with this legislation before us, is that we 
are creating more stovepipes of information that, in reality, 
could slow the flow of information, and accuracy of that. So I 
would like to hear your comments on that, please.
    Mr. Wray. Well, I would probably decline to weigh in on the 
legislation itself, as is our usual practice.
    Senator Moore Capito. I figured that. Okay.
    Mr. Wray. But as to--you are right, that we are doing a 
whole lot on domestic terrorism already. We have, I think, over 
the last few years, and this really started, I would say in 
summer of 2019, and kind of, has just continued since then.
    We have, I think, more than doubled our domestic terrorism 
caseload, we have--I think we are now up to about 2,700 
domestic terrorism investigations they cover the waterfront of 
different types. We have also created a Domestic Terrorism-Hate 
Crimes Fusion Cell to bring both those kinds of expertise 
together. We have had some very significant plots disrupted 
using those efforts, we have our Joint Terrorism Task Forces in 
all 56 field offices.
    Senator Moore Capito. Right.
    Mr. Wray. That is about 4,400, or so, investigators, they 
are working on it. But I will also say, in our budget request 
before the subcommittee, we are asking for more resources for 
domestic terrorism. That is separate apart from any legislative 
effort, just in our fiscal year 2023 request.
    Senator Moore Capito. Where would you say those extra 
dollars, which parts of your investigative domestic terrorism 
arm would you see need to be increased, budgetarily? Or is it 
just an overall?
    Mr. Wray. Well, I would say it is two things. It is 
investigators and tools, technical tools, you know, 
increasingly in the domestic terrorism space, much like in 
other criminal arenas, the terrorists are reverting to use of 
technology that makes it harder and harder to connect the dots. 
And so that is a part of it.
    But the other thing is we have, in the short run, had to 
sort of surge resources to handle that domestic terrorism 
caseload, and as I mentioned in my opening statement, I do not 
think we are in a position where any of these other threats, 
the traditional violent crime threat that I hear about from 
chiefs and sheriffs all the time, the international terrorism 
threat, that has absolutely not gone away.
    Senator Moore Capito. Right.
    Mr. Wray. That had slightly abated during COVID, the 
foreign terrorist threat, but especially in the wake of the 
withdrawal in Afghanistan, I think we, the FBI, are going to 
have a bigger and bigger role on the foreign terrorist threat.
    So partly, our budget request is designed to make sure that 
the sort of duct tape approach that we have been using for the 
last 18 months to 2 years, is not the way we have to continue 
going forward. So we can have a longer standing commitment to 
the domestic terrorism load.
    Senator Moore Capito. So a more robust and wider reach.
    Mr. Wray. Right.
    Senator Moore Capito. And that soon you are taking from 
something else to----
    Mr. Wray. Correct.
    Senator Moore Capito [continuing]. To put that into your--I 
am curious to know. I think the American public would like to 
know. I have no idea what the answer to this question is, I 
don't--I think I know. The tragedy in Texas, what role does the 
FBI play in this? Or do you play a role in this?
    Mr. Wray. So we are in a support role, we are--so Texas 
DPS, the Texas State Law Enforcement Agency, which is a 
terrific partner of ours; and the Uvalde Police Department, 
they have the lead, we are in support role. Now, our support 
takes all sorts of forms so we have investigative resources, 
analytical resources, we have lab personnel doing evidence 
response.
    Senator Moore Capito. Right; mm-hmm.
    Director Wray: We have other kinds of forensic response, we 
have Victim Services professionals, as I mentioned to the 
Chair, who are helping the families of the victims. We have 
crisis management teams, behavioral analysis teams, so we have 
a whole host of things down there, but we--and so while it is a 
formidable footprint and engine, it is, at the end of the day, 
in support of our great State and local partners.
    Senator Moore Capito. Right. Well, thank you for that, and 
thank you for those agents that are working in that support. 
This is very difficult I am sure, for them as well.
    And I would just like to add just very briefly the local 
offices that that I hear from my Charleston, West Virginia 
folks, I just want to thank them, and you, because they are 
very tied to us. I am sure all of us have heard from our local 
offices in this time of sort of uneasiness, and I just really 
appreciate the efforts at which they go to, to include me, and 
my family, and others that might be in precarious situation 
from time to time. So please extend my great gratitude for 
that.
    Mr. Wray. Thank you.
    Senator Moore Capito. Thank you.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Capito.
    I am going to turn the gavel over to Senator Collins, to 
ask her questions while I go vote, and either Senator Moran or 
I will be back shortly.
    Senator Collins. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. You know 
how much I like having the gavel.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Collins. Director Wray, thank you first of all for 
being here today. Your agency is so important in so many areas, 
and so many ways. All of us are clearly horrified by the 
vicious killings that occurred yesterday.
    And I want to ask you about one approach that has been 
taken, and get your judgment about it. The State of Maine is 
among some States that have enacted statutes that we call 
either a red- or yellow-flag law.
    And the law in Maine which was developed in consultation 
with a wide range of groups; essentially allows the court to 
have the police temporarily confiscate firearms from someone 
who is deemed to be a danger to either him or herself, or to 
others.
    Importantly, the Maine law includes due process rights, and 
a medical assessment. So it can't be just some neighbor's 
opinion, or even a family member's opinion, there has to be a 
medical assessment as well. And that is to ensure that the 
concerns are well founded, and that Second Amendment rights for 
law-abiding citizens are protected.
    In your experience, how successful have these relatively 
new red-flag and yellow-flag laws been?
    Mr. Wray. It is a very good question. I would say, I am not 
sure that I have seen any kind of rigorous assessment, overall, 
of the effectiveness of the so-called red-flag laws. There are 
other names for it, as you alluded to. I know that DOJ has 
recently published a model statute for States to consider.
    I think what I could say to you is that it has been our 
experience that with a whole wide variety of shooter 
situations, whether it is a terrorist type situation, or more 
traditional violent criminal situation, most of the time you 
see that there was someone who knew the person, or came into 
contact with the person, who saw some change in behavior that 
alarmed them. And in the situations where law enforcement has 
been successful at preventing an attack it is almost always 
thanks to somebody like that coming forward.
    And whether it is done through a protective order of the 
sort--a protection order of the sort, you are describing, or 
whether it is just because they contacted law enforcement, and 
law enforcement was able to act, that is the key. And the ones 
that haven't been prevented an awful lot of the time, it turns 
out there was somebody who maybe didn't know to contact law 
enforcement, or was afraid to contact law enforcement, for one 
reason or another.
    And you hear all the time the saying, ``If you see 
something, say something.'' And most people when they hear 
that, they picture the unattended backpack, you know, in the 
greyhound bus terminal, or something. But what we really need 
right now in this country is, if you see something about 
somebody, people to say something.
    And if they do, whether it is through statutes like the one 
in Maine, or through some other mechanism, that can be quite 
effective, and certainly, if more States were to adopt these 
laws we would, on our end, through NICS and NCIC have to, you 
know, make arrangements to be able to then have that 
information in the relevant databases to be able to help 
prevent them from getting their hands on a weapon. But 
certainly it is something we could look at.
    Senator Collins. Thank you. Another proposal that I have 
long supported would strengthen Federal law by making it easier 
for prosecutors to go after gun traffickers and straw 
purchasers. And let me describe what I have seen and heard 
about in the State of Maine from law enforcement officers. 
Gangs and drug dealers target addicts who have clean records, 
so they then ask them to purchase guns for them, and they swap 
heroin or other drugs for the guns. These guns are then used to 
commit horrific crimes in our communities.
    Often, far from Maine, there was a gang in Connecticut that 
was known for coming to Maine enlisting addicts to buy guns for 
them, because the addicts had clean records and could pass the 
background check. So this Congress, I once again joined my 
colleague, Senator Leahy, in reintroducing the Stop Illegal 
Trafficking in Firearms Act, and we would create a new criminal 
offense for straw purchasing.
    Right now, it is essentially treated as a paperwork 
violation, a slap on the wrist. Instead, we would make these 
crimes punishable by time behind bars.
    What is your opinion of closing that straw purchase, or 
loophole that allows for criminal gangs to access guns when 
they could not buy them themselves, because of their own 
criminal records?
    Mr. Wray. Well, I think I would have to study the 
legislation more closely to give you a more informed assessment 
of that. I will tell you that even back to when I was a line 
prosecutor I used to prosecute a lot of these same straw 
purchaser cases and typically, as you say, they are prosecuted 
as false statements cases, you know, when somebody essentially 
lies on the 4473 Form.
    And just as you say, what you see over and overall, is 
violent gang members who enlist people who are down on their 
luck, for one reason or another, either they are, as you say, 
they are addicts, or they are financially in distress and so 
that the money that comes with it, when they get paid to be the 
straw purchaser, they take advantage of people who are down 
their luck that way.
    I think there might be a difference in the culpability 
level for the straw purchaser, versus the gang member who 
enlists them, and that is when we--when I tried those cases, 
and prosecuted those cases, that was sort of the approach we 
took.
    But I think you are right to be focused on the straw 
purchaser issue as an important ingredient to preventing guns 
from getting in the hands of people who are, after all, 
prohibited under existing law from having them.
    Senator Collins. Right. I actually feel bad for many of the 
straw purchasers, because they frequently have serious 
substance abuse problems, and they are being manipulated, and 
used by these gang members. But that--that is a real problem.
    Let me follow up on the drug issue, and as we know America 
has set a terrible new record in the number of drug overdoses 
in the past year. It is 104,000 Americans died of drug 
overdoses. In Maine, an estimated 636 people died of drug 
overdoses in 2021. That is a 23 percent increase from the 
previous year. But what, to me, is even--or equally chilling, 
is the fact that that is actually only a small portion of the 
number of overdoses.
    The number of overdoses in Maine that we know about was 
nearly 9,000. Fortunately, the rest of them were saved. I 
talked to Attorney General Garland about this issue, and he 
pointed out that the FBI, along with other DOJ components, is 
playing an important role in fighting the large-scale drug 
trafficking organizations that are bringing drugs into this 
country.
    I am concerned about what is happening at the southern 
border, based on my discussion with Border Control agents. Has 
the government's inability to secure the southern border led to 
more drugs entering the United States?
    Mr. Wray. Well, certainly the influx of drugs across the 
southern border is a very important fuel, not just to addiction 
in this country, but to violence in this country; and that is 
one of the parts that the FBI plays a pretty big role in. You 
have transnational criminal organizations in Mexico enlisting 
the help of gangs, and other organizations here in the U.S., to 
distribute the drugs, and there is violence over turf, over 
distribution routes, et cetera.
    I know that when I have been down to the border and talked 
to the CBP folks there, and to our field offices that have 
responsibility in that area, the quantity of the seizures that 
they routinely are engaged in make the seizures in other parts 
of the country look really quite small by comparison. I mean it 
is just another day in the life for a lot of them. And so it is 
striking.
    And I think you are correct that the overdose death 
statistic or the overdose statistic itself, in some ways 
underestimates the scope of the problem, in part, because 
Narcan, happily, has become so much more widely available, but 
that, in turn, ends up almost masking the problem.
    Senator Collins. Exactly.
    Mr. Wray. So the effectiveness of first response, which is 
a good thing, is actually maybe misleading some into thinking 
that the problem is not as bad as it really is. And it is 
really an epidemic.
    Senator Collins. And finally just a quick question. You 
were talking about domestic terrorism with Senator Capito. 
Would you agree that the sources of domestic terrorism include 
groups and ideologies on the left, on the right, from overseas, 
such as ISIS? In other words, there is not just one ideological 
source of domestic terrorism; is there?
    Mr. Wray. Certainly, when we look at domestic terrorism, we 
focus on the violence, and the violence--and we are sort of 
ideology agnostic, if you will. And the terrorism, the domestic 
terrorism threat we see covers the waterfront from people--we 
don't use terms like ``left'' and ``right'', but we see the 
racially motivated violent extremists, we see militia violence, 
and anarchist violence, we see people with this kind of salad 
bar of ideologies that don't fit into any category.
    And then of course on the--we tend to bucket it under the 
international terrorism side, the ISIS-inspired folks who are 
here, they are not sent here by ISIS, but they are here, and 
they are radicalized online. That is a huge category, and the 
plot that we disrupted, that was talked about earlier, 
involving the attempt to kill former President Bush is a good 
example of that threat.
    So I think--I understand the focus on ideology, but for us 
the focus has to be on the violence to make sure that we are 
not getting--we are not missing something in that regard.
    Senator Collins. And that is where it should be. Thank you 
very much.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Collins. Senator Braun.
    Senator Braun. Thank you Madam Chair.
    I can't remember the last time we have had the chance to 
speak, but good to have you back again.
    I want to go back to, and I think I asked Mr. Garland--or 
you know, somebody else this question, but when you go back to 
2020, the summer of it, there was a lot of crime in our cities, 
and of course what I have been hearing mostly about, and it 
would be the arrests that we made associated with January 6.
    So can you give me some kind of accounting in terms of all 
the various incidents that occurred across our big cities that 
had, you know, the crime in the streets, where I think we 
actually ended up with more people killed, you know, lots of 
downtown businesses, you know, burned and damaged.
    Have we been as diligent there, as we have on the January 6 
issue, and just give me a general accounting where I know that 
we have arrested over 700 individuals associated with it. What 
have we accomplished from what was, you know, something maybe 
even broader in scope in terms of damage and lives lost?
    Mr. Wray. So I don't have exact numbers for you here, but 
what I will tell you is that the violence amid all this--amidst 
all the civil unrest over the summer of 2020, we used all 56 of 
our field offices, we used our Joint Terrorism Task Forces, and 
all 56 of our field offices there were hundreds of 
investigations, hundreds of arrests.
    Now, I should pause on that last part, because often there 
is as you know, no domestic terrorism offense, Federal domestic 
terrorism offense, so a lot of times what we on our Joint 
Terrorism Task Forces, which have State and local officers 
assigned to them, part of the reason for that is that sometimes 
the most effective charge is a State charge.
    So a lot of times the Federal investigations from some of 
the activity over the summer resulted ultimately in some State 
charge, but we had any number of cases involving Molotov 
cocktails, you know, burning and firebombing, you know, police 
cars, things like that, and we continue--they don't get a lot 
of attention in the press--but we continue to develop cases and 
bring charges still from some of the activity back then. So we 
have not taken our foot off the gas on those cases.
    Senator Braun. You know, I didn't know if you have that 
information. I would like to know with a little more 
specificity, and get back to the office later, in terms of what 
that kind of comparison would be in terms of arrests, and 
convictions, based on January 6, versus the whole spectrum of 
what occurred back in the summer of 2020, if you would.
    Mr. Wray. I will see what we can get you on that.
    Senator Braun. Okay.
    Mr. Wray. Thank you.
    Senator Braun. You know, tragically we have had another 
shooting occur. I am interested in that mental health 
component. I am interested in whether it is racially motivated, 
whether it is just somebody that is out to create havoc, like 
just occurred. What are we doing that takes information that in 
many cases is broadcast, as aggressively as being in a 
manifesto?
    Maybe not that direct, but your--we pick up always after 
the fact that there has been some telegraphing of what might 
happen. So are we doing what you think needs to be done to kind 
of figure out what might occur when we find out after the fact 
that there has generally been information out there from as 
obvious as a manifesto, to maybe a lot of indications that this 
could happen? Are you happy with what law enforcement is doing 
across the board, especially the FBI?
    Mr. Wray. Well, I am very proud of the hard work of the men 
and women of law enforcement, not just the FBI, but our State 
and local partners, who bear the primary burden for a lot of 
what you are talking about. I will say that there is no 
shortage of hateful information out there, on the Internet, in 
social media in different forms, and we, the FBI, don't just go 
out and kind of monitor social media sort of passively looking 
for stuff, we rely on proper predication, and then pursue it.
    So what that really gets back to, is the exchange that I 
had with Senator Collins, about the importance of having the 
public come forward. You know, I use the saying that used to be 
applied in a different context, ``if you see something say 
something''. What we need, what law enforcement needs, is the 
public, neighbors, school teachers, relatives, friends, 
classmates, whoever, the people who are likely to see 
somebody's behavior online, and see it change from just being 
somebody just blowing off steam to taking a bit of a turn.
    And that is often the same person who would know: This 
person has not only just taken a really dark turn, but this 
person I know, you know, this member of the public, has weapons 
in his or her home.
    Senator Braun. Yes.
    Director Wray: And calling law enforcement. And when that 
happens, that is when we are most effective. And we need to try 
to encourage more and more of that, which is why our NTOC, our 
public access line, if you will, gets millions of tips a year, 
and we are frantically trying to push those out, when we get 
them before----
    Senator Braun. I think whatever observation tools you use, 
whatever algorithms might be in place but, it seems it is kind 
of disappointing that so often we hear that that might have--
that was there, and we just needed to do a better job of 
ferreting it out.
    May I have just another few seconds for a quick question?
    Senator Shaheen. Go ahead.
    Senator Braun. I was on a School Board for 10 years. I 
could not get in my school as a School Board member because we 
had a security system in place that had to allow you in. And I 
think we had a resource officer there in Texas at that school. 
What is the FBI's viewpoint on taking soft targets, like a 
school, to where seemingly we rotate into a tragedy too often, 
to where having that in place? Why don't we have more of it?
    And we had this in place in Indiana in my own school 
district back 10 to 12 years ago? Why aren't we doing more 
there?
    Mr. Wray. Well I think that a lot of those are judgments by 
individual school systems, and School Boards that may be based 
on resources, other things. I do know that we, on the FBI side, 
have tried to help heighten the awareness of things that they 
can do to better harden the schools. We have put out PSAs, 
videos about--to better harden the school environment.
    There is a lot of thinking that has improved in law 
enforcement and security over the last 10 or 15 years, about 
the best way to protect an otherwise soft target, like a 
school. And so we are really trying to get the word out so that 
they can--they have the information they need to take some of 
those actions. And so as to why an individual school may or may 
not have chosen a particular security measure; that probably 
depends on the school system.
    Senator Braun. Thank you.
    Mr. Wray. Thank you.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Braun. Senator Graham.
    Senator Graham. Thank you, Director, very much for coming. 
The budget request is how much percent over last year?
    Mr. Wray. I don't have the percentage for you right now. I 
know that we didn't get quite what we had hoped for last year--
--
    Senator Graham. Ms. Chair, what is that number? Do we know? 
Madam Chair?
    Senator Shaheen. 6 percent.
    Senator Graham. Okay. Plus inflation, too high, more than 
six percent; I think so.
    Mr. Wray. Yes, think so.
    Senator Graham. So what I want the American people to know, 
is that the budget request for the FBI is below inflation. Do 
you agree with that?
    Mr. Wray. I am sorry? I couldn't hear you very well.
    Senator Graham. The budget request for the FBI is below 
inflation.
    Mr. Wray. It sounds like it.
    Senator Graham. Yes. After listening to you, and everything 
you say is a legitimate concern, you have a lot to do. Do you 
think the Committee should look at increasing your budget?
    Mr. Wray. Well, first let me say, I appreciate the 
question.
    Senator Graham. And it is not a hard question.
    Mr. Wray. I would say that any additional resources the 
Committee would see fit to send our way I can absolutely assure 
you and the rest of the subcommittee they will be put to good 
use.
    Senator Graham. Okay, great. I want to ask you to comment 
on ongoing investigation, but apparently there was an effort, 
some plot maybe to kill President Bush 43. Have you read about 
it? Are you familiar with it?
    Mr. Wray. I am familiar with it.
    Senator Graham. Okay. Let us just make this comment. Is it 
fair to say that al-Qaeda and ISIS still exist?
    Mr. Wray. Absolutely.
    Senator Graham. Is it fair to say there are people thinking 
every day about how to get into America to kill a bunch of us 
from those organizations?
    Mr. Wray. Yes.
    Senator Graham. And the FBI is integral in stopping those 
plots before they start?
    Mr. Wray. Yes.
    Senator Graham. So would you say that after Afghanistan the 
threat to the homeland has gone up or down?
    Mr. Wray. Well, let me say this about the threat. We are 
concerned, very concerned about what the threat landscape looks 
like in the wake of the withdrawal of Afghanistan for a number 
of reasons. One, we are concerned about the loss of sources and 
collection over there which means----
    Senator Graham. There are no FBI agents in Afghanistan?
    Mr. Wray. Not anymore.
    Senator Graham. Yes.
    Mr. Wray. Or at least not that I can----
    Senator Graham. Yes, of course.
    Director Wray [continuing]. I am allowed, or not, for their 
safety and--so we are concerned about less source coverage, 
over time. And I think Director Burns has testified, you know, 
just as a matter of fact, that we will lose collection of----
    Senator Graham. Just put a fine point on it, because I 
don't have much time. Our withdrawal has made us a lot less 
aware of the threat coming from Afghanistan than before we 
withdrew. That is fair statement, right?
    Mr. Wray. I think so, yes.
    Senator Graham. And it is a fair statement that al-Qaeda 
and ISIS still are present in Afghanistan, and maybe their 
influence is growing?
    Mr. Wray. Are certainly present, and I think we are 
concerned about them growing.
    Senator Graham. Yes?
    Mr. Wray. Yes.
    Senator Graham. Okay. So let us look at domestic terrorism. 
Is there any law that you need, that you don't have, when it 
comes to investigating domestic terrorism?
    Mr. Wray. Well, we always welcome more tools in the 
toolbox, but we, I think, have been very effective with the 
tools that we do have.
    Senator Graham. Okay.
    Mr. Wray. Not just Federal charges, but as I said to 
Senator Braun, using State charges when appropriate. We have 
gotten creative in using hate crime charges, and things like 
that, as well. What we really need are more resources more than 
anything else.
    Senator Graham. Okay. Well, count me in for more resources 
to help you deal with this threat as well as other threats. Gun 
control, do you know of any system--apparently the fact pattern 
is as, we understand it now, that the person in Texas who did 
this horrible thing had no criminal record. How would the 
system deal with somebody who has never been charged with a 
crime, never even investigated for a crime, went out and bought 
a gun, what kind of law would stop that?
    Mr. Wray. Well, we don't know all the facts yet, as far as 
that----
    Senator Graham. Yes. But let us just assume that fact 
there.
    Mr. Wray [continuing]. but these are, depending on the 
individual, there are other prohibitors in 922 besides the 
Felon----
    Senator Graham. Here is the point. If there is something we 
can do to deal with this particular situation that we are not 
doing, can you get back with us?
    Mr. Wray. I would be happy to work with the Committee.
    Senator Graham. Okay, great.
    Mr. Wray. I think that there is just no one, simple, single 
answer to that all.
    Senator Graham. Yes. Okay. Well, I am open-minded to ideas. 
So finally, from the FBI's point of view, you have been 
following the Sussman trial, I would assume?
    Mr. Wray. Yes.
    Senator Graham. Okay. Well, he is in trial. But let me just 
ask you this question. A lot of Americans are concerned with 
the fact that a campaign lawyer for the Clinton campaign could 
go to the FBI, and provide information to the FBI that led to 
an investigation of the opposite party. And it seems to not 
have held much water.
    Can you understand why people would be concerned about 
that?
    Mr. Wray. I certainly understand why people are concerned.
    Senator Graham. And the Horowitz Review, of the Crossfire 
Hurricane. You are familiar with his findings, the Inspector 
General.
    Mr. Wray. Yes.
    Senator Graham. This is your chance to tell the American 
people that you are going to make sure that never happens 
again, and you are dedicated to making sure that, for whatever 
reason, there are no more Carter Pages investigations that seem 
to have gotten completely off the rails?
    Mr. Wray. So I will I will put the Sussman case to the side 
for the moment, because I don't to comment on a case----
    Senator Graham. Okay. Sure.
    Mr. Wray [continuing]. That is in front of the jury right 
now. But let me say this. The conduct that is described in the 
Inspector General's Report, I consider to be utterly 
unacceptable, and also unrepresentative of the FBI that I see 
every day. And my firm instructions to our people, are that we 
need to make sure that that never happens again. And we have 
implemented over 40 corrective measures that go directly to the 
things that are described in that report.
    We have made changes of the entire leadership team in the 
FBI. And the FBI that I see today, in 2022, is very different 
from what is described in that report.
    Senator Graham. Thank you.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you, Senator Graham.
    I have another round of questions. I assume you do as well 
Senator Moran.
    Senator Moran. I do; right.
    Senator Shaheen. I want to talk about something that we 
talked--discussed a little bit on the phone this week, and that 
is the whole Task Force KleptoCapture, and what we might do to 
address, not just Russian officials and oligarchs, 
circumvention of sanctions, and export restrictions, but also 
what needs to happen to address the ability of transnational 
crime organizations, corrupt officials in places like Russia, 
from being able to park their money in our financial system in 
the United States, and the West? And what we need to do to 
prevent that?
    And I want to start with the fact that we provided the FBI 
with over $43 million in supplemental funding for the KLEPTO--
for the Task Force KleptoCapture, as part of the 2022 Omnibus. 
Can you talk a little bit about how you are using that funding, 
and what else we ought to be thinking about, as we are looking 
at how we address the ability of criminals to use our financial 
system for their own benefit?
    Mr. Wray. Well, first let me say that those who have been 
profiting from corruption in Russia, and treating the world 
like it is their playground, by evading sanctions, are people 
we are coming after. I am working closely with partners, not 
just across the Federal government, but also with a whole host 
of foreign partners.
    And obviously the new KleptoCapture Task Force is an 
integral, really at the heart of that effort. And we have had 
some success already in freezing bank accounts, luxury yachts, 
artwork, things like that, sometimes that is through enabling--
the FBI provides information to a foreign partner, and they are 
able to take action to seize or freeze, and sometimes it is 
through us using our own authorities.
    We are also going after, and this is important, and it goes 
to something I think that you and I talked about on the phone, 
it goes to not just the--say, the oligarchs, the sanctioned 
individuals themselves, but to the whole ecosystem or 
infrastructure that they rely on, the people that they may have 
on their payroll, the people that, otherwise, enable them to 
engage in the corruption, and the sanctions evasion. And that 
is an important part of it.
    As to the funds, the $43 million that you referred to, for 
which we are very grateful, we are using that in a variety of 
ways. Yes, some of it is of course going to our cyber efforts, 
and our counterintelligence efforts, related to the Russia, 
Ukraine, conflict, but we are using it part for our agents and 
personnel on the KleptoCapture Task Force, as well as--and this 
is an important piece--our pursuit of the crypto currency, 
because that is a an important ingredient for a lot of the bad 
actors here, many of whom think that they can hide behind the 
anonymization that exists with virtual currency.
    And they are not as clever as they think they are; but we 
have to continue to evolve our own technologies and tradecraft 
to be able to go after them, and we have made some very 
significant seizures of cryptocurrency lately, working with the 
Department of Justice. And that is going to be an important, 
increasingly, important part of this going forward.
    Senator Shaheen. So what has been the biggest obstacle in 
trying to address activity, particularly with respect to 
Russia, and the war in Ukraine, and those sanctions?
    Mr. Wray. I think I would say that the biggest challenge 
that we face is a lot of these folks are pretty savvy about 
relying on opaque other foreign jurisdictions. And so there are 
ways in which, by taking advantage of some of those other 
systems, they are able to make it more challenging for us to 
follow the money, and get after the money.
    Not necessarily impossible. And there is a role here for 
diplomacy, State Department, Treasury Department, others, in 
engaging with some of those foreign partners to work better 
with us, to help make sure that we have clamped down on the 
system.
    Senator Shaheen. Any particular entities that you would 
like to name?
    Mr. Wray. I think the State Department would probably 
appreciate it if I didn't name specific countries in an open 
hearing, but.
    Senator Shaheen. Although you pointed out we are 
cooperating with the international community, and I have heard 
from some of--some officials that there are entities that may 
be part of other countries that--where countries have cracked 
down in-country, but those entities where they still have 
significant interest may not have provided the same kind of 
crackdown. Is that--I mean I am being pretty opaque here in the 
way I am describing it, but.
    Mr. Wray. Right, no, ``opaque'' is the right word, both for 
the way we have to talk about it, but also what is in some of 
these countries. I will say there have been quite a number of 
countries where we have gotten more cooperation than we might 
have, you know, in years past. So I don't want to make it sound 
too bleak. We have had a number of partners that have taken, 
for them, more aggressive action than we would historically 
have seen. And that is, I think, a measure of the international 
community being so appalled by what Russia is up to in the 
Ukraine.
    Senator Shaheen. Thank you. Senator Moran.
    Senator Moran. Chair, thank you.
    Let me talk again about the surging increase in violent 
crime. I believe that two of the most effective ways to address 
violent crime are through surging FBI resources to the most 
affected communities, through Joint Federal Local Task Force, 
such as Safe Streets Task Forces.
    You and I heard the commentary from law enforcement, local 
and State law enforcement when we were together in March in 
Kansas, I understand that as of May, I think it is early May, 
the FBI surged resources in six field offices, and it secured 
significant arrests, and firearm seizures from violent 
criminals.
    Director Wray, is the FBI considering additional resource 
surges over the coming year, or expanding its existing task 
force network.
    Mr. Wray. So on the surges, I think what you are referring 
to is a new team that I created about 6 months, or so, ago, 
which is called Our Violent Crime Rapid Deployment Teams, and 
what that does is we have been sending it to particularly hard 
hit hot spots or cities, at the embrace or request of the of 
the--both the FBI field office and our local partners, to 
assist.
    And we have had very good luck in the six, or so, cities 
where we have done that. I know in Buffalo for example, you 
know, several months ago we had about a 50 percent decrease in 
homicides during the surge. In Milwaukee I think we had a 
pretty significant decrease.
    But that is by its very nature, somewhat temporary. We 
can't send those teams to just be there sort of in perpetuity, 
so part of what we are trying to do is both achieve a short-
term, dramatic reduction by listening closely to the locals as 
to what they most need, but then also trying to put in place 
things that will have a more sustained, durable impact that 
will outlive the team's deployment
    We expect to continue that model, to keep sending that team 
to different places, but ultimately, as you and I, I think, 
discussed recently, this is a problem, ``this'' the violent 
crime problem, that dominates every discussion I have with 
chiefs and sheriffs all the time. You know, had a five--our 
last nationwide data is a 5 percent increase in the violent 
crime rate, which doesn't sound like much, maybe to some 
Americans, until you stop and think: So that means 67,000 
people, ``victims'' of violent crime, would not have been a 
victim the year before. And the homicide rate went up 30 
percent, which is, I think the highest in like 50 years, 
increase.
    So any resources, the committee--this subcommittee would be 
able to send us on the violent crime problem, could immediately 
be put to very effective use. And there will be a lot of State 
and local partners who would be very grateful as well, because 
one of the things we are really trying to do all across the 
country, is lean in to see where we can take cases federally to 
get some of the worst of the worst, and to dismantle some of 
the most significant gangs, and keep them off the streets for a 
much longer period of time.
    Senator Moran. Director, let me explore just a minute 
longer the idea of surging, and the point you make I think is a 
good one. Certainly anyone whose life is saved, or property is 
not stolen because of a surge, that is a valuable thing, but 
what we need is longer term results from that surge.
    So is there something that happens structurally? I mean 
first of all I would say is we are getting more guns out of the 
hands of people who are not entitled to have guns, I assume, in 
that surge; and we are putting more criminals, who are likely 
to commit violent crimes, to be incarcerated; those ought to 
have some longer lasting effect rather than just the amount of 
time that your additional resources are in the community?
    Mr. Wray. You are exactly right. That there are two key 
concepts here, partnership and intelligence; partnership 
meaning, it has got to be a team effort, it has got to be, how 
do we put the FBI's two together with the State local law 
enforcement partners, and ATF, and DEA, and Marshals. Put one 
agency's two, with another agency's two, and have it equal more 
than four, right; how to get a synergy where the whole is 
greater than the sum of the parts.
    So partnership is key, and then the second piece, 
intelligence, is when you hear ``intelligence'', really what 
you should take away from that, what Americans should just take 
away from that is, that is better understanding the problem in 
order to prioritize going after the thing that is really 
driving the violent crime, in order to have a longer lasting 
impact.
    So that might mean identifying particular gangs that are 
wreaking havoc on a neighborhood. It could mean a particular 
neighborhood that is disproportionately being fought over by 
two gangs. It could be any number of things, but if you get 
good intelligence, and then the partnership acts based on that 
intelligence with a strategy, that is how you get an impact 
that lasts longer, for example.
    Senator Moran. I would be interested in knowing, Director, 
if there is--any characteristics about the communities that 
have the most significant increases in violent crime, the most 
prevalent violent crime? When you focus your efforts on a 
particular community, what is the common denominator among 
those communities? And then perhaps we can try to deal with the 
underlying reason that a community is experiencing that 
increase.
    Mr. Wray. You know, violent crime is, by its nature, 
unfortunately, a little bit different everywhere. And that is 
why we really have to take not a one-size-fits-all. And so what 
I mean by that is, in one community it might be a particular 
neighborhood gang that has just run amuck. And if you really 
drill down you may find that the homicide rate is being 
disproportionately driven by that one gang's activity.
    In another community there could be a rampage of commercial 
robberies, or carjackings, and that is what is really driving 
it. In another place it could be a particular neighborhood, or 
particular corridor on a highway that is part of a drug 
trafficking route. In another place it could be, and this is 
something we are seeing in a lot of places, too many repeat, 
dangerous offenders who are either out on bail, or who have 
been not serving very long sentences.
    And the only thing more frustrating to law enforcement than 
having to arrest somebody who should be behind bars; is having 
to arrest the same person over, and over, and over, again.
    Senator Moran. That is a good point for--that is something 
that can that can be pursued. That is a concrete path that 
could be advanced.
    Let me--I told Senator Shaheen one more question, I meant 
one more topic. And in September of last year you testified 
before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the FBI's failure 
for its mishandling of the Larry Nassar investigation was 
quote, ``Inexcusable.'' ``It never should have happened, and we 
are doing everything in our power to make sure it never happens 
again.''
    To that end you testified that the FBI had begun 
implementing all four recommendations from the Inspector 
General's Report. Could you please provide me with an update on 
where those--where that implementation of those recommendations 
stand?
    Mr. Wray. I would be happy to provide it to you in writing, 
maybe afterwards, if that would be helpful.
    Senator Moran. Okay.
    Mr. Wray. I mean--for the most part I think we have 
implemented all of them quite a while ago, and certainly we 
took disciplinary action against the one agent who was still 
with the FBI, you know, once we--once we learned what had 
happened.
    And I just--it is hard for me to explain to you how angry 
and upset I was when I learned what the FBI did and failed to 
do back in 2015. But I am determined to make it right now that 
I am here, and we are going to make sure that everybody in the 
FBI learns the lessons from that, just a tragic experience.
    Senator Moran. I appreciate that. Senator Blumenthal, and 
I, and our subcommittee in the in the Commerce Committee spent 
a-year-and-a-half exploring, investigating, and providing 
recommendations for legislation that became law. And we have 
had--we share that frustration, that anger, about how everyone 
who should have done something, didn't do it well, or didn't do 
anything.
    And again as you, I think, would agree, we would expect the 
FBI to be among the most--purest in their willingness, desire, 
and capabilities to respond to somebody in need. So it is a 
terribly sad circumstance, and we await the Department of 
Justice making some decisions about what to do, if anything, in 
regard to those individuals.
    Mr. Wray. And just to be clear, on that part, you know, we 
don't--that is really between the Inspector General and the 
Department of Justice for that.
    Senator Moran. All right. I wasn't suggesting it. It is a 
question I asked the Attorney General.
    Director Wray: Yes.
    Senator Moran. But I wanted to highlight it for his, 
perhaps, when he reviews your testimony, he will know that he 
has been questioned, once again about this topic.
    Thank you, Chair.
    Senator Shaheen. Well, thank you very much for raising that 
issue.
    And Director Wray, if you do send the response to Senator 
Moran, I hope Senator Moran; you will share it with the Members 
of the Committee.
    Senator Moran. I will do so.
    Senator Shaheen. Because I know there are a lot of people 
on the Committee who are concerned about it.
    Your final exchange for that issue, raised a question for 
me, because you were talking about the Federal crimes that you 
are investigating. And as we know, the top law enforcement 
official in our States when it comes to Federal crimes are, 
U.S. attorneys, and I have been very troubled by the delay in 
getting U.S. attorneys in place across this country.
    And I just wondered if you could speak to what happens if 
we don't have somebody in that role? If we have somebody who is 
just acting? Or that that the U.S. Attorney has not been 
officially put in place to take charge of those investigations, 
and what kind of challenges that presents, as you are trying to 
bring a case before court?
    Mr. Wray. Well, what I--I want to be a little bit careful 
here. What I would say is the acting U.S. attorneys around the 
country, in my experience, are some of the most dedicated, most 
seasoned, most capable prosecutors, Federal prosecutors that 
that are out there. And I know a number of them personally, and 
have enormous respect for them.
    Having said that, it is helpful to a U.S. Attorney's 
Office, and to the law enforcement community to have a Senate-
confirmed, presidentially appointed U.S. Attorney, because at 
least in some districts that is what is required for important 
initiatives to be pursued.
    For sometimes, you know, important personnel changes to be 
made in an office, having served in a U.S. Attorney's Office, 
and having been assistant attorney general, dealing with all 
the U.S. attorneys, you know, in my previous time in 
government, I know that there is a level of ability to take 
action on certain kinds of things, that I think it is a little 
bit easier, certainly, for a permanent U.S. Attorney.
    But I also want to be very clear that I think the acting 
U.S. attorneys that are out there, are doing a terrific job, 
and they are working really well with our field offices.
    Senator Shaheen. I appreciate that, and I appreciate the 
importance of reinforcing the job that those acting U.S. 
attorneys are doing. But I would just argue that at this time 
when we are facing a lot of challenges with respect to 
increased criminal activity that having the top decision maker 
in those offices is really critical.
    And we need to urge the administration to move those people 
if they haven't been nominated, and Members of the Senate to 
approve them so that we can get people in place. So that we 
have got everybody on the ground that we need in order to 
address the challenges that we are facing when it comes to 
crime.
    Senator Moran. And may I make this bipartisan, please?
    Senator Shaheen. Please do.
    Senator Moran. I will join the Chair in making the request 
of the administration. And I suppose the Senate, should they be 
nominated, act expeditiously to get us our U.S. attorneys which 
are absent in many places including my home State.
    Senator Shaheen. Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much, 
Director Wray.

                     ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

    Senator Shaheen. If there are no further questions this 
afternoon, Senators may submit additional questions for the 
official hearing record. We request the FBI's responses in 30 
days.
    And the subcommittee stands in recess subject to the call 
of the Chair. Thank you.
    And with that, the subcommittee stands in recess.

                          SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

    [Whereupon, at 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 25, the 
subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of 
the Chair.]