[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 153 (Thursday, November 17, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13162-S13163]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BIDEN:
  S. 2030. A bill to bring the FBI to full strength to carry out its 
mission; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Full Strength 
Bureau Initiative Act of 2005. This is a piece of legislation that I 
think is critically important to our national security. Over the past 
four years, we

[[Page S13163]]

have had numerous debates here in the Senate about what we need to do 
to protect ourselves from international terrorists. While I have 
disagreed with many of the specific decisions this Congress and 
President Bush have made, I do agree that we face a grave threat from 
radical fundamental terrorists. And, it should be a primary focus of 
our national security efforts. However, it simply makes no sense for us 
to spend all of our time worrying about terrorism if we turn a blind 
eye to traditional crime and the threat that it poses to our citizens. 
We simply have to be able to do both, and the legislation that I am 
introducing today will help do that.
  Part of the response to address this threat has been to shift the 
primary function of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 
investigating and capturing criminals to the prevention of terror 
attacks. I don't disagree that this is an appropriate shift in 
priorities, but, we haven't made the investments necessary for the FBI 
to shift priorities and meet its commitment to combat traditional 
crime. To address this concern, I am introducing legislation that will 
authorize funding for the FBI to hire an additional 1,000 agents. These 
agents will replace the ones that have been reassigned to 
counterterrorism cases and will help keep our communities safe. The 
cost--$160 million per year--is minimal when compared to the benefits 
it will provide. Its passage will help ensure that the FBI has the 
resources to achieve its counterterrorism priorities without neglecting 
its traditional crime fighting functions.
  A 2004 Government Accountability Office found that the number of 
overall agents at the FBI has increased by only seven percent since 
2001. During the same time, the overall percentage of agents dedicated 
to counterterrorism by twenty five percent--with 678 agents being 
permanently shifted from drug, white collar, and violent crime cases to 
counter-terror activities. In addition, we know that many agents are 
working on counterterrorism cases even if they have not been 
``officially'' dedicated to that effort in a process know within the 
FBI as ``overburning.''
  Ultimately, the GAO concluded, as it often does, that the impact on 
traditional crime was statistically inconclusive; however the report 
demonstrated many concerns. First, the report found that the FBI 
referred 236 counterterrorism matters to U.S. Attorneys for prosecution 
in fiscal year 2001, which ended three weeks after September 11. Two 
years later, in fiscal year 2003, the FBI referred 1,821 
counterterrorism cases to U.S. Attorneys for prosecution--this is a 671 
percent increase. During the same period of time, referrals for drug, 
whitecollar, and violent crime matters all declined by 39 percent, 23 
percent, and 10 percent respectively. This statistically demonstrates 
that the reprogramming effort--while critical--has had an impact on the 
FBI's traditional crime fighting efforts.
  In addition to investigating Federal crimes, the FBI also provides 
critical assistance to State and local law enforcement. Quite simply, 
the FBI has technical expertise and resources that are not available to 
many State and local agencies--especially smaller jurisdictions. These 
local agencies rely on the FBI to assist them on technical matters, and 
as the FBI continues to divert resources from criminal cases, a gap in 
overall law enforcement capabilities is developing. In order to 
preserve public safety and national security this is a gap that must be 
filled.
  Unfortunately, local budget woes are making it impossible for local 
agencies to fill the slack. A recent survey indicated that 23 of 44 
police agencies are facing an officer shortfall. The USA Today and the 
New York Times have reported officer shortages in New York, Cleveland, 
Los Angeles, Houston and others. In addition, I recently attended a 
Judiciary Committee hearing in Philadelphia and we heard testimony from 
the Philadelphia Chief of Police that he had lost 2,000 officers in 
recent years, and the Pittsburgh police chief reported that she had 
lost nearly \1/4\ of her officers and had to suspend her community 
policing programs and other crime prevention programs due to budget 
cuts.
  In addition to local budget woes, the U.S. Congress continues to 
slash Federal assistance for State and local law enforcement. In this 
year's Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill, the Congress cut 
roughly $300 million from the Justice Assistance Grant and completely 
eliminated the COPS hiring program. Any local sheriff or police chief 
will tell you how important this funding assistance is to their 
efforts, and the investments that we made in them over the past ten 
years helped drive down crime rates from all-time highs to the lowest 
levels in a generation. In addition, the COPS program has been 
statistically proven to reduce crime by the Government Accountability 
Office, and the Justice Assistance Grants are the primary grant 
programs used by local agencies to combat illegal drug use in their 
communities. I voted for this spending bill because it provided 
critical funding for the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency, but I 
remain very critical of the cuts to state and local law enforcement 
assistance and hope that the President and the Republican-led Congress 
will change course.
  Unfortunately, these cuts and the FBI reprogramming of agents from 
crime to counter-terror cases is creating a perfect storm that I'm 
afraid will contribute to rising crime rates in the future. The good 
news is that the 2004 Uniform Crime Reports show that crime rates 
remain at historic lows. But, many criminologists have pointed out that 
many crime indicators should caution against complacency. Last year, 
there were over 16,000 murders throughout the United States, and police 
chiefs and sheriffs are reporting worrying signs of local youth 
violence. Indeed, a 2005 report by the FBI on youth gangs shows that 
gang activity is on the rise. Rather than pull-back, we need to re-
double our effort to ensure that crime rates don't rise in the future 
and to push them even lower. I've often said that the safety of 
Nation's citizens should be the top priority of our Federal 
Government--this applies to combating international terrorists and 
traditional crime.
  We spent a bulk of the nineties creating a Federal, State, and local 
partnership that helped make our Nation safer than it has been in a 
generation. This partnership is breaking down because the President and 
many in Congress feel that local crime is not a national priority. I 
couldn't disagree more. The safety of the American people is the most 
important priority that we have. It doesn't matter whether the threat 
comes from international terrorists, drug traffickers, or from the thug 
down the street. In my opinion, it is a terrible mistake to use the 
successes of the past ten years and the new focus on terrorism as an 
excuse to abandon our critical anti-crime responsibilities. We can--and 
we must do both. The American people are counting on us, and the 
legislation that I am introducing today will help ensure that we meet 
our commitment to the American people to make sure that they are safe 
from crime and terrorism.
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