[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H4546-H4548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ON ITS 140TH ANNIVERSARY
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 1422) honoring the Department of Justice on the
occasion of its 140th anniversary.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1422
Whereas the Department of Justice officially came into
existence on July 1, 1870, through an Act of Congress
establishing it as ``an executive department of the
government of the United States'' with the Attorney General
as its head;
Whereas pursuant to the Act, the Department was charged
with providing the means for enforcing Federal laws,
furnishing legal counsel in Federal cases, and construing the
laws under which other Federal executive departments act;
Whereas there are currently 93 United States attorneys
stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the
Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands,
serving as the Nation's principal litigators and chief
Federal law enforcement officials for their specific region,
under the direction of the Attorney General;
Whereas the Department of Justice comprises 7 specialized
divisions, including the Antitrust Division, Civil Division,
Civil Rights Division, Criminal Division, Environment and
Natural Resources Division, National Security Division and
the Tax Division, also including the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Bureau of Prisons, the United States
Marshals Service, the U.S. Central Bureau-International
Criminal Police Organization, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives, and the Office of Justice Programs;
Whereas in 2006, the Department of Justice recognized the
danger threatening the United States due to technology-
assisted exploitation crimes targeting children, and
responded by launching Project Safe Childhood, an effort
which has resulted in record numbers of arrests and
prosecutions of individuals who seek to commit sexual crimes
against children;
Whereas in the past decade the Department of Justice has
obtained approximately 1,300 convictions for financial
crimes;
Whereas the Department of Justice responded to the
significant increase in the number of firearms-related
violent crimes in small geographic areas by creating the
Violent Crime Impact Team (VCIT) initiative and since 2004
has arrested more than 14,100 gang members, drug dealers,
felons in possession of firearms, and other violent
criminals, including more than 2,800 identified as ``worst of
the worst'' criminals;
Whereas the Department of Justice plays a key role in the
fight against international drug trafficking;
Whereas in the past 8 years, the Department of Justice has
disrupted 8, and dismantled 2, Priority Target Organizations
(PTOs);
Whereas Operation FALCON (Federal and Local Cops Organized
Nationally) is a series of nationwide fugitive apprehension
operations coordinated by the Department of Justice, and has
resulted in the collective capture of more than 55,896
dangerous fugitive felons since its inception in 2005;
Whereas since 2004, the Department of Justice has led the 2
largest multinational law enforcement efforts ever directed
at online piracy, involving simultaneous efforts in 12
countries, more than 200 searches and arrests in more than 30
States, more than $100,000,000 in seized pirated works, and a
total of 112 felony convictions to date; and
Whereas the Department of Justice's accomplishments are
numerous and have played a significant part in securing the
safety and security of the families and communities of the
United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) honors the Department of Justice on the occasion of its
140th anniversary;
(2) commends the men and women of the Department of Justice
for their tireless commitment to pursuing justice, combating
major domestic and international crimes, ensuring civil
liberties, and protecting the people of the United States;
and
(3) encourages the Department of Justice to continue its
mission of pursuing the administration of justice for all
people in the United States.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Sensenbrenner) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.
General Leave
Mr. COHEN. I ask unanimous consent all Members have 5 legislative
days to revise and extend their remarks and add extraneous material.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Tennessee?
There was no objection.
Mr. COHEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1422 recognizes the 140th anniversary
of the creation of the Department of Justice. Since 1870, the
Department has been tasked with enforcing our laws, providing Federal
leadership in securing the public safety, and ensuring the fair and
impartial administration of justice for all Americans.
The Department has long been served with distinction and courage by
attorneys, investigators, and prosecutors at Main Justice and in the
field. Its divisions and components do important work for the American
people in criminal law, civil litigation, environmental law, antitrust
law, tax law, and administration of justice-related grants. We
especially appreciate the efforts and sacrifices of the law enforcement
officers serving in components such as the FBI, DEA, ATF, and the U.S.
Marshals office.
I would like to highlight three important points today as we
commemorate the 140th anniversary of the Department. First, the
Department has played an integral part in promoting justice for all
Americans. Since its creation, the Department has handled the legal
business of the United States, with control over all criminal
prosecutions and civil suits in which the United States has an
interest.
Through the Civil Rights Division, the Department enforces Federal
law, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex,
disability, religion, familial status, and national origin. Following
the landmark Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s, the Department of Justice
used its newfound authority to initiate desegregation of school
districts across this Nation. And through its enforcement of the Voting
Rights Act of 1965, the Department helped curtail the injustice of
African American voters being prevented from exercising what is an
American right, the right to vote.
The Justice Department also continues to vigorously enforce the
Americans with Disabilities Act, to ensure that people living with
disabilities are not discriminated against in employment, by public
entities and transportation, or in public accommodations.
The great strides we have made in securing rights for all Americans
to attain an education, access the voting booth, and secure jobs and
housing, regardless of race, gender, or national origin, are in no
small part due to the thanks of the Department of Justice.
Second, the Department has played an important role in protecting
Americans from acts of terrorism, whether
[[Page H4547]]
foreign or domestic. Since the terrorist attacks at the World Trade
Center in 1993 and at the Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 and
the attacks on September 11, it's been the Department's highest
priority to prosecute and bring to justice perpetrators of terrorism.
However, it is important that, in its effort to combat terrorism, the
Department is equally vigilant in upholding justice and in observing
the constitutional rights of Americans that it is responsible for
enforcing. This means a commitment to due process and transparency,
even in the most difficult situations. It also means Congress must be
steadfast in its commitment to consistent and thorough oversight.
Third, the Department has taken on an increasingly active role in
helping to secure public safety in its 140-year history. Notably, the
Department's efforts to support community-based programs have seen
dramatic success. For example, the Office of Violence Against Women is
charged with providing national leadership in reducing domestic
violence through the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act.
Through 19 Violence Against Women Act grant programs, the Department is
helping to develop the Nation's capacity to reduce domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, strengthening services
to victims and holding offenders accountable, most important work in
preserving the integrity of women and our commitment to individual
freedoms.
In fiscal year 2009, the Office of Violence Against Women made nearly
1,100 awards. These grants have helped enable communities to develop
coordinated responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, and
stalking--no trivial matters, Mr. Speaker. The grants have helped
communities bring together dedicated individuals and advocates from
diverse backgrounds to share information and to use their distinct
roles to improve community responses to violence against women.
In addition, the Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing
Services, also known as the COPS Office, has promoted public safety
through local investments, where police are involved in the community
and show that policemen are the friends, and get a hold in the
community to bring about public safety. The COPS program promotes this
community policing by funding efforts by State and local authorities
intended to put law enforcement professionals where they are most
needed--on the streets. That way they can build mutually beneficial
relationships with the people they serve, have a rapport that's
necessary.
In closing, I would like to thank my colleague, Mr. James
Sensenbrenner, for introducing this resolution. I urge my colleagues to
support this important resolution. I couldn't let this resolution go by
without remembering former U.S. Attorney Robert F. Kennedy, one of my
heroes, who headed the Department of Justice.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the
Department of Justice. The Judiciary Act of 1789, which was passed by
the First Congress and signed into law by President George Washington,
created the office of Attorney General, which eventually became the
chief law enforcement officer of the Federal Government.
The Department of Justice began its work on July 1, 1870, through an
act of Congress, with the Attorney General at its head. Since then, the
Department has evolved into the world's largest law office and the
central agency for the enforcement of Federal law.
Today, the Department strives to meet four goals in its pursuit of
justice: First, protecting the public against foreign and domestic
threats; second, ensuring the fair administration of justice in
accordance with the provisions of the Constitution; third, assisting
both State and local law enforcement agencies; and, fourth, defending
the United States and its foreign interests.
Over the past decade, the Department has made significant efforts to
protect the children of America. In 2006, through the Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety Act, the Department of Justice created a national
sex offender registry to better protect children by organizing sex
offenders into three tiers. The act also created a nationwide DNA
database and allows law enforcement to monitor dangerous sex offenders
through the use of GPS technology.
Recognizing the dangers of technology-assisted exploitation crimes
against children, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe
Childhood, an effort that resulted in record numbers of arrests and
prosecutions of individuals seeking to commit sexual crimes against
children.
The AMBER Alert system, a Department of Justice directive, works to
protect and save the lives of abducted children. Since the expansion of
the system in 2003, more than 500 missing or exploited children have
been safely recovered. Alerts are broadcast over the Internet,
television and radio programming, electronic highway signs, lottery
tickets, and text messaging.
Shortly after the September 11 attack, I introduced the USA PATRIOT
Act, which afforded the Department of Justice new tools to detect and
prevent terrorism, organized crime, and drug trafficking. The
provisions of the act updated laws to reflect new threats and new
technologies, facilitate better cooperation amongst government
agencies, and updated and increased penalties for convicted terrorists.
Since the act's passage in October 2001, the numbers of terrorist
convictions and prosecutions by U.S. attorneys have soared. Make no
mistake, the USA PATRIOT Act has contributed to the prevention of
another large-scale terrorist attack on American soil.
The Justice Department has also made a commitment to protect
Americans residing in areas riddled with gun and gang violence. It
responded to the significant increase in the number of firearms-related
crimes in small geographic areas by creating the Violent Crime Impact
Team initiative.
{time} 1345
Since 2004, it has arrested more than 14,000 gang members, drug
dealers, felons in possession of firearms, and other violent criminals,
including more than 2,800 who have been identified as the ``worst of
the worst'' criminals.
I applaud the work of the Department of Justice in its efforts to
defend the American people and to administer justice while respecting
and ensuring the rights and dignity entitled to all.
I encourage my colleagues to support House Resolution 1422.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I support House Resolution 1422 to
honor the Department of Justice on the occasion of its 140th
anniversary.
In 1870 Congress passed the ``Act to Establish the Department of
Justice.'' President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill into law on June
22, 1870, and the Department of Justice officially began operations on
July 1, 1870.
The Office of the Attorney General, created by the ``Judiciary Act of
1789,'' was in need of more attorneys after the Civil War.
The 1870 Act met this need by creating the Department of Justice to
oversee federal law enforcement as well as criminal prosecutions and
civil suits in which the United States has an interest. The Act also
created the Office of the Solicitor General.
While the 1870 Act still remains the foundation on which the
Department of Justice stands, the structure of the Department of
Justice has changed over the past 140 years.
Today the Department of Justice comprises seven litigating divisions
and 93 United States attorneys and thousands of assistant United States
attorneys who enforce our civil and criminal laws, including tax,
environmental, and immigration laws, and defend the United States from
claims.
The Department also oversees a number of federal law enforcement
agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug
Enforcement Administration, the Marshals Service, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of
Prisons.
Among recent examples of the Department's work, we could look to the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives' establishment of
the Violent Crime Impact Team (VCIT) initiative in 2004. Since then,
more than 14,000 violent criminals were arrested, including gang
members, drug dealers, and felons in possession of firearms.
The Department is also combating gang and gun violence through
programs like ``Project Safe Neighborhoods.'' Since its inception in
2001, $2 billion has been committed to ``Project Safe Neighborhoods.''
Funding has been used to hire new prosecutors, support investigators,
and promote community outreach and education.
[[Page H4548]]
In another area of great interest, during the past decade the
Department secured approximately 1,300 convictions for financial
crimes.
The Department has also been successful in combating crimes against
children, drug trafficking, and counterterrorism efforts.
In 2006 the Department introduced ``Project Safe Childhood'' to
combat predators who use the Internet to sexually exploit our children.
Along with the FBI's ``Innocent Images National Initiative,'' programs
like these help break up networks of online pedophiles and rescue
children who are victims of sexual exploitation.
With regard to drug trafficking, just this month the Department's
``Project Deliverance'' resulted in more than 2,200 arrests and the
seizure of approximately 74 tons of drugs and $154 million. This was
the result of a 22-month operation. The Drug Enforcement Administration
has been instrumental in bringing to justice those organizations and
principal members responsible for the manufacture and distribution of
illicit drugs throughout the United States.
Finally, the Department has played a key role in a number of
operations to protect Americans from terrorist threats. The passage of
the Patriot Act in 2001, its reauthorization in 2005, and various other
counter-terrorism tools have proven helpful toward this end.
This resolution commends the work of the men and women in the
Department of Justice who pursue and have pursued the administration of
justice for the people of the United States. The essence of democracy
is the rule of law. The Department of Justice hopefully stands as a
defender of the rule of law.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. COHEN. I want to thank Mr. Sensenbrenner for bringing this
important resolution honoring the Department of Justice, and I should
have earlier thanked Mr. Smith and Mr. Sensenbrenner each for their
work on the NAACP resolution.
I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Richardson). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) that the
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1422.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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