[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 176 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S7694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          INTENTION TO OBJECT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I would like to alert my colleagues that 
I intend to object to any unanimous consent agreement for the 
consideration of S. 1793 or its companion, H.R. 2076, the Investigative 
Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2011. Unless changes are made to 
address my concerns with the legislation, I will continue to object.
  I oppose S. 1793/H.R. 2076 in its current form because it would 
expand the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation by 
giving it authority to conduct investigations of State crimes, and I 
believe that that is a bad precedent to set. The FBI should not be 
turned into a roving national police force.
  I do believe in allowing Federal law enforcement agencies to assist 
State and local agencies, when requested. Agents providing assistance 
should be afforded civil liability protection.
  Unfortunately, the bill excludes all other Federal law enforcement 
agencies that routinely provide law assistance to local law enforcement 
when requested. For example, local police believed the Secret Service 
possessed the expertise they needed to assist in their investigation of 
the Boston ``Craigslist Killer.'' As a result of this expert 
assistance, the killer was captured. There is no reason to limit States 
and localities to the assistance of the FBI alone, when other agencies 
may have the particular expertise that is needed.
  Too many people think that only the FBI helps local law enforcement. 
That's simply not true. State and local officers develop positive 
relationships with their Federal law enforcement counterparts. When a 
violent crisis occurs, they often request assistance from the Federal 
agents they already work with.
  I support the idea behind the legislation: to allow State and local 
agencies to request the assistance of Federal law enforcement to 
address serious State and local crimes. But that should apply to all 
agencies, and should be done without expanding the authority of any 
Federal law enforcement agency to conduct investigations of State and 
local crimes on its own, at the expense of other State, local, and 
Federal law enforcement agencies.
  The bill as reported also contains an ill-advised requirement that 
the Bureau cannot provide assistance to State or local law enforcement 
agencies unless three persons have died. Given that the bill purports 
to permit assistance in the case of attempted mass murder, a 
requirement that three people have died before assistance can be 
provided, is flawed. Moreover, there have been serious crimes involving 
mass shootings in which, fortunately, no one has died. No assistance 
could be provided to investigate such crimes under the bill in its 
current form.
  Until these concerns are addressed and further changes are included 
in the bill, I support holding this legislation on the Senate floor.

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