STATEMENT OF

JANET RENO

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES

BEFORE THE

UNITED STATES SENATE

COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE

THE JUDICIARY AND RELATED AGENCIES

February 29, 2000

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee,

It is a pleasure once again to appear before you to present the President's budget request for the Department of Justice.

This is likely my last appearance before this panel. These hearings have been a model for the oversight process, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the partnership you have forged with me, the federal law enforcement community and our state, county, and local counterparts. We have worked together to improve our Nation's justice system and to address the very real crime problems that have plagued our neighborhoods and communities.

Since 1993, funding for Department of Justice programs has grown by 92 percent, including a $3 billion increase for grants to state and local criminal justice agencies. The overall increase in funding has paid for additional federal agents and prosecutors, put cops on the beat in our neighborhoods, expanded prison capacity, provided new crime-solving tools, improved technology, funded innovative approaches to fighting crime,

worked to secure our Nation's borders, and helped to train and equip first responders to address the threat of terrorism.

Your commitment to the Department and its programs has had an impact. For the 7th consecutive year, our crime rate has fallen -- for every type of crime and in every region of the Nation. Our communities are safer than they were 7 years ago. Yet, there is still much work to be done and new challenges to confront. This morning I would like to leave you with my thoughts about the direction we must take to prepare for these new challenges.

The President's FY 2001 budget request recognizes the need for continued vigilance against crime. It includes $23.4 billion for the Department ­ an increase $1.8 billion above FY 2000 ­

to combat gun violence, enhance community law enforcement, curb the cycle of drugs and crime, battle cybercrime, respond to the threat of terrorism, secure our borders, and fund new prisons.

Preventing terrorism and thwarting foreign espionage are among the most serious challenges facing our Nation today. The Department of Justice is the lead federal agency in the fight against terrorism. Your Subcommittee has worked with us to provide the necessary tools to address this threat and to ensure

that the Department is able to carry out this very important responsibility.

In FY 2000, with your support, we established the National Domestic Preparedness Office (NDPO). You also provided significant guidance in the development of a blueprint laying out NDPO's role as a central coordinating office and information clearinghouse for federal assistance programs to state and local communities with the goal of integrating and streamlining government assistance. Our blueprint represents a deliberate, conservative effort that people will understand and support. You also helped us to establish the Office for State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support, within the Office of Justice Programs, and to develop a process for equipping and training state and local first responders to prepare them to handle a terrorist incident.

The FY 2001 budget request builds on the infrastructure that is now in place in the Department to address terrorism and includes a $119.6 million increase to fight terrorism and combat hostile intelligence activities.

We are requesting an increase of $15 million for the Counterterrorism Fund, established in response to the Oklahoma City bombing, bringing the total 2001 request for the Fund to

$25 million. This funding is used to address unforeseen expenses incurred in countering, investigating, or prosecuting terrorism; to finance reward payments; and to restore the operational capacities of offices damaged by terrorist acts.

Our FY 2001 request includes funding for some of the most important activities that the FBI will undertake in the future. Included are increases of $35.3 million for the counterterrorism/ counterintelligence activities of the FBI. Specifically, we are asking for $19.1 million and 138 positions to enhance the FBI's ability to conduct national security investigations and thwart hostile intelligence services operating in the United States; $3.1 million and 55 intelligence analysts to engage in strategic intelligence analyses; $5 million to continue counterterrorism research and development related to explosives detection and forensic science; $3.5 million for Weapons of Mass Destruction preparedness activities, including $2.9 million for a chem/bio helpline and hotline; $2.9 million to support state and local bomb technician training at the Hazardous Devices School at Redstone Arsenal, AL; $1.1 million to plan and provide security for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games to be held in Salt Lake City; and $600,000 to provide additional contract guard services for 3 additional FBI field offices.

Identifying threats to our national security is a unique federal responsibility, and one which the FBI must be equipped to meet. With your help, I am hopeful that we can come out of this appropriations process leaving the FBI well equipped to meet the challenges terrorism presents.

Assuring that we are able to respond to threats of terrorism whenever and wherever they occur must include providing the FBI with adequate prosecutor expertise in the Criminal Division and the U. S. Attorneys' offices. Balance is critically important in the criminal justice system. The very best agent or investigator will find his efforts thwarted if unable to request and receive specialized legal support in times of crisis. I cannot stress too strongly how important it is that increased resources for law enforcement agencies be accompanied by resources for our important litigation responsibilities as well. Without sufficient litigation support, the system will break down.

The Department's counterterrorism request also includes

$185 million for the Office of Justice Program's domestic preparedness efforts, an increase of $33 million. I anticipate that the President will direct the transfer of primary responsibility for the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Domestic Preparedness Program from the Department of Defense to the Department of Justice, effective on October 1, 2000. In anticipation of this transfer, we are requesting $31 million for the costs associated with providing first responders with classroom training, various levels of practical exercises, and equipment and training aids to prepare for nuclear, biological and chemical incidents. We also request $17 million for OJP's counterterrorism technology programs.

We also request counterterrorism enhancements for OJP of

$9 million for a Law Enforcement Training program; $6 million to provide technical assistance to state and local communities for domestic preparedness; $3 million to expand the First Responder Equipment Acquisition program, and $2 million to expand operations at the Center for Domestic Preparedness at Fort McClellan, AL.

We request an increase of $1 million and 10 positions for the Department's Office of Intelligence and Policy Review (OIPR). This office is responsible for reviewing all requests for surveillance or searches under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. FISA applications have grown by over 80 percent since 1992, and a 1999 amendment to the FISA statute

(50 U.S.C. 1801 et.seq.) expanded the types of authorized FISA applications that OIPR must review to include pen register and trap and trace device surveillance.

Finally, for the Criminal Division, we seek increases of $210,000 for the Office of Enforcement Operations to address victim assistance needs related to the Pan Am 103 case and provide the capacity for future terrorist-related victim assistance. In addition, this would allow the Criminal Division to keep pace with witness service demands and would improve its ability for special administrative measures aimed at isolating, for investigative purposes, those indicted and convicted for terrorist-related offenses.

We are seeking $92,000 to support the Criminal Division's Terrorism and Violent Crime Section's work related to the Five-Year Interagency Counterterrorism and Technology Crime Plan, the latest update which I will transmit to you in the next few days. This increase will fund 1 position to provide the coordination and planning that is necessary among the Department and other agencies that participate in the development and annual updates of the Plan.

The improvements in information technology and the development and proliferation of the Internet have expanded our horizons, literally putting knowledge at our fingertips and changing the way we think and do business. The Nation's information infrastructure -- the banking system, the stock market, the electricity and water supply, the telecommunications network and critical government services -- rely on computer networks. These systems are the foundation upon which our society functions; and by virtue of our growing dependence on computers, they are increasingly the target of criminals at home and abroad. As greater numbers of people develop proficiency in manipulating electronic data and navigating computer networks, and as worldwide access to the Internet continues to expand, the opportunity for cybercrime increases rapidly.

Two weeks ago, Director Freeh and I came before you to discuss cybercrime and the recent attacks against popular on-line Internet sites including Yahoo, Amazon.com, Ebay, E-Trade and others. As I told you at that time, we need a long-term coordinated strategy to deal with cybercrime. I will work with you to develop and implement a five-year plan that will focus our existing and future resources to react and prevent cybercrimes by forging partnerships that include sharing expertise, training, equipment and technology among federal, state and local law enforcement officials. The strategy must address the challenges we face, both here and abroad. The problems demand personnel and expertise at all levels -- in both the investigative and prosecutorial sides -- the latest cybercrime fighting equipment, and educating our young people and others about the responsible use of the Internet. And, we must accomplish this in a manner that respects and upholds our cherished privacy and freedoms.

We appreciate your interest in and support for our requests to address cybercrime. In FY 2000, you provided a total of

$107.4 million in funding for efforts underway in the Department's Criminal Division, the FBI, DEA, U.S. Attorneys Offices, and the Office of Justice Programs. We seek to establish a permanent cadre of experts dedicated to preventing computer crime and to prosecuting those responsible. In Fiscal Year 2001, the President's budget includes an additional

$37 million to continue the fight against cybercrime. This request will serve as the baseline for future efforts. It will improve our capacity to address the challenges that high technology presents, and it will shape our ability to cope with crime in the future.

Our 2001 request includes cybercrime increases totaling

$12 million for the FBI ­ $11.4 million to expand the Computer Analysis and Response Teams (CART) and to further develop the Automated Computer Examination System (ACES), a software tool that expedites the computer forensics process by scanning files from seized computers to identify known format and executable program files; and $612,000 for personnel to support a joint FBI-Customs Service Intellectual Property Rights Center to enhance our Nation's ability to investigate and prosecute intellectual property rights crimes by sharing information among agencies.

CART teams are the forensic investigators in a computer world. CART personnel provide the specialized expertise needed to extract data from computers and network systems, conduct forensic examinations, and provide on-site support to criminal investigations that require computers as evidence. The FBI has a total of 142 trained CART examiners who supported approximately 2,000 cases during 1999. By 2001, the requirement for forensic examinations is expected to more than double the number required in FY 1999. To keep pace with this expanding workload, we seek an additional $8.6 million and 100 additional CART examiners and $2.8 million to further develop ACES.

For the Office of Justice Programs, the 2001 request includes $15.75 million, including $8.75 million to expand training initiatives at the National White Collar Crime Center for state and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies;

$6 million to develop regional forensic computer labs; and

$1 million for the Bureau of Justice Statistics to collect computer crime and cyber fraud statistics to measure the magnitude and consequences of computer crime.

Our new initiative to develop regional forensic computer labs recognizes the need to establish computer expertise at the state and local level. It also addresses the need for training and backup resources so that state and local law enforcement can successfully conduct investigations and prosecutions of computer crimes in their jurisdictions. These labs will build on a concept that we have found to be highly successful and one which has, as its foundation, an approach involving partnership and information sharing among federal, national, state and local organizations and agencies. One model that we have for this new program is the Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory in San Diego, California. This lab brings together expertise from state and local representatives and government personnel, including the FBI, and serves as a resource for the San Diego area to solve crimes involving complex computer forensics.

To ensure that there is balance within the system and adequate litigation resources to support our cybercrime investigations, we are requesting additional funding for the United States Attorneys and the Criminal Division.

For the U. S. Attorneys, the FY 2001 budget includes

$8 million to investigate and prosecute cybercrimes and to enable the vigorous prosecution of child pornography cases, including those cases involving the use of the Internet. The FY 2001 request will bring total U. S. Attorneys funding availability for cybercrime to $12.7 million.

For the Criminal Division, we seek an additional $586,000 for the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS). CCIPS acts as a link for federal, state, local and foreign agencies seeking guidance on how to respond to the threat of cybercrime/cyberterrorism. In addition, the FY 2001 budget includes $560,000 for the Criminal Division to stay abreast of technological changes and developments and to target those who use computers, computer bulletin board systems and computer online services to traffic in child pornography.

We believe our FY 2001 request provides balanced and responsible approaches to addressing this growing threat. The tremendous growth in the Internet and the interconnectivity of our information infrastructure means that Congress, law enforcement, industry and the private sector must all work together as never before. Computers bring the world closer together and create new bonds of understanding. However, they can provide criminals with tools to conceal their identity and greater access to those who seek to cause harm. Crimes perpetrated via the Internet can reach a larger and more accessible pool of victims which can encircle the globe. The Internet has made it easier for wrongdoers to find each other, to congregate, to socialize, and to create an online community of support and social reinforcement for their antisocial behaviors. We welcome your assistance and persistence in this battle for the future.

The Department's FY 2001 budget includes an increase of $215.9 million to continue our vigorous efforts to pursue those who violate our gun laws and to provide state and local law enforcement with assistance and technology to solve and prosecute gun crimes. Although gun violence has dropped, and gun prosecutions have increased, we must do more to stem the tide of gun violence. Every day, 89 people are shot and killed in America; and every year, in addition to the immeasurable costs of human suffering, gun violence costs the American people

$20 billion in medical care, public service, and lost productivity. These costs are unacceptable.

Those who use guns to commit crimes must be swiftly and severely punished. At my direction, United States Attorneys -- working within their communities -- have put together innovative plans to reduce gun violence. For FY 2001, our budget requests an additional $14.5 million and 163 positions for the United States Attorneys to bolster firearms prosecutions and to build on the successes of pilot projects such as Operation Ceasefire in Boston, MA and Project Exile in Richmond, VA. Last year, you earmarked $7.125 million for intensive firearms prosecution projects. I hope that this year you will provide additional resources to enhance our firearms prosecution projects throughout the country.

Recognizing that the majority of gun prosecutions must occur at the state and local levels, we are requesting

$190 million in new funding for the Community Prosecution program. We propose that $150 million of this increase be used to hire or redeploy 1,000 local prosecutors to combat gun violence through intensive local enforcement initiatives.

In addition to punishing those who commit gun crimes, we must do all we can to stop gun violence before it occurs. Our 2001 budget includes an increase of $40 million for programs aimed at preventing gun violence. This includes $10 million for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) to develop and test "smart gun" technologies; $10 million to be made available within the Byrne Discretionary Grant program to support local media campaigns that help spread the word about gun violence; and an increase of $10 million from within current Juvenile Justice funding to expand innovative Partnerships to Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence. Also within OJP, we are requesting $10 million to reimburse state and local law enforcement agencies for the cost of destroying weapons, rather than reselling them and recouping costs. This is not a "gun buyback" program, but it will help prevent weapons seized or used by law enforcement from being circulated back into the community.

As with fingerprints, every firearm has unique characteristics -- a "gun print" -- that can be captured, electronically stored and compared to other gun prints through the use of ballistics technology. Ballistics technology enables law enforcement to link one or more seemingly unrelated crimes to a single firearm. At the present time, both the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in the Treasury Department operate separate ballistics imaging systems, but an agreement has been reached to integrate these two systems, using the best features of each, to establish a single National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN). This new system will improve law enforcement's ability to identify crime guns. For FY 2001, the Department is requesting $1.4 million for the FBI to provide the communications infrastructure required to implement NIBIN. In addition, we are seeking $10 million through OJP to provide assistance to help state and local law enforcement input data into their ballistics systems and reduce their backlogs. Funding is requested in Treasury's budget to upgrade state and local ballistics systems.

Our 2001 budget continues the Department's commitment to improve community law enforcement efforts and to build closer relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

We seek an additional $740 million For the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, for a total of

$1.3 billion in FY 2001. The COPS request includes an increase of $225.3 million for the Public Safety and Community Policing Grants program, of which up to $50 million will be used to fund law enforcement officers who will work in police/prosecutors' offices. We have also requested $190 million, as I mentioned earlier, to expand funds for community and local prosecutors. I regard the expansion of community law enforcement to include community prosecutors as the single most important lynchpin of further crime prevention.

We request an increase of $220 million, for a total of

$350 million, to provide state and local law enforcement with the latest crime fighting technologies, This includes $199 million for the Crime Identification Technology Assistance program;

$70 million for upgrades to criminal history records;

$50 million to improve forensic labs and to reduce the convicted offender DNA sample backlog; $10 million for crime mapping technologies; $10 million in base funding for National Institute of Justice's (NIJ) Technology Centers; $6 million for regional forensic computer labs; and $5 million for continued base funding for the NIJ DNA Research Development program.

We seek $70 million for community crime prevention programs to address youth and school safety, including $5 million to fund a value-based program between youth and police, $30 million for school-based problem solving partnerships, and $35 million for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students program; $20 million for a police integrity training initiative; $5 million for a COPS police diversity recruitment initiative; and $5 million for citizen problem-solving academies that will provide citizens with tools to work collaboratively with policing agencies.

The Office of Justice Programs supports a number of new, innovative, and exciting programs to assist communities in addressing crime and public safety concerns. I am particularly excited about a pilot project known as the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiatives (SACSI) that is underway in five cities -- Indianapolis, IN; Memphis, TN; New Haven, CT; Portland, OR; and Winston-Salem, NC. SACSI experiments with a new way of doing business that makes heavy use of statistical data and information analysis, boosts the U. S. Attorney's role as a community problem solver and uses researchers to serve as navigators to ensure that the crime-fighting approaches taken are supported by the data. In FY 2001, we are requesting an additional $10 million to expand SACSI.

In Indianapolis, under the SACSI umbrella, law enforcement agencies from the federal, state, and local levels came together with community groups to form the Indianapolis Violence Reduction Partnership (IVRP), with the goal of reducing homicides, bringing the community into the problem-solving process and improving communication among federal, state, and local law enforcement. The Indianapolis Division of the FBI, as a participating member of the IVRP, shares intelligence data and provides technical oversight to the state and local intelligence gathering community. The IVRP is an example of the benefits that accrue from SACSI projects involving cooperation, coordination, and collaboration between law enforcement at all levels and the community, as well as the importance of incorporating sound research and analysis into problem-solving. The IVRP team analyzed data for every homicide that occurred in Indianapolis and Marion County, IN in 1997 and 1998, identified common elements and developed a strategy that included community intervention with offenders on probation or parole. Initial results show that homicides were down 36 percent for the first 6 months of 1999, as compared to the same period a year earlier.

I have visited the Indianapolis project, and I can tell you that the work they are doing there holds great promise for the future. SACSI brings community organizations and law enforcement together to create new, effective and lasting relationships across agencies and disciplines, using local data, crime control theory, street level information, and organizational capacities to attack problems and develop solutions. It is a wise investment.

Other enhancements requested for OJP community law enforcement programs include $15 million for a new Building Blocks initiative to address delinquency and crime; an

$8.5 million increase for Weed and Seed; $5 million earmarked for NIJ from within the Drug Courts program and JJ formula grants for dependency courts to address child abuse and neglect; $5 million for the NIJ to conduct family violence research and evaluation; $2 million to develop protocols and guidelines for investigative and forensic sciences; and $1 million to begin developing a new Justice Online Information Exchange system.

For the U. S. Attorneys, we are requesting $3.98 million to support the operations of the D.C. Superior Court by funding investigative resources to augment work performed by the Metropolitan Police Department and $172,000 to expand the Short Term Witness Protection program.

One of the most pressing criminal justice challenges we will face as a Nation in the next few years is the reentry of offenders into society upon their release from prison. We have nearly 2 million Americans incarcerated, two-thirds of them in state and federal prisons. This year, nearly 570,000 inmates will return to communities across the country. Unfortunately, many of them will return home with the same problems they had when they entered prison. And as a result, two-thirds of all returning offenders will be rearrested within three years of release. This is unacceptable. We must have programs in place to break the cycle of drug use and its consequences and to provide support services to help these former offenders successfully reenter their communities. Our FY 2001 budget addresses these needs.

Our request includes $75 million for OJP's Zero Tolerance Drug Supervision program. This initiative will provide discretionary grants to states, units of local government, Indian tribes, and state and local courts for comprehensive drug testing and treatment programs. Of the total, $25 million will be devoted to a new Offender Re-entry Grant program, which along with $35 million from the COPS program, will provide a total of $60 million to combine surveillance sanctions and support services in ways that afford increased protection to communities that experience unusually high returns of inmates.

The re-entry grant program addresses a problem that will impact all of us. It will help to manage the reintegration of prisoners into society and to minimize public safety risks while maximizing productive activity. This new program includes funding for re-entry partnerships in our communities that enhance monitoring and follow-up and strengthen support systems. The program includes funding for "re-entry courts" modeled after our highly successful Drug Courts program. The re-entry court would oversee an offender's return to the community after release from prison or jail, while on probation or parole. It would use its authority to apply graduated sanctions and positive reinforcement in much the same way that drug courts do. The message of the court would be -- work with us, stay clean, stay out of trouble, get a job, and we will help you in those efforts. But if you come back testing positive for drugs, if you commit further crimes, if you violate the conditions of your release, you're going to face a more serious punishment, every step of the way.

Also included in the FY 2001 request is funding for other drug prevention programs, including $20 million for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP) Drug Prevention Demonstration program; $50 million for OJP's Drug Courts program, an increase of $10 million above last year;

$5 million to expand NIJ's Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring System (ADAM); $4.5 million for OJP's national demonstration initiative on alcohol and crime; $4.4 million to evaluate OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious Violent and Chronic Juvenile Offenders program; and a $2 million increase for the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment program, bringing the total available for this program to $65 million.

In addition to its drug prevention efforts, the Department is requesting a total of $1.73 billion for drug enforcement activities, including an increase of $3.1 million and 18 positions to support DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD) investigations along the Southwest Border and to establish a money laundering/financial investigative unit within SOD. SOD is a multi-agency program aimed at dismantling entire national and international trafficking organizations. It includes participation from the DEA, FBI, IRS, U. S. Customs Service and the Criminal Division in the Justice Department.

An increase of $389,000 and 5 positions is requested to enhance the Criminal Division's international drug money laundering and forfeiture activities and to support the increasing number of new wiretaps relating to narcotics enforcement arising from initiatives such as SOD.

The Department's detention and incarceration requirements continue to grow. In FY 2001, we are requesting increases totaling $1.1 billion to meet our detention, incarceration, and prisoner transportation needs.

Federal Bureau of Prisons

As a result of tougher sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum sentences, the abolition of parole, and significant increases in law enforcement, we have seen our federal prison population more than double since 1990. We project that the current population will increase by another 50 percent by 2007. To meet this projected demand for prison bedspace, for the

Bureau of Prisons, we are requesting a 2001 appropriation of

$4.4 billion and advance appropriations in buildings and facilities for 2002 and 2003. This funding will reduce overcrowding and accommodate future growth, including absorption of D.C. sentenced felons and long-term INS detainees. The request seeks program increases of $874.5 million this year.

For the Salaries and Expenses account, our increases include $80 million and 1,404 positions to activate 4 new facilities. These activations are needed to address the 53 percent overcrowding rate in high security prisons, to house District of Columbia felons, and to add much needed pre-trial detention beds. In addition, we are requesting $13.1 million to open 6 low security facilities; $8.1 million to begin the initial purchase of equipment for 2 federal prison facilities scheduled to activate in the first half of 2002; $84.5 million and oversight positions for an additional 6,000 contract beds (above the current year 6,000 beds for long-term criminal alien detainees and D.C. inmates); and $7.4 million to increase inmate participation in GED, English proficiency, special education and vocational training programs.

For BOP Buildings and Facilities, we request a total of $835.6 million for 2001, including a program increase of

$681.3 million for the full construction costs of 6 prisons, 2 associated with the absorption of INS long-term detainees, as well as the site and planning costs for 5 new facilities.

I would call your attention to and ask your support for our proposal to provide advance appropriations for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 to ensure that we have adequate facilities to house an expanding prison population. Advance funding will accelerate and bring certainty to our construction program, We ask that you provide an advance appropriation of $791 million in FY 2002 to fund the construction costs of the 5 facilities for which we are seeking site and planning money in 2001. Similarly, we ask

that you provide site and planning funding in 2002 for 5 new facilities, which would require advance appropriations of

$535 million for construction in 2003.

Thus, our budget request for the Buildings and Facilities appropriation includes a total of 17 new prisons over the next 3 fiscal years. Without the new prisons in this request, over-crowding will reach an unmanageable 94 percent in our penitentiaries and 74 percent in our medium security facilities by 2007. With this proposed funding, we estimate overcrowding will be reduced to approximately 30 percent system-wide.

Detention Trustee

Our detention requirements are becoming an increasingly large portion of the Department's annual budget request, with funding located in several different appropriations accounts within the Department. In an effort to better manage these growing detention resources, we are proposing to create a Detention Trustee who will report to the Deputy Attorney General and be responsible for managing detention resources within the Department. While we have not moved detention funding from the various components' accounts, it is anticipated that the Detention Trustee would exercise oversight of detention resources and operations. Our budget request includes 6 positions and

$26 million in the new Detention Trustee account; $25 million is available without limitation to meet unanticipated costs associated with the care, maintenance, detention and repatriation of illegal aliens held outside the continental United States.

Immigration and Naturalization Service

The Department's request for INS Detention needs includes increases of $92.5 million for 1,000 additional contract beds to detain and remove criminal aliens. This includes 82 new juvenile beds and funding for transportation and to implement detention standards. Also requested are increases of $24.8 million for detention facility construction to continue the multi-year southwest border initiative at critical detention locations in El Paso and Port Isabel, TX; El Centro, CA; and to improve facilities in Florida. The proposed reauthorization of Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act is expected to provide $37.5 million to replace one-time detention resources made available as part of the FY 2001 appropriation, to support the increase in the number of juvenile detention beds, and increase the number of Justice Prisoner Air Transportation (JPATS) movements.

United States Marshals

For the United States Marshals Service, our request seeks an increase of $64.4 million in the Federal Prisoner Detention account to fund costs associated with approximately 9.53 million contract jail days, a 8 percent increase above the 2000 level. The detainee population has grown considerably over the last few years due to significant increases in apprehensions by our growing law enforcement personnel in the FBI, DEA, and INS Border Patrol. In FY 2001 the average daily population is expected to reach 38,531.

In addition to the needs of the Federal Prisoner Detention program, the FY 2001 budget request includes increases of

$35.7 million for the U. S. Marshals Service to handle the increased workload generated by staff increases in other federal law enforcement agencies, to provide the personnel and equipment necessary to ensure new courthouses and new courtrooms in existing facilities can open on schedule and with adequate security to handle increased prisoner movements and to increase security in the District of Columbia Superior Court cellblock.

The work of the U. S. Marshals Service is uncontrollable in nature in that the organization must meet the requirements of the federal courts and of our federal investigators and prosecutors. The Marshals Service cannot control the number of threats facing

our federal judiciary, nor can it control the number of prisoners that come into its custody.

Office of Justice Programs:

Funding is requested, within the Prison Grants program, for the Cooperative Agreement Program ($35 million) and for detention facilities in Indian country ($34 million).

The Justice Department is our Nation's chief enforcer of civil rights laws. Through the enforcement efforts of the Civil Rights Division, the U. S. Attorneys offices, and the FBI, the Department seeks to protect the civil rights and liberties guaranteed to ALL Americans.

The FY 2001 budget requests a total civil rights enforcement budget of $107.8 million. For the Civil Rights Division, alone, this represents an increase of $16 million for civil rights funding ­ 19 percent more than the FY 2000 enacted level of

$82.2 million, and 41 percent more than the FY 1999 enacted level of $69.3 million.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The increased resources will enable the Civil Rights Division to fund new initiatives to further implement the ADA. This funding will also allow the Division to continue prosecuting criminal civil rights cases; promote compliance with our Nation's laws that prohibit discrimination in housing, lending, voting, education, and employment laws; protect the rights of institutionalized persons; and expand investigations and prosecutions of cases involving "pattern or practice" of police misconduct.

The Community Relations Service (CRS) plays a pivotal role in civil rights issues through the delivery of conciliation and conflict resolution services. Included in the request for enhanced civil rights resources is an increase of $2.35 million and 30 positions (15 conciliators and 15 administrative staff) to enable the Community Relations Service to deploy professional conciliators to communities threatened by racial tensions, community conflict, and unrest.

Within the Office of Justice Programs, we are seeking increases totaling $5.9 million for programs addressing police use of force, hate crimes, and for statistical programs that will look at police-initiated traffic stops; felony case processing to determine if there is a disparity in the way a defendant is treated based on their race; and the victimization of people with disabilities.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service is charged with enforcing immigration laws by securing our Nation's borders from illegal immigration and expediting the legal flow of commerce and people into the United States. The FY 2001 budget request for INS supports the immigration goals and strategies of improving customer service, facilitating legal immigration while deterring illegal immigration, and removing criminal and other illegal aliens from the United States. The FY 2001 budget request seeks a total of $4.8 billion for immigration-related activities.

For the Border Patrol, we are requesting an increase of

$52 million to add 430 new Border Patrol agents. These new agents will bring Border Patrol staffing to more than 9,800 agents by the end of the fiscal year, representing an increase of about 147 percent over the 1993 staffing level of 3,965 agents.

The 2001 request recognizes the difficulties INS encountered in recruiting agents in a tight labor market and seeks an additional $69.9 million for a Border Patrol and Immigration Inspector Pay Reform package. Of the total, $56 million is requested from appropriated resources, and $13.9 million will come from user fees. The initiative would upgrade the journeyman grade levels for the Border Patrol and inspectors from GS-9 to GS-11. It would also modify the overtime provisions for Border Patrol agents, making them eligible for Law Enforcement Availability Pay. We are hopeful that pay reform, coupled with

more aggressive recruitment and hiring initiatives, will improve our ability to recruit and retain agents.

Our Border Management request includes an increase of

$20 million to support force-multiplying technology efforts by expanding the Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System. This technology provides agents with the ability to monitor the border from remote sites, thus increasing the efficiency and safety of our agents. In addition, $22.3 million is requested for 269 Immigration Inspectors to staff 3 new ports of entry in Texas, to handle increased workload associated with the expedited removal process at land ports of entry, and to provide additional staff at international airports. The Department also plans to dedicate $5 million from the Assets Forfeiture Fund Super Surplus to continue efforts to evaluate the possible integration of INS' IDENT fingerprint system with the FBI's IAFIS system.

For Border Patrol construction, we are seeking an additional $51.3 million to construct and maintain Border Patrol stations and sector headquarters to accommodate the growth that has occurred in the Border Patrol.

In FY 1999, INS met its naturalization goal of completing more than 1.2 million naturalization applications, and the agency is on target to meet its FY 2000 goal of processing 1.3 million

applications and achieving a nationwide average processing time of 6-9 months to naturalization.

To support the provision of immigration services, the Department is proposing additional resources totaling

$152.3 million. Of this amount, $80 million will be derived from the establishment of a new Premium Processing Fee that will permit business applicants to choose expedited processing of their applications for a $1,000 fee.

Of the total receipts to be generated by this new fee,

$25 million will be used to process business applications and to increase our anti-fraud efforts, and $55 million will be deposited into a new Immigration Services Capital Investment Account. This new account will fund immigration service and benefits initiatives, targeting backlog reductions, through system and infrastructure upgrades. The budget also requests $34.8 million in appropriated resources for backlog reduction efforts in other immigration benefit programs and to capitalize the new Capital Investment Account and $37.5 million in receipts derived from the proposed reauthorization of Section 245(i).

We are requesting $10.1 million to strengthen INS' financial management operations by hiring additional staff at INS' Burlington, VT Debt Management Center and the Dallas, TX Finance Center; adding staff to respond to increased demands at the Administrative Service Centers; and to address staffing requirements in the Legal Proceedings program.

When resources are added to INS, they reverberate through other Justice agencies, resulting in increased workload for agencies such as the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and the United States Attorneys who must prosecute many immigration cases. To ensure balance in the system, the Department is requesting enhancements for these agencies.

For EOIR, our request includes an increase of $5 million to meet an estimated increase of 10,000 cases in its Immigration Judge caseload and an increase of 1,200 cases in its appellate caseload.

For the U. S. Attorneys, we are seeking an additional

$3.8 million and 48 positions to complement enhancements provided to INS over the last 4 years. The increase will permit the

U. S. Attorneys to aggressively enforce our immigration statutes by prosecuting illegal aliens, including aliens who, after deportation, attempt to reenter or remain in the U. S. illegally; alien smugglers and smuggling organizations; and those who produce, distribute, or sell false identification.

State and local governments are also impacted by increased federal immigration enforcement. The 2001 budget includes a requested increase of $15 million for the State Criminal Alien Assistance program (SCAAP) which reimburses state and local governments for the cost of incarcerating criminal illegal aliens. With the proposed increase, total funding for SCAAP in FY 2001 will reach $600 million.

The increased sophistication in technology has made significant changes and improvements in the way we work and live. Just as society as a whole has become dependent on new technologies, so too has law enforcement. When I came to the Department in 1993, I found a crumbling technological infrastructure, and I have worked hard to improve the tools available to our agents and prosecutors. We have come a long way in the last 7 years, but there is still much to be done.

Our 2001 budget includes an additional $358 million for federal information resources management software and hardware, wiretapping systems, cryptology equipment, DNA collection efforts, on-going research and development projects and data driven crime control strategies.

Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement (CALEA)

The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994, (P.L. 103-414) authorizes the Attorney General to reimburse telecommunications carriers for costs associated with modifying digital equipment installed before January 1, 1995, in order that court-authorized wiretaps may be performed.

The Department has recently submitted a fiscal year 2000 reprogramming proposing to use up to $100 million in Assets Forfeiture Super Surplus funds to continue reimbursing the telecommunications industry for certain costs associated with modifying their networks. We urge your support of this reprogramming. In addition, for FY 2001, we are seeking an increase of $105 million for the Department's CALEA activities, bringing total funding to $120 million. Recognizing the contribution of CALEA to national security, an additional

$120 million for CALEA is also requested in the Department of Defense.

The budget request for the FBI in 2001 includes

$2.1 million to test and verify the technical solutions proposed by manufacturers under CALEA.

Drug Enforcement Administration:

For DEA, the budget request includes technology enhancements totaling $57.5 million. Included within this total is

$56 million and 2 positions to continue deployment and support the operational requirements of DEA's primary office automation infrastructure, FIREBIRD; and $1.5 million to enhance the El Paso Intelligence Center's (EPIC) Information System. The EPIC information system distributes and analyzes sensitive intelligence data on worldwide drug movements and organizations.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

We have made significant improvements in the FBI's automated systems over the last few years. In FY 1999, three new critical information systems became operational. The National Instant Background Check System (NICS), used to perform automated Brady Act background checks for gun purchases, came on-line in November 1998. In July 1999, the FBI's NCIC 2000 and Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) became fully operational. Despite these advancements, there is much that still needs to be accomplished to bring the FBI into the 21st Century in terms of its technology requirements.

For FY 2001, we are requesting a total of $104.7 million for FBI technology initiatives. Our request includes $40.8 million in new funding for the Information Sharing Initiative;

$25.3 million and 4 positions for digital collections systems; and $10 million from the Assets Forfeiture Fund Super Surplus to support a multi-year automated information initiative to store and manage lawfully collected electronic surveillance intelligence and evidentiary material among FBI field offices. In addition, $14.3 million is requested to fund the annual lease costs associated with the Justice Consolidated Network's ATM circuits. For counter encryption activities, we are seeking

$7 million to provide the tools necessary to intercept encrypted communications, when permitted by court order. And, we are seeking $5.3 million and 5 positions to implement a federal offenders DNA database and $2 million to provide digital body recorders in all field offices.

Narrowband Communications

Federal agencies are required by law to make more efficient use of their radio spectrum, The National Telecommunications and Information Administration in the U. S. Department of Commerce has issued regulations to require all federal spectrum users to narrow by one-half the bandwidth used to transmit radio signals. Our FY 2001 request includes an increase of $88.6 million to accelerate the necessary equipment upgrades to comply with the new requirements. The Department's narrowband communications account consolidates the needs of all DOJ federal law enforcement agencies to achieve efficiencies of scale in the acquisition of this new technology. Total funding requested for narrowband efforts in FY 2001 is $205 million.

The FY 2001 budget includes $173.3 million to fund the third year of our Indian Country Law Enforcement Initiative begun with the support of this Subcommittee in FY 1999. The request represents an increase of $81.8 million above the FY 2000 enacted level.

Our Indian Country Law Enforcement Initiative will improve public safety for the residents of American Indian and Alaskan Native communities by increasing the number of law enforcement officers on Indian lands, providing equipment, expanding detention facilities, enhancing juvenile crime prevention and improving the effectiveness of tribal courts. While violent crime has declined nationally for the 7th consecutive year, it is on the rise in many Indian communities. American Indians are the victims of violent crimes at more than twice the rate of all U.S. residents.

The Federal Government has unique law enforcement responsibilities in Indian communities. In order to fulfill these responsibilities and to fight violent crime effectively, both the Justice Department and the Department of the Interior's

Bureau of Indian Affairs must have a full spectrum of criminal justice resources to promote public safety.

For Indian Country programs within the Office of Justice Programs, the FY 2001 budget request includes $10 million to establish a new Zero Tolerance and Drug Intervention program for alcohol and substance abuse; $15 million for the Tribal Courts program; $20 million for Title V Juvenile Justice incentive grants for local delinquency prevention to serve Indian youth by developing, enhancing, and supporting tribal juvenile justice systems; $8 million for a new Tribal Youth Mental Health and Behavior Problems Initiative; $8 million for a new Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Diversion program to develop strategies and services to break the cycle of alcohol and crime; $5 million to establish Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Units to gather evidence in prosecuting sexual offenders; $6 million for a Tribal Criminal and Civil Legal Assistance program for criminal and civil legal services support and for criminal and legal assistance curriculum development and training at tribal colleges; $34 million within the Prison Grants program for the construction of detention facilities; $2 million for a new Tribal Criminal Justice Statistics Collection program; and $5 million for a new Police Corps program to provide advanced educational opportunities for police in Indian country.

Within the COPS program, we are seeking $45 million for additional law enforcement officers, equipment, and training in Indian Country and $5 million for an Indian Country Forensics Laboratory to augment tribal forensic capabilities.

For Department of Justice agencies, the Indian Country request includes $4.6 million for the FBI to fund 31 victim/witness coordinator positions in Indian Country, contracts for evidence forensic exams, and Safe Trails Task Force overtime costs; $4.7 million and 60 positions for the United States Attorneys to augment current investigative and prosecutorial efforts in Indian Country; and $932,000 to establish a permanent Office of Tribal Justice under the Associate Attorney General.

As the Department's responsibilities and caseload continue to expand, we are seeking additional resources to prosecute unlawful activities and protect the interests of the American people in court. As I noted earlier, balance in the criminal justice system is vitally important. Without adequate litigators to handle the caseload that is generated by increased investigative resources, our system breaks down and the interests of the American people are compromised.

The FY 2001 budget includes increased resources to enable the Department to perform its role as the Nation's litigator.

Specifically, the request includes a program increase for the Antitrust Division of $20.95 million from fee revenue to provide for the hiring of additional staff. This is critical if merger enforcement is to keep up with the accelerating number and complexity of merger deals being proposed and the rapid technological change currently affecting American markets. It will also help address an increasing number of civil non-merger matters, and handle an expanding international workload, including large global criminal cartels from which the Division has obtained $1.4 billion in criminal fines in just the past two years. This additional funding will help ensure that America's marketplace remains the most freely competitive and innovative in the world.

For the Criminal Division, we are seeking $1.2 million and 14 positions to support the Division's fight against international crime.

For the United States Attorneys, an increase of

$5.74 million is requested to prepare for and defend civil lawsuits against the United States and to promote the effective defense of lawsuits through training and efficient use of resources in order to protect public funds and programs, policy initiatives, and statutes. Congress established the Judgment Fund, a permanent indefinite appropriation, to pay settlements and judgments against the United States. Disbursements from the Judgment Fund are increasing. In 1995, payments from the Fund totaled $300 million. By the end of 1997, nearly $1 billion was paid out of the Fund. The civil defensive litigation of our United States Attorneys helps to prevent losses from the United States Treasury and is a wise investment.

For the Environment and Natural Resources Division, we are seeking an increase of $1.15 million and 8 attorneys to support the Division's efforts to defend federal programs and regulations and $988,000 to expand the Division's civil enforcement caseload.

The 2001 request for the Tax Division includes increases of $2 million to expose and attack the use of illegal tax evasion offshore schemes, prosecute and combat the use of illegal domestic trusts, and provide automated litigation tools.

For the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), our request includes $93,000 and 1 position to assist OLC in its review of legal documents to implement Presidential decisions or transmit Presidential requests in emergency situations.

The Justice Department strongly endorses the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to resolve conflicts which reduce costly litigation and requests an additional $1.31 million in FY 2001 to promote the use of ADR to resolve conflicts and establish a full operating budget for the Office of Dispute Resolution, and to disburse funding to appropriate litigating components to pay ADR costs. In addition, we are requesting

$1 million for the Fees and Expenses of Witnesses appropriation for ADR expenses.

Other Crime-Fighting Initiatives

In addition to the special initiatives that I have outlined above, the FY 2001 request includes $86.1 million for other important enhancements.

For the FBI, we are requesting $12 million and 48 positions for Health Care Fraud Enforcement; $6.5 million and 4 positions to provide essential training resources to fully utilize the FBI Academy space to provide technical and analytic training to agents and other professionals; $5 million to contract for additional linguist support so that investigators can analyze intelligence in foreign languages; $2.1 million for additional criminal confidential case funds to pay for costs associated with undercover operations; and $1.9 million for environmental and safety related construction efforts at the FBI Academy firing range.

To support our United States Attorneys, the FY 2001 budget includes enhancements of $12.1 million to provide the information technology equipment and staff to support large case document files, e-mail among U.S. Attorneys' offices and other Justice Department components and general office automation needs; and

$5 million to support efforts by the U. S. Attorneys to ensure the payment of child support to custodial parents.

An increase of $3.9 million and 24 positions is requested to enhance DEA's financial and resource management oversight functions. In fiscal year 1999 at Congress' direction, the Department undertook a comprehensive budget and financial review of DEA. A report was provided to the Committees on Appropriations in July 1999, which recommended a series of management reforms to be implemented by DEA. This requested increase will ensure that DEA will be able to fund ongoing needs for their federal financial system and become fully compliant with accepted federal financial management practices. Similarly, we are requesting $1.42 million and 32 positions to provide the U. S. Marshals Service with the capability to improve its financial operations, increase financial oversight and policy compliance, and provide daily systems maintenance and support to its accounting system.

In the Office of Justice Programs, we are requesting additional resources totaling $22.3 million for a number of important initiatives, including the Domestic Violence Victims' Civil Legal Assistance program, the Public Safety Officers Dependants Education Assistance program, a new International Crime Research program, a national study tracking the justice system's handling of domestic violence cases; an On-line Collection and Analysis of Information initiative to begin converting paper-based collections of administrative data from state and local units of government to an Internet-based, paperless collection; and to improve the management and administration of OJP and COPS programs.

Finally, we are seeking an appropriation of $13.7 million to support the mission of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which provides monetary compensation for specific diseases to underground uranium miners, persons who participated onsite in

atmospheric nuclear tests or individuals downwind of the Nevada Test site.

Closing

As we enter the 21st Century, criminal schemes are more technical and sophisticated than ever. Our response as the Nation's leader in law enforcement must be swift and proportionate. To ensure such a response, we must expand our on-going efforts to improve the performance of our programs and achieve the results that the American people rightfully expect. Soon, you will be receiving a copy of our 1999 Accountability Report, which includes our annual performance report. And, along with our budget request, I have submitted a summary performance plan for the entire Department that highlights the strategies, goals, indicators and resources we will employ to accomplish our mission in fiscal year 2001.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the support you have given to me and the Department of Justice over the last 7 years. We have made tremendous progress and I am committed to working with you during the remainder of my tenure as Attorney General to prevent waste and duplication and ensure that we are using our limited federal resources in the best possible manner so that we improve performance, meet our very broad mission, and build on the progress that we have made to date.

Thank you. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.