powerful and important moment in our legislative process. , want to think my colleagueleag the chairman to enable us to come together as well as my other colleague global sides of the i/o -- ideal for there very insightful and significant questions and comments vents, death on a challenge that should unsuspecting drivers who were victims of a defective ignition switch in automobiles manufactured by g.m. a car defect that should have been fixed disclosed and

remedied before these deaths occurred. i want to thank the families of the victims of these directive cars for coming forward and being at that hearing yesterday and sharing their stories with and sharing their stories with and being at that hearing yesterday. to share their story with me and others they are doing a great public service with their courage ian strength. also want to thank ms. barra the ceo of gm as i said to her and will repeat now, wiedmaier on dash admire her fortitude to and her service to face the question of our committee with general motors and the issues of car safety.

and engineer that has risen through the ranks, a second-generation employee at an iconic crete american manufacturing company. the products that have enriched the lives of so many americans over the years. but this is a turning point with these car safety challenges some of them have contacted me hell they are reaching a proactively to the drivers of these brad -- defective vehicles asking them to bring them to the

company to be repaired. this great company can we can -- reclaim the iconic brand by breaking with the past and ms. barra has the opportunity for this historic contribution. as i said yesterday she may be surrounded by lawyers and public-relations people who would phis her to be cautious, tinted and reactive and it timid but now is a time for her to seize the initiative to take three simple steps to establish a compensation fund for all that have suffered damage from the ignition switch.

victims who have suffered injuries and death as well as economic damage. second, to provide a clear strong wording to the drivers behind the wheel for those drivers that still have this defective ignition switch. the cars are under recall but not repaired. people are still driving them not knowing the full risk that they have undertaken by continuing to do drive. a strong warning to grow in those vehicles until they are prepared to choose what is needed now. third, support our legislation in. senator birkie in i have offered them legislation that would provide for better reporting by car

companies and a stronger accountability system and better disclosure through a data base to consumers so they know the risks before they make choices about what they drive and when. these steps are well warranted by the past misconduct of gm but potentially a model for other companies in doing the right thing to tell the truth to make sure innocent consumers are protected against harm that may not know to them. she has the opportunity to break with the past culture of the variability and deception and.

deception is what happens at gm. the ignition switches were known to be defective as early as 2001. year after year there were reliable facts that were indicated it had a responsibility to fix these vehicles but yet they took no action to repair repair, recall, inform consumers. and to the fix was not major costly. $2 per vehicle? easily done that yet 2005 / 2006 gm made a business decision the price was too high the time was too long and it continued to provide those vehicles for sale to consumers.

and then interceded united states government section 612 the gm sign that there were no material adverse facts at the time that it was bailed out as part of the reorganization. that deception is bad enough that what happened as a result was a shield from liability. a form of immunity against legal accountability. that was granted only because gm failed to disclose to the united states and the bankruptcy court can be be liable and responsible for these vehicles. that still be doubles the victims of injury deaths and economic damage as they seek to hold gm accountable because it invokes the

shield in courts today seeking to dismiss actions brought against it to return to the bankruptcy court where the black hole of discharge will prevent recovery. i welcome the independent investigation that gm has undertaken by a very credible and respected former united states attorney i welcome the appointment of kenneth feinberg with experience and expertise to provide compensation but gm itself has said there is no compensation fund and it will not commit to one. s. apple as these two individuals are the question remains what will it take?

what facts are evident that a required to persuade gm to do the right thing? there is more than ample evidence as to what the past should be and i urged that yesterday on ms. barra. gm very simply should do the right thing to establish the compensation fund to seek to make the victims whole suffered by these families and loved ones but justice has its own virtue and gm has are rare opportunity in corporate life to do justice and not wait for the consultant and investigator to work through the issues.

that means is doing right by those victims. yesterday i asked ms. barra about the safety of the vehicles still on the road and she assured me they were fighting to drive as long as the key was not overloaded in the ignition switch was used alone without additional keys and assured me there was no more risk to drive any vehicle than any other today i asked her about the contradictions of that statement with the recall notice and i will display its here which says that these vehicles are

risky to drive in the fact is your key ring carries added weight or and i emphasize or there are rough road conditions or impact related defense. unfortunately too many highways and byways have rough road conditions for a jarring defense. ms. barra said the test in the analysis done by her company and shirred the driving east affected

vehicles this state has long is it is only the ignition key but she must know because she has children as do i that they will drive with additional keystone that switch. in fact, hundreds of thousands millions of americans have no idea that driving these vehicles with added keys provides that kind of potential fatal risk with these cars lose power they lose steering. they lose their brakes. and they lose their airbags. that is terrifying. but they are essential if power is lost with the car crash as the victim's of

these crashes have discovered to there sorrow and grief of their family. pothole or rough road condition how common are they? this photograph is from a beautiful town long as the coast of connecticut indyk could take hundreds of these which has better roads they and many other places in our state or country as common as the roads themselves. that is gm's response ability to ward and it failed to do so i asked ms. barra what evidence or fax

would persuade her to issue a stronger warning. the recall notices selfs says the of risk increases with the added weight or the key fob itself or to experience rough road conditions, what would persuade her to issue the warning to stop driving the cars until they are prepared? specifically i asked her whether evidence about drivers who have in fact, experience the power loss without adding additional weight to their key ring if they encountered these types of conditions and if they

would persuade her to change her view in she answered senator fred had any data if it was just the key in the ring if there is any risk i would ground the vehicles across the country. ms. barra let me tell you march 2014 she owns a 2007 silver chevrolet kobold on the recall list instructed her to remove all items from her key ring leaving only the vehicle key as the recall notice instructed instructed, she continued to drive her vehicle using only the vehicle key.

the yet while driving with a french she lost power fortunately she was on the side of the road, of the right side of the road and was able to pull the vehicle to a stop. there will be other instances that will come forward to be an end to lawyers today i call on gm to issue the warning there is more than ample evidence or data where the key or just the key and the rain -- the ring led to the vehicle stopping not because of added weight but because they encountered rough road conditions that could

consist of leaning the wrong way these vehicles carry risks that are unacceptable in to the advice gm should give to people in this stop driving immediately. it was more costly to provide motors but in the long run there will save lives and dollars. finally i asked gm to do the right thing that the senator and i have introduced this legislation is critically important to the future it

cannot correct the past but it can make sure that accidents are reported in the defects are made known to the nhtsa and not only incentives for reporting but increased accountability for failing to do so to require to up publicly us accessible searchable databases to allow consumers safety advocates to connect the dots and companies that are not willing to connect those dots will be brought to justice in the required to recall the vehicles to find out about defective models in time to save lives. ms. barra has not yet committed to supporting this bill it is her

responsibility in my view to do so. if the responsibility of gm to take this action now she and gm have the opportunity to change corporate culture not only in that company but bisecting a model to lead by example not by their words at a senate hearing but by action that speaks louder than words latter than the appointment of a consultant or investigator whose report may not be made fully public and she was unwilling to make that commitment yesterday. it is a corporate culture that refuse to make a $0.57 change or a $2 change even though that would have saved lives and the amount is the time to hold gm accountable

to issue the warning to help save others from the fate only known to weld from those families who came to see as yesterday i look forward to working with ms. barra my colleagues in the gm and all who are interested in improving car safety to use this unfortunate experience as a teaching moment of a bipartisan action to make our roads safer. thank you madam president high-heeled the floor and ask for a quorum.

>> we're also seeing long lines of people after today this moment across afghanistan those that are floating around there are still long lines of men and women that is the indication with the population. >> we should not judge the afghan election by the same

standards of our own elections we have had 200 years of evolution this is a democracy in its infancy. if it does produce incredible result it is the first handoff of power in history. we want to be careful not to rush to judgment ahead of the afghan people. it is there judgment to make whether the ultimate outcome is legitimate to. we don't want to second-guess that issue every step along the way. >> the access or what i should say is the drawdown of international observers will have a psychological effect to the afghans to the international community so the reduction of the numbers not trying to gloss over the

fact but the truth is it will run make a huge difference there are enough observers there to do their job them the real story is this is the afghan election undertaken pursuant to afghan institutions and observers will be the first line of defense to ensure a good election.

issue tos [inaudible conversations] >> goodth morning the hearing will come to order. attorney-general thank you for appearing this morning. i want to mention our thoughts to bear with the

families and victims and survivors of wednesday's at shooting at ft. hood. this hearing last year we spent a great deal of time atta occurred there five years ago. today, our thoughts are certainly with the victims and their families. and this latest attack as well as with the earlier victims for whom this must be a painful reminder of the 2009 attack. the justice department budget request for fiscal year 2015 is relatively flat at $2.7 billion, a net increase of 1%. while the budget would continue efforts funded by the congress in the fy-2014 omnibus to restore hiring for vacant positions, your budget also contains some gimmicks like $900 million of unspecified offsets mostly from the law enforcement agencies. today, we will discuss the potential impact of these proposed cuts to the federal law

enforcement today. i want to recognize a few items up front where i appreciate steps you've taken, particularly with regard to improving federal prisons. as you know, the fy-2014 bill created the chuck tolsen task force of federal prisons to provide recommendations on how we can learn from the state's own best practices for reforming the federal prison system to reduce recidivism and increase public safety. i appreciate the department has moved quickly on the grant solicitation and i believe an award will be made soon so the group can get started. this may be our best opportunity and if this opportunity is missed, it will be fearful. but our best opportunity to improve the prison systems nationwide, federal, as well as state. additionally, the urgent need to rebuild the prison industry so we can put more inmates to work

and get them valuable job training. to get more inmates working. i hope you will continue to support these efforts. even getting all of the federal agencies to contract with the bureau prisons. however, i want to address a number of critical issues under the jurisdiction of the justice department where frankly i think i've been disappointed in your leadership. in certain cases, i believe you bent the law to allow for the expansion of internet gambling and facilitating marijuana suppliers to access the banking system. i'm concerned about the far reaching consequences of the office of legal counsel 2011 abrupt decision to reverse years of precedent regarding the wire act. which kicked open the door for widespread internet gambling. although the decision was signed off in september of 2011, it was inexplicably withheld from the public for months until friday before christmas in an apparent effort to bury the reversal of

policy. anything that comes out on a friday before christmas, you got to wonder. there's something not right. to date, no one knows what prompted this change, who requested it, why it was kept hidden for months and leased just before christmas eve. what we do know is this decision will open the floodgates to internet gambling, which will have devastating consequences if it is not reversed. the society cost of widespread gambling are well documented and the easy accessibility of gambling on computers, phones and tablets 24 hours a day has the potential to create more gambling addicts, particularly among the young, than this country has ever seen. a college student will now be able to go bankrupt in the dorm room gambling on their computer before their 8:00 class. in addition to gambling, i'm also deeply concerned about your selective enforcement of the controlled substances act with regard to marijuana in states like colorado and washington.

your relaxation of enforcement as well as your efforts to create a legal path for banking for marijuana distributors will accelerate the normalization of a drug of abuse, a horrible outcome for our youth and our society. just last week, we heard the director of the national institute of drug abuse, nida, testify about the many negative consequences of relaxes restrictions on marijuana abuse. this is the result of detailed research. if i can -- she was so impressive. would you agree to meet with her, mr. attorney general, will you agree to just take some time to sit down with her? >> sure. . .marijuana providers access t banking system will result in more drug addiction and other fatalities. i know you don't mean for these negative consequences to happen. i suspect you're under a lot of

pressure to facilitate the legalization of marijuana. nida and others have testified there is a direct correlation between marijuana use and these help and public safety aspects. you have taken on marijuana internet gem belling and other areas like sex trafficking, you've taken the opposite approach. extremely rigid interpretation of the law which vents >> last month, the hearing was with a number of expert witnesses including a trafficking survivor. a police officer is working on this, and this is really it. northern virginia, and a city, perhaps most areas of the country, and the center of missing and exploited children, for which you have great respect for, and mccain elevated the issue in the media, all of our witnesses highlighted just how

important it is for the government to confront the internet facilitation of sex trafficking, today's modern day slavery. two weeks ago, we received a report on an issue i advise you on, and to the department's credit, the report provided good information about what statutory and regulatory changes need to be made, the websites that facilitate, however, i remain disappointed on how long it's taken to elevate this issue and give it the attention you deserve and it deserves. you have a unique ability to really make an impact for the people there that are trapped in this, and i think it's one that i think you can feel good by moving on it. think how many young girls and women need someone's daughter, mother, or sister who have been victims of trafficking over five years while the department has hesitated to take bolder

actions. today, i hope we can discuss what steps this department and the congress need to take now to ensure more years do not pass before action is taken. another concern i have is this administration's choice in nare narrowly interpreting the use of force so not to allow military assets to use and track down terrorists responsible for the deadly attacks. in most of the cases, the administration takes a broad interpretation of the aums to go after forest and north africa, when it comes to the ben gay sigh, there's a law that presents military action to prevent those responsible for killing our investors and three others. the refusal to use aumf is inexplicable considering the former acting director of the cia testified wednesday, that,

quote, the cia analysts say, from the get-go, that al chi day was involved. given that the administration knew from the beginning of the al-qaeda connection and the aumf allows million tear to go after terrorists after -- associated with the al-qaeda, prevents you from using after resources to sustain or kill these terrorists. can you really argue that the aumf allows you to make a drown strike on an american citizen, but not on a terrorist connected to the al-qaeda ambassador. i'll have you note, not a single terrorist have been captured or killed in connection with this attack. the suspects detained, but failed to exert pressure, and this needs us to allow to have fbi to have access to the

terrorist. these are a few examples of the intemption of the law, as the nation's top law enforcement officer, you have the respondent to enforce the law whether it's politically experiod or popular, and i think the record is short. last week, we received your report required in the fy13 # # appropriate implementation of new requirements to be applied not i.t. infrastructure procurement, in particular, for from china. at though the administration is not officially supportive of the efforts to restrict this, questions from i.t., i do appreciate that this justice apartment is taking the new requirement seriously. in fact, the recent report indicated that the new process put in place caught, quote, seven i.t. procurements from six vendors questionable with ownership, control, or influence, criminal activity,

financial counterterrorism, end of quote. the report demonstrates that the policy is both necessary and constructive and helps both the department's security, and i appreciate this moves quickly through on this. in addition to the subjects mentioned, i suspectedded questions regarding cyber and growing and charging, and, finally, i want to direct the department's failure to report with the reporting requirements directed in the physical year omnibus act signed more than a year ago. the bill required the dispt to provide 66 reports. the date over a year later, the committee received a little more than half of the mandatory reports. there's still 25 outstanding reports and briefings from fy2013 bill, and that does not include any of the additional

reports directed in the fy2014 bill, subsequently signed into law this year. there's 18 reports overdue to the committee. with a work force of 120 # employees, the department has the capacity to provide the reports. what's lacking is the will to be responsive to the congress on the part of the department's leadership, and that's disappointing. today, it's no longer tolerated by the committee. fy2014 # bill is marked up, and there's $1 # million for every overdue report from fy2013 and 2014. these will be provided to agencies in the bill that comply with the reporting requirement. the current backlog of 23 reports, this can be a significant reduction and funds for the department, but the department has been begin fair

warning the overdue reports are taken into account and determine the budget. for the record, i find it extremely unfortunate that we have to take this action, but i know no other way to encourage the department to follow through on required obligations, and at this point, i yield to you for comments, and mr. rogers, full committee chairman, and the ranking member, and then to dr. judge carter for his comments on fort hood. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and attorney general holder, welcome, again, to the committee hearing. i sent the president and yiewrs a letter referencing the toyota settlement, which was a very -- which was announced a couple weeks ago for 1.it -- 1.2 billion dollars and just in

that settlement could usher in a major opportunity in that this administration has pointed to and everyone else on the committee supported that we need to do something to lit ramly arrest the increase in the prison population. we have to do something about turning more people into positive pallets in the society, and that we are funding -- you mentioned, the chairman of health, each year, we get closer and closer to a hundred million a year, that we could take a settlement like that and similar to the bp manner, do something constructive with the support of some of the nation's most significant organizations to expand their capacity. the white house indicated that the millions of young people are not connected to any of the programs, the boys and girls club of america, big sister, a week ago, a laundry list of great organizations,, but that

the point was that, you know, we just can't complain about the increase in the prison population, and now it slides into almost, i don't know, $7 billion, and this year, the budget is required, and which is double what it was, you know, in the prior decade or so ago. we have to do something about getting young people before they get themselves into circumstances that are problematic, giving them headed in the right direction, and i'm very interested to hear your view on this, and i actually have bipartisan legislation that's been introduced that would talk about constructively using settlements like this for medical research, justice reinvestment activities and so on, but i think the toyota settlement is an opportunity where, as some of my republicans say, you don't need a law firm. some things can get, you know, you can take executive action to

do. sioux i mentioned this to you, interested in your response this morning. i want to thank you. i know you did a department wide video in ql you thanked the senate for helping in the 2014 bill for lifting the hiring freeze, and to 115,000 employees in the work they do, and i want to acknowledge it, you had a tremendous year, and i know sometimes it's hard to follow it, and criticisms, most of the time, they credit size the interpretation of the law that has allowed our government to go after terrorists in a very most aggressive way ever. countries far and wide, weapons at our disposal, and sometimes i

hear senator rand paul speak, they are not doing enough, and it's hard to find the right medium, but 24 administration has tracked down and delivered justice to and in the last ten days, i congratulate on this, and most are not affected by day-to-day terrorist attacks, but day-to-day challenges in the communities, and i just want to say that, you know, for the 11,000 fugitives arrested this year for the day-to-day

challenges, you guys have been ever present, and i want to thank you for the work you've done. i want to talk true the budget, and what we'll hear in the budget is that, you know, we're qoing to have to spend billionings of dollars for the national security purposes, and, you know, i think there's $4 billion in the budget request for national security operations, some 25,000 federal agents that range from the fbi to atf, the dea, and the number in this is this prison number that's ever growing, and you take action inside the department, the committee, and i, the chairman and i work together ob this, but he deserves the lion share of the credit, and in last yore's bill, the prison reform effort, and i think that the timing has come for our country to -- not just in the federal system, but state system too, and you refer to it in the written testimony that

there's a vicious cycling that takes play many many communities with intergenerationallal population, and we are perpetwaiting the cycle. we have to intervene and intrumpt -- interrupt it. i've mentored the top education as, and took the curtesy to meet with them, and we could do so much more to get young people headed in the right direction before they ever get themselves in any untowards circumstances. that's an investment we should make, and i think that you have it within your power to take action that could lost the most aggressive effort ever in our nation to do so. thank you, and i look forward to the testimony there, and i thank the chairman. >> thank you.

chairman of the full committee. >> thank you. your request of the department is 27.7 billion, a 11 # -- a 1% increase of fiscal 14. understanding the drift budgetary constraints under which you operating and the constraints in the prison system, we look forward to hearing about the plant fonting leveling todd operational capabilities, on the front line and those, so where they, the swedges, and we think to ensure we are prioritizing the mission and tieing funding to results. candidly, i'm concernedded about a number of proposals and misplaced requireties, which

under mine the integrity of the request. first, and probably most importantly, your budget proposes to absorb some pay in retirement increase. foreign operation expenses and gsa rent with unspecific and, quote, administrative reductions, quote. i believe our colleagues set aside refer to the tactic as smoke and mirrors. we will not stoop to that hear. we'll gist call it a budget gimmick. reality is you set your budget over with a billion dollar sized hole that we're going to have to find a way to fill. that's not a very responsible approach to budgeting, particularly begin the department's crit call responsibility to support its

personnel with the tools, training, and equipment necessary to carry out the security, intelligence, and drug missions that keep the citizens of the country safe. second, i regret you'll not find much support here for the dozens of the grant programs supported in the budget or for any of the programs rejected by congress and the bill. absolutely need to support our state and local partners, but i fear your request is not placing as a sufficient priority on the law enforcement of national security missions that are the keystones of your agency. beyond my specific concerns about the budget proposal, e would be remiss if i did not register my concern that the administration advocated a chief

responsibility under the controlled substances acted as the chief law enforcement officer of the country. , mr. attorney general, incredibly disheartingenning to learn you are not, in fact, and i expect the committee will discuss this at length and discussion to allow districters in washington state and colorado to dispense marijuana, and your instruction to u.s. attorneys to be emphasized, marijuana prosecution, and i'm sure that you understand that more than contributing to the public health and law enforcement crisis, you undermine the rule of law in the country when you pick and choose which laws you choose to enforce or not enforce. and i hope and pray this does not leave a dark cloud in your

regular sigh on the role, particularly given the instructions of drug use in the country, and, in fact, this running completely counter to the department's incredibly positive strides in recent years to beat back on the scores of prince drug abuse. that's crippling so many communityings in our country. i appreciate you lent your voice to the cause engaging the law enforcement and public health communities -- pardon me -- particularly as there's a transition from painkiller to heroin in urban and rural areas alike. this is an alarming trend, and we look forward to hearing from you about how doj is using tools at its disposal to root out bad actors whether they are street

level dealers or the variety that wears a white coat and stethoscope. thank you for your time, mr. attorney you general, and we look forward to hearing from you. >> thank you. >> welcome. before i begin, i want to take a moment to send my sympathies to the people at forted hood, my friend, mr. carter, who representing our service members and families stationed at the base, and i look forward to hearing from you. i thank you chairman wolf and ranking member for holding this areaing, and thank you attorney general hold r for coming before the committee this morning you come with a budget request for 27.4 # billion for fiscal year 20 # 15, a 1% increase over 20 2014. increases to the federal bureau of investigations and bureau of

alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives would continue investments to investigate and arrest criminals and crack down on those who illegally use ill and traffic firearms. this is so critical. the security of our nation depends on add quality funding to these agencies. while the department combats terrorism and drugs and weapons traffickers, you have to address what you describe as the vicious cycle of positive criminality and positive incourse ration of those who have fallen off the path have criminal justice systems p, and i believe we have to do a better job to focus on rehabilitation so those who commit crimes receive the punishment, but also treatment and resources to have producted and law-abiding lives. i thank you for raising the form

of the criminal justice system and note the budget question the nonviolent, low level investments and investment in reentry programs and provides a hundred billion to the dna initiatives and 35 million for the new community themes to reduce sexual assault in the backlog program. mr. chairman, i just have to bring attention, i think, is the only woman on this panel, that it is shocking to me, i cannot understand it. i'd like a detailed response how there could be 400 thousands rapes, evidence for which are sitting on a box in a shelf, 400,000 rapes in this country. now, many of these same guys could have been out there dozens

times, but you don't have enough money or time, and this evidence is dna evidence sitting on a shelf i would like to follow-up on that and get a response. it's just astonishing to me that this is not a third world country. 400,000 rapes have taken place, and the evidence is in a box on a shelf. last week, i would be remiss if i did not mention the work of the department to get guns out of the hands of the most dangerous among us. in the year since the horrors in newtown, at least 194 children had been shot to death in america. as we saw tragically at fort hood this week, these acts of violence continue. there was no reason to be deaths, there's no defense to

them. i stand review ready to do whatever is possible to end these tragedies and make our community safer. >> i turn it to jufnlg carder. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, and i amount appreciative of the chair op this hearing. the incredible family, and i say that because they are quite incredible, endured not one, but two unimaginable shootings. loss of life no matter what the number might be is more than we can bear and quite frankly, more than any other community zephyrs to bear. we cannot let the worse of

humanity wield a gun in a mad rage to their fellow soldiers and defeat the best of humanity that's only on display in fort hood. sadly, we are dealing with another tragic shooting in fort hood, almost in the very same place where 13 americans lost their lyes in november in 2009. death of three soldiers this week leaving 16 other wounded in is stark reminded of the military members deal with op a daily basis. even more than that, each of these shootings strike at the soul of the american military. one of the things many americans don't know or create, is that the reason a soldier risks a life for his country, one of the major regions is he's fighting for the soldier on either side of him.

they call each other battle buddies. when they go to wore, they rely upon facts that the man who wears their uniform it there to protect him, and they are there to protect them, and the strike by both soldiers strike as a very core of what -- and young americans go to war, 18, 19, 20-year-old americans go to war relying on the fact that american uniform is with them if that person is protecting it. when someone in their own uniform strikes you or strikes your fellow soldier, it strikes at the very heart of what they call the warrior pathos. they go to battle because they are americans with americans, and they are fighting. these are much more important

than a lot of us realize, and it affects this very ability for americans to fight. i'll let you make a statement here, and i have been asking fellow americans to please keep fort hood families in their prayers. soldiers go to war together, families stay home alone. they may be -- the coming days are marked by mourning and resolve to carry on and relive fort hood, and care on to defend this great nation, and we should never forget what they give for it. mr. chairman, i thank you.

they have the attorney jrchl, and offer him the opportunity to say is a few words. with that, i ask unanimous consent they make statements, and that his remarks be added to the record. >> without objection. j thank you chairman rogers, and dhairm wolf, ranking member members of the subcommittee. thank you thank you for allowing me to talk about an issue very near to my heart. as you may know, chairman carter, as you heard earlier, and i both represent fort hood,

deploy heavy forces, and once again, there's a tragedy in fort hood. the great place that we call texas, and we reck nice strength and resill yeps of the community of great men and women that not only serve joe -- overseas but here around our great nation. the attack yesterday let three of the service members dead and wounded. with the scars of the 2009 attack, barely healed, we deal with the hoer nors of the inspeakble tragedy. our prays with the fallen troops, those injured, and those who are still in recovery and the family of all those involved, thoughts with the entire fort hood community and leadership team under general as they push through this tough time. we pray for the excellent medical team assisting, and the attack yesterday and 2009 attack were not just attacks on the base, but our troops, on the

values, and ideas or values are sworn to defend. in 2009, we lost 14 innocent americans and one unborn child. dozens injuries, and hundreds of lives completely altered africa- altered forever. they label led twine attack as workplace violence like a dwis grunt led employee taking out anger on fellow coworkers, butted evidence and trial proved otherwise. it was to call a u.s. war on islam. renouncing u.s. citizen and military oath telling the jurors he supports taliban and sharia law. he was waving the red flag to show his attack was a terrorist attack premeditated, lained

attack, years in the making. it's workplace volume that favors political correctness over truth and justice, and nobody in america thinks this was workplace violence. they know it was a terrorist attack, but workplace violation, the victims have been denies benefits when wounded or kimed oversays. we have to award victims the purpose heart metal, and those for the defense of freedom provide special compensation and benefits withheld from them. it is my hope the department of justice investigate at fort hood, and we will never forget the attacks, and they have left behind, my god bless the community in this time of mourning and victims and

families receive justice that they have earned and deserved. i yield back balance of my time. >> [inaudible] today's within will be sworn in the finding, and please rise and raise your right hand. do you swear or con foirm the testimony is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. let the record reflect they determined the attorney general, i look forward to hearing from you, and summarize your remark and proceed appropriately. thank you. >> morning, mr. chairman, ranking member, chairman rogers, ranking member, mr. carter and williams, i thank you for the opportunities to appear before you today to discuss the president's fiscal year 2015

budget for the united states department of justice and provide an oveview of the downtown's recent achievements and ongoing priorities. despite significant challenges, it is characterized by remarkable expanding civil rights for holding corporations accountable for wrong doing in the financial sector, concerns raised about a practice called high frequency trading. the practice, which consistents of financial brokers and trading firms using advanced computer algorithms and high speed networks to execute trade rightly receive those from regulators. i can confirm we have, at the united states department of justice, are investigating the practice to determine whether it violates insider trading laws. the department is committed to ensuring integrity of the financial markets and determined it follow the investigation wrrch the facts and law leads. across the board, many of the

departments ongoing@s and recent accomplishments are notable, but none more than the work to protect the american people to terrorism and other threats to the national security. we are mindful of the shootings in ford hood. yesterday, i directed pooling forces of the department of justice sweeing the fbi making available a thorough investigation. as we look at our men and women in uniform to determine what happened in the week, we help those who need it, my colleagues and i continue to do everything why story power to prevent horrific and far too common tragedies from happening again. we will also remain sed fast in our commitments to ensure america's national security and hold accountable those who seem to harm our nation and its people. last week, as mentioned, the department was a major milestone

in the regard as we secure conviction of the son-in-law of bin laden and senior member of al-qaeda on terrorism related charges. we never doubted the ability to administer justice swiftly in the case as it has in hundreds of other cases involving terrorism defendants and that indicates the approach of senior al-qaeda leaders. it is my hope that this case will help lay that political debate, the political debate to rest. president's budget of request was on national security by invest gaiting the national terrorism program including 16 billion to operate the fbi's new terrorist device in alabama and provide 173 million to strengthen the federal criminal justice system for the smart on crime initiatives in the last

august make the criminal justice system for effective, more efficient, and more fair. this, in turn, enables us to invest in the outstanding work number performed every day by attorneys and litigating division and the united states attorney's office. thanks to their efforts in 2013, the departments collected more than 8 billion this civil and criminal fines pane penalties. there was a two-year band, and until recent months, there's historic resolutions and other actions to ensure that we serve as sound steward and protect

those from fraud and other financial crimes. in november, the #* justice department had a 13 billion company, and largest settlement in american history. there's civil climbs related to the company's mortgage securization process. as part of the efforts, those sowed the seeds of the mortgage crisis and followed lawsuit against the firm, s&p. last month, as has been indicated, a 1.2 million agreement with toyota, largest agreement poped on a motor company, and, yesterday, we announced a record 5.125 billion settlement for the cooperation and affiliates and parent cooperation like 4.4 billion for environmental leanup and claims. this represents the largest recovery were the department of justice. it homeds a company and its

subsidiaries accountable for decades of significant environmental damage and fraudulent attempts to invade responsibility for the actions and makes another step to protect american people from false alarms to fraud to combat corporate misconduct and safeguard the environment. now, as we move forward, i'm eager to work with the subcommittee and congress to secure the president's budget with a total of 24.4 billion in resources for the department of justice like 25.3 # billion for the vital programs and 2.1 billion for congress their state, local, and try ball assistance programs. excuse me. this is important to ensure we continue to protect american people and strengthen our criminal justice system. as you know, mr. chairman, there's a critical year in the implementation of the limitation

act and as they are required to curb the prison, and the department is committed to helping state and other departments to overcome challenges encountered to work towards the narc standards and with funding committee vied to intish a public comments are attainment. the problem with sexual assault in prisons is too great to settle for anything less than an aggressive approach to implementing the reforms. thank you for the opportunity to discuss this work with you today and for the support of the didn't's work and particularly our efforts to combat the crime of human trafficking over the court of the long and distinguished career in the house of representatives. mr. chairman, i have come to greatly value their advocacy on behalf of the justice

department's mission and high regard for the tireless career and employees who make our work possible every day. your expertise and your steadfast support of the public safety effortings sometimes all by yourself or with others, you are our savior for 2013, invaluable to the department over the years. >> thank you very much with regard to the number of members, i limit my questions to one or two and i'll go quickly. one, on the issue of the prison reforms, the committee, we have the prison reform commission named after -- can you tell us the status because the quicker

that moves, the quicker we have the opportunity it bring all sides together and do something really bold and because of your support, there's an opportunity to -- can you give us an update on where that is and how quickly we can get that thing moving? >> well, i think that the effort that is contained in the colson, what i call the colson initiative, is one that makes a great deal of sense. it's one that we certainly support. it's an important part of our improve the federal corrections system. there's a task farce that as a bipartisan blue ribbon panel made up of individuals and expertise correction reform. we focus on developing tactical data driven ways in which we can increase public safety. we anticipate that this is something that we will be able to put in place, i think, relatively soon that is

something that enjoys my support and those in the department and the extent we work with them to make sure we work that task force one course and responding and operating in a timely way that is something that i look forward to. >> i think, could you describe the department's work on human trafficking and the kinds of cases you see, and could you eliminate the back page that has come up in every hearing we've had and all groups working on the issue all believe that if we ceafnt deal with the issue of

back general page.com and groups like that, we will not deal with the issue. can you tell us a little bit about where the department is and with regard to backpage.com. this includes the department's effort to combat human trafficking. this it for me, the top priority, for this department a top priority, something that we take very personally. the criminal division brought 161 force labor and sex trafficking prosecutions and fiscal year 2013, ranking member 25% increase over the last fiscal year, the highest number of human trafficking cases on record. i share the concern that you have. about that pace and about other similar publications, and there's other considerations to be taken into account, aing legislative attempt to deal with this problem, but i do think

that i'm willing to work with the committee, with members like yourself to try to come up with a way to address this situation legislatively and deal with the first amendment issues that have been raised, and that requires legislation, but it's not beyond our capacity to do that, and i think that when one looks at what appears on both pages and others like it, a legislative response and enforcement response is totally appropriate. >> okay. the last question is, and then i'll go to mr. rogers 689 last year, the department was directed to follow the lead of the fbi to keep distance between government officials and individuals and organizations associate the with the terrorist activities like the conspirator counsel and other legislations. they testified last week this policy was enforced throughout the fbi. can you confirm to the committee that the policy is implemented

throughout the policy of justice? >> i don't think there's a formal policy, in care, in particular, we meet with a number of groups in attempt to deal with the problem, the home grown violence, radicalization, and it is not -- we don't have a formal relationship with care, and i cannot say categorically that we don't have meetings among various attorneys office around the country where members of the organization is present. we don't have any formal relationships. >> thank you, mr. chairman attorney general. i want to congratulate you, again, on the settlementings mentioned. i want to talk to you about the toyota settlement, it's a big support of youth mentoring, and i sent you a letter on this, and

i would like to have this commented on. >> yeah, we -- you've been a leader in supporting the vital programs and talking about the question of youth mentoring, and i share your concerns about how we keep young people both safe and productive and have them interact with role models, and a few too many of our young people do not have positive doesn't mentors and role models in their lives. i know we staffed your legislative proposal, and i commit to getting back to you with what our views are on your legislation. i think that we want to look at these finds we bring in, the settlements that we are bringing in and see how we make best use of them. your legislative proposal is an

interesting one, so give us time it look at it. >> i appreciate that, but as our republicans colleagues say, you don't need a law for everything. we do have a legislative proposal, bipartisan, every important organization, and i hope one day we get past this, and in the congress, but in the meantime, when the department is coming to terms, like, for instance, in the toyota case, it could be, as you did in the bp settlement, it could be put in place and directed and would not, as i understand it, require the congress to act, and that is that as you take the administration, said that the white house on this, you wanted to expand the mentoring program, that they are, you know, more young people who could use positive intervention and are not connected to any of the

programs. you have some programs who are expanding. cga, they raised over a hundred million dollars, doubling vomit the from 6600 schools to well over 11,000 schools this year, double the number of clubs around the country, but, still, we need to do a lot more, and what i suggest is rather than, you know, the president says, you know, this is a year of action. here is an opportunity in which you don't need to get 218 votes in the house or 50-plus-1 in the senate, that the doj itself could act to in concert with fulfilling responsibilities, but also in concert with the other stated goals which is to eliminate this vicious cycle, stop growing the prison population, and the problem with locking up criminals you need victims, and so if we intervene

earlier, that makes a lot of sense. i appreciate the fact that the legitsive proposal is going to be reviewed. i know my colleagues here, and i hope a day we'll do a software hear, and i think we will on that bill, but i'm suggesting that we could act sooner than that. >> yeah. i would say what degree of discretions that we have. i would note when it came to the distribution, the beech money directed at the cleanup, that was the legislative -- largely due to the legislative -- well, a legislative enactment that senator lan drew was instrumental in getting pass the. >> and i will read, you know, we have other members, but there a numerous circumstances where settlements take place. take the toyota settlement, it's not addressed in any particular

address, and there's no pawrp to them, but they want to go in a hole, and they were not appropriated dollars, not taxpayers dollars, but they were not expected and come out of the hard work of your department, and a sense among the leadership of toyota to settle the ma ther; right? here's the opportunity, but this allows millions of young people, and it can be done in a way in which we do not have to did through the normal process in which the white house tries to get the initiative passed through the congress. thank you, and i hope you would fully examine it. >> we will, and i look forward to working with you. there's no question that the desire that you have is one that i share, that you share, and we'll try to work together on what the mechanism might be meeb. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. attorney general, i want to talk about prescription drug

abuse, and both of the favorite subject, it seems. there's been real changes in that war, if you will, in the last few days, wht fda, after ten years of pushing by dea and attorney generals and many me and others, finally, upscheduled vicodin and others, med signs, these are significant that a schedule two requires a written description, cannot be called in, there's no trafficking, and 10 forth, so defense a big time victory for the fies of drug abuse, so they cause a national epidemic in which you recently said is a public crisis which

with i agree with you. today, after fda rescheduled the drugs, like oxy cot pin, the next day, in explicably. fda voted, the fda director, allowed the sale of this, a new, extremely potent ten times oxycotin to be released with no abuse characteristics. when we had a problem, finally, the manufacturer, agreed to make it under a new formulation, that is sort of like a jell or gummy substance that can be be crushed or misused like it had #* been,

killing thousands. it switched use to those who reformlated it, and now they are switching to heroin because it's cheaper, and you can want get a high, and by crashing 12-hour release into a single, explosive use. this hydrocodone, ten times more powerful, will be available in its regular form, that can be crushed and shot up and kill. the advisory committee on the question, sowled we are not voted 11 to 2 # #. we are worried about the impact

on the people who do not know its power or predict the, and they die from overdose. can you help me out? am i missing something? why did the fda do this, and what do you think? >> as i indicated previously, and the concern i have that there's the share of those who ultimately lead the country. their abuse in and of themselves have had a devastating impact on our country, and the and what e read in the newspaper, and i need to understand it a little more, and i'm a little baffled

given prison progress indicatedh the substances that had been abused, that change such that crushing them made them no longer used in the way they were used to those overcoming addiction. there's something i have to examine more, a little more understanding of what the decision was, but if this is inconsistent with the efforts that we have pain stakingly put this place, that is something that gives me great concern, and i just, add i said, need more information to understand what happens, but understand that i share concerns about that decision. >> i appreciate that. the pattern seen so far in the abuse, that exploded in that district, ground zero for the country tend to have years ago timely, we were able to bring it

under control, and so as i said before, they took over, reformlated, and now we were, fda says, oh, well, putt labeling on bottles where it's not abused, but we'll have instructions to doctors and so on, and be retrickive on who uses it and so forth. that was said 12 years ago, that we -- i started going to emergency rooms and seeing kids dying. i fear that this in straight pill form, crush it, shoot it up, chew it, whatever, will be abused like oxy cot tin was, and we'll see more young people die,

and so i urge you to put this op your front burner. i know it is already. you have been helpful, and, in fact, you have talked many times about the efforts that you and others made in south florida and shutting down the pill mills that was furnishing 90% of the nation's ill liz oxycotin and you did with the state attorney general and the governor and putting an end to it. this one could be another oxycotin, but this is ten times more powerful. >> yeah, again, mr. chairman, i need, i guess i want to get better understanding of what was behind the decision. i think concerns raised are legitimate ones, especially given the progress made, i would not want to see a step that way, and we'll be checking with the

fda to see if we can better understand what the bay sis for that decision was or if there's understanding or misunderstanding that i have about why they did what they did. >> i hope we can do more than just check with them. did you tell us that you will get back with us with a report what we do. >> i'll report back to you as you and ranking members as realm. >> thank you, thank you, mr. chairman. >> you move quickly, and two years ago, you did a great job, and if you can do the same thing here, you got an a-plus, and you will do good. >> we had a hearing with mr. rogers.

>> well, mr. attorney regime, i'd like to give you an a-plus too. >> would the gentlelady yield if? >> >> of course. >> we were hollering as that being the place where the pills were coming from, and we asked the attorney general in the modest way to investigate and see if they could put a stop to it, and we kept referring to browrd county, and you want me to spell it? well. i got a note from the attorney general six or eight months later after they had gone in there and cleaned up the necessary, and he is describes what they had done there down there, and rather than handwritten notes at the end saying, ps, i learned how to spell. >> thank you. mr. attorney general, i want to give you an a-plus too following up on an issue i referenced

beforement adds i mentioned, there's an estimated 400,000 rape cases sitting in police department eve rooms that have gone untested. with the cost starting at $500 and others higher, many communities, months, if not years, and in some cases, decades behind on testing. in the meantime, violent criminals free, victims remaining fearful their assailant might never be found. this is truly outrageous. i think you probably are aware that new york city eliminated its backlog in 2003. they have 17,000 untested kits, and the arrest rate for the rape went some 40% to 70%. now, the budget request includes funding both to the dna niche taif and as well as a new grant program designed to help

communities identify those in handling rape and testing rape kits. can you tell us how will the newly proposed grant program address the needs? what makes it different from the dna initiative that's already up and running? dna initiative, which is already up and running? >> well, first let me say that the whole question of dealing with sexual assaults is one that is a priority for this department. and for this administration. we're dealing with the issue in a variety of contexts, both on the campus, for instance. we have a task force that is dealing with the issue there. and this question of reducing the backlog on rape kits is something that is extremely critical. this is, in some ways, the best evidence that we have. this is state-of-the-art evidence that exists. it is dna evidence. and so the budget requests that

we have made is in an attempt to really speed up the process by which we look at this backlog that exists in a variety of jurisdictions, and give assistance to those jurisdictions so that they can do the necessary analysis, make the necessary hits that i think inevitably flow from them, and be more successful in the prosecutions. the statistics that you show are really -- that you mention are not surprising. that you have better evidence, if you have dna evidence, which is the gold standard when it comes to evidence, i expect that you would see conviction rates start to rise. this is money that we want to have as part of the doj budget. it is money that we want to push o out. we also know that rapists tend to opt to do -- commit rapes more than once. so we're looking at the possibility of solving more than one case. we're also looking at the possibility of -- so we have the

possibility we have within our hands the ability to have a real impact on the crime rate with regard to rapes. so it's not only a question of solving crimes that have already occurred. we can also prevent further ircrimes from occurring. >> thank you. one other question. i am a strong supporter of:v

after they received concerns that he could harm others. secretary hagel's review found that the gunman would have lost access to his position, and the secure area. but it still leaves the problem that he walked into a store, after these demons were known, purchased a deadly firearm, now 12 people are dead. and while it is too early to draw any conclusions, the commander at ft. hood has said that the shooter had behavioral and mental health issues and was receiving treatment, though he was recently able to purchase a firearm. could you share us what tools are authority does the nic system need in order for it to represent in realtime the most accurate information and mental health histories for those seeking to purchase a firearm. >> well, let me start by saying that more generally i think that as a nation we should support

the commonsense proposals that the administration made after the sandy hook tragedy. and come up with these ways in which we might support these commonsense gun safety measures. when it comes to dealing with the whole question of mental health issues, and the acquisition of firearms, we have recently proposed a regulation that seeks to clarify who, due to mental health reasons, is prohibited from receiving, possessing, shipping, or transporting firearms. the revised definition that we have proposed clarifies that the statutory term adjudicated as a mental defective and committed to a mental institution would include a broader range of people. so that people with mental health issues, and there are at least preliminary indications that might be the case with regard to the shooter, most recent shooter at ft. hood, that

people who suffer from mental issues don't have the ability, capacity to acquire these weapons and so that regulation that we have proposed we think will go a long way to dealing with that issue. but i also think it is something that we as a society have to ask ourselves again the more general questions, and then the more specific one with regard to how do we deal with the whole question of mental health, and the secretary amendment rights that we all enjoy as united states citizens. >> just following up, what are the next steps that congress should take to open up the nic system so that those who pose risks to others are more quickly entered into the system? >> well, the way in which i think we can do this, we have $182 million in our budget, our now is the time initiative to ensure that those who are not

eligible to purchase or possess guns are prevented from doing so. so this budget proposal, $35 million to sustain critical investments in 2014, $13 million for the national -- fbi's national criminal background check system, nics, and $28 billion for criminal firearms program to our budget will give us greater capacity for the system to take in more information, to process it faster and to make those kinds of on-the-spot determinations of who should and who should not be allowed to obtain a weapon.thos determinations of who should and who should not be allowed to obtain a weapon. and so the passage of our budget will bolster our ability, enhance our ability and make the nics system much more robust. >> i'm going to go to dr. harris but i just want to, this area, the mentally ill owe fentder treatment and crime reduction act was bipartisan approach to better addressing with mental illness the criminal justice

system. it's been around for ten years, gives little support, quite frankly, from the administration, and unfortunately the administration budget proposes funding for the mentally ill offender treatment and crime reduction act be eliminated and instead combined into a drug and mental health courts program which would effectively exclude 60% of the key elements and programs. so i think the administration's taking the wrong position to really propose the consolidation. i ask you to find of think about that as you're kind of -- as you work through this budget. dr. harris? >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and thank you, mr. secretary, for being here with us today. let me follow up a little bit on what the chairman, and the subcommittee and committee both mentioned, basically controlled substance abuse. and particularly, about the enforcement of the controlled substance act. obviously a decision was made in the department of justice not to enforce the controlled substance act broadly in states that have legalized recreational

marijuana. so i'm just going to ask, where -- where was the medical expertise that you used in making that decision? i mean i assume you didn't spread that decision to other control 1 drugs, quaalude, ecstasy, heroin, so was there a medical decisionmaking process into selecting that drug for selective enforcement that schedule i drug? >> what i say is we still enforce the controlled substances act. but we made this a law enforcement decision. >> right, that's right. so making that law enforcement decision to pick out one controlled -- one schedule i drug as opposed to the other ones, was there medical input in to that? it's just a simple question. do you have medical input within the department? >> what we made was a law enforcement decision as to how we were going to use the limited resources that we have -- >> well, thank you. so, i'm going to urge that you take up the chairman of the subcommittee's offer to sit down and meet, you know, dr. volkau

testifying in front of the subcommittee calls marijuana part of a complex and evolving public health threat. i don't know, mr. secretary, if you're aware, but if you talk about teenagers, 15.6, one in six teenagers, has used marijuana in the last month. only 9.6% have used tobacco. if you look at 12th graders, 6.5% use marijuana every day. only 2.2% use alcohol every day. wow. that's a public health threat. and you know, the importance of signals can't be underestimated. so i'm going to ask you, do you agree with the president that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol? >> well, i think the president's remarks in that regard were taken a little bit out of context. you have to read the entirety -- >> he said marijuana is less dangerous in alcohol in terms of its input on the individual consumer. do you agree with that? >> as i said you have to keep reading what the president said. and he -- >> that's what he said, mr. secretary.

i'm quoting what he said. >> could we let the witness answer the question? >> if you want to yield me some of your time -- >> i'll be glad to yield you time. just allow him to answer. >> then i will take you up on that offer later to yield me the time to finish my questions. thank you. mr. secretary, go ahead. because i thought i read it in the context in which he said it. >> there were further remarks which i don't have in front of me that were a part of that same interaction, i guess, he had with a reporter, tv reporter, i'm not exactly sure who it was. >> new yorker. >> new york magazine. he talked about how the use of marijuana was not a good thing, it was something that he would not -- he's not advocating for, so in that regard, i think the president had it right. we are -- we looked at -- we looked at the limited federal enforcement resources that we have. we try to make determinations about how we can most effectively deal with them. we set out a series of eight factors that indicated how we would look at marijuana enforcement efforts around the country. and we focus on things like

preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors. that is one of the eight factors that we take into consideration. >> thank you. and you know, the administrator of the dea testified there were those eight factors. do you agree with the president or do you agree with the director of the national institute of drug abuse that marijuana is quote part of a complex and evolving public health threat? do you just agree with that statement? it's not a complicated question. do you agree that it's part of a complex and evolving public health threat? >> i think that the -- what we have done, the way in which we are looking at those laws in washington and in colorado, the enforcement authorities that we have set out, i think that what we are doing makes a great deal of sense. it is a good use of the enforcement resources that we have. and i think it's consistent with the general approach that we have taken with regard to narcotics enforcement efforts. >> okay so i take it you won't answer the question. i can't blame you, because it

would be all over the press tomorrow. you we know what the attorney general's opinion is on the danger of main juana. let me talk briefly about two other issues. $182 million in the initiative to reduce gun violence in your testimony you say there's -- it's not certain that's where it comes from. there are grants to quote encourage development of innovative gun safety technology. is that part of that pot of $182 million? >> i believe it is. >> okay it also says other parts of your testimony the budget request, $143 million to help state and local governments to continue to implement the administration's proposals for increasing firearms safety. that's separate, i take it? >> i'm not sure exactly how it is -- how it is constructed -- >> if you could get back to me about that. those grants to encourage the development of innovative gun safety technology where do they come from? where do they go to? where do they come from? which part of the department of justice and where do they go to as a competitive bid process --

competitive proposal process. is it worked out with nih, cdc, actually some public -- i don't -- is it mechanical issues, studies? i don't understand what the money is spent for. >> well i mean i think that one of the things that we learned in when we were trying to get past those commonsense reforms last year, vice president biden and i had a meeting with a group of technology people and talked about how guns can be made more safe by making them either through fingerprint identification, the gun talks to a bracelet or something that you might wear, how guns can be used only by the person who is lawfully in possession of the weapon. so it's those kinds of things that i think we want to try to explore so that we can make sure that people have the ability to enjoy their second amendment rights while at the same time decreasing the misuse of weapons that lead to the kinds of things

that we see on a daily basis. you know, where people, kids especially, are struck down by -- >> sure. no one wants that to occur. and you know we looked at that in the state of maryland well over ten years ago, and i just would like, and i'll submit a question for the record to actually separate out how much you intend to spend on those grants to gun safe technology. just finally one very brief question. you asked for an increase in federal civil rights enforcement division. i'm going to assume, and maybe i'm incorrect, is that the division that actually was in court against the voucher program in louisiana? school voucher program? was that -- was that out of civil rights division? >> you -- not correct. that was not the division that was doing anything of that nature in louisiana. we were seeking to get from the state of louisiana information about their voucher program. never, ever took the position that we were against vouchers. >> is that the division that went into court in louisiana to

ask for that information? these are not complicated questions, mr. secretary. >> no. they're answers that i -- >> i'm sorry, mr. attorney general. >> what i was saying is that we never sought to do anything with the voucher program, as much as to get information -- >> okay, is -- >> and which a federal judge ultimately agreed with us, and we worked out something with the state. it's a talking point that governor jindal and others, i guess you, think makes good political fodder. but it's totally inconsistent with -- >> mr. attorney general -- >> inconsistent with fact. >> mr. attorney general, i'm going to take issue with that. >> well, as i -- >> i actually care about the education of children as governor jindal does. and to suggest that we use talking points any more than you use talking points is personally something i think should be above the level. to just have suggested that i'm actually using a talking point, mr. attorney general, you used federal money to go in to a state court, to try to hinder,

hamper, disable, a school voucher program the majority of which goes to minority students. so i'm going to just take issue with our characterization of a talking point because we should use children, especially minority children, you can shake your head all you want, maybe you disagree that we shouldn't use minority children as wed wedges -- i just can't tell you how frustrated i am that you think that minority children in louisiana getting an education in a charter school are talking points. i yield back the balance of my time. >> first off it was in a federal court not a state court. the judge, a federal judge, agreed with us that we were entitled to the information that we sought, and we were clear in the interaction that we had with the state that we took no position with regard to the voucher program. we only sought information about how the program was being run, and how it affected a long-standing statewide anti-discrimination settlement that had been in place for years. simply that. s

simply that. >> mr. schiff? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. attorney general, for being here. many of us greatly appreciate your willingness to come and your testimony, and regret when members don't give you a chance to ask the questions that they purportedly want to hear the answers to. i wanted to follow up on my colleague miss lowey's comments on the dna rape kit backlogs, and thank you, justice department, along with this committee, was very helpful in los angeles, when we had backlog problem at the lapd, and l.a. sheriff's office with more than i think 10,000 rape kits, and with your help we were able to clear that backlog. more than that i know when you took office there was a tremendous backlog in offender dna. and through the introduction of new technologies, investment

resources, you've been able to essentially eliminate the offender dna backlog, and that's critical, also, in rape cases, if -- if you go ahead, and you test the rape kits they're only going to be as effective as the offenders that match them in the database. so eliminating that federal backlog is very important, and we greatly value your efforts to eliminate the backlog in the states, as well. he wanted to ask you about the metadata reform. and i know you've been spearheading the effort to find a new model for how that -- we could get the information we need to protect the country, make sure we maintain our privacy protections. and i think the plan the president announced a week or so ago was exactly the right direction to go in. the one difference, i think, substantial difference between what the president has proposed, and now a bipartisan proposal of the intelligence committee, is that the administration's

proposal would have the court review or request to query the telephone companies on a suspect number before the search is done. in the absence of an emergency or exigent circumstances. i think that's the wrong approach. there is a bill from the committee now that would require the -- or that would allow the government to go to the providers before getting court approval. but as i understand, the administration's already put into practice the provider court approval. we've had now the benefit of some weeks of experience with that and i wanted to ask you, have you noticed any problems with that? have there been any difficulties? and if not, does it make any sense to move backward to a model where you can search without getting prior court approval? >> i think that the proposal that -- or the new processes that we are using have proved to be effective. we go to the court first in order to -- you know, the reasonable articulable

suspicion, standard, get the information that we need. we only use two hops now, instead of three. and i think, i've not heard any negative reports. so i have to say that i agree with the legislative proposal that you have made, and is consistent with what the president talked about, about our need to have that emergency capability. for the ability, as we have now, in a variety of other fisa circumstances, the ability to get information on an emergency basis with collapse some subsequent court approval, and review. just to ensure that we can have all the tools that we need to keep the american people safe, and to deal with those emergency situations, where they might arise. >> thank you, mr. attorney general. mr. chairman, do i have time for another question? [ inaudible ] >> then i yield back. >> and i just want -- i'm going

to miss the vote. i want to defend dr. harris. i think the charter schools tuitions, the voucher, is really important. i've been in some of the schools in the district of columbia. it is making a difference. in my old neighborhood in philadelphia where mr. fattah knows well, that's an opportunity for kids in the inner city to get an education. i was the first in my family to go to college. an education gave me, so i think mr. harris, dr. harris is passionate about that, and so, in defending dr. harris, i think that's what he was concerned about. we don't have to go into it. >> let me just make clear, my only point was, that what happened in the court case in louisiana was not about charter schools. not our view of charter schools. we can certainly debate about charter schools, support them, whatever. that's not of any consequence to me or the department of justice. we were seeking information about charter schools that dealt with a court order, a long-standing discrimination

court order. >> i just want to -- >> mr. chairman? i just think it probably would not be a need for a hearing action if there could just be a normal question and an answer. i think the fact that the rush kind of increased the heat unnecessarily, because i think that the answer would have been sufficient to dr. harris' question. and i appreciate dr. harris. i told him privately he's been one of the most committed members of the subcommittee. >> i agree. >> but when we ask a witness a question, the witness has to have a chance to answer the question. and then we can have, you know -- >> well i agree with that. but i know he -- he's been one of the better members we've had. and i know he's passionate on the issue and i think we all, fwrangly, we want a congress full of people who care. not just people who want to get here to do nothing. and he cares. and so i just wanted to defend dr. harris. with that i'm going to stay. there is a vote on, but it's previous question out of respect for the attorney general.

dr. carter, and then judge carter we'll kind of go, but i'm going to stay so we can continue that way you won't have to -- >> thank you, mr. chairman. i was going to ask if we were going to take a break for the vote or not. >> well, i can catch you as you come back. you won't miss your time. so you can do what you think is appropriate. >> well, i have a pretty extensive question here and i would hate to miss the vote. >> okay. >> so i'd like to step out, vote and come back. >> sure. >> if anyone, mr. schiff do you want to ask your question now? you can do it. because i think there's still six minutes left. >> there's time for your final question. >> okay. >> okay. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the candid discussion we had here just awhile ago. and i welcome mr. attorney

general. appreciate your work, also. the question i have was around the immigration. and in your testimony you've referenced your work on addressing the immigration backlog. and you're applying some money to it because the cases that we have right now on adjudication by about 40%, 42% between '09 and 0 twelve but the number of immigration judges crew only by 11%. so, i understand that you want to use some of the money to upgrade and increase the number of immigration judges, and i understand that even if we upgrade them today, there's so many who are in line to retire, so my question is, you know, how many judges can be looking at, how will it reduce the backlog? and is there a plan to, you

know, backfill with the ones in line for retirement? >> we certainly need -- we need more immigration judges to deal with the pending case load. if you look at the number of pending cases it's continued to increase to 358,000, that's an increase of 56% since 2009. our highest priority of cases deals with people who are detained to have criminal convictions. now our proposal, the president's budget request, would allow us to add 35 new immigration judge teams at $17 million in order to do that. those immigration teams would be able to adjudicate between 20,000 and 39,000 more cases annually. and so we're looking at an increase of 35, and that would be the number that we would want to maintain, which would also mean that to the extent that people are retiring or leaving

the bench we would want to replace those, as well, so that we have a net increase of 35, and try to get at that backlog. >> so the increase in the cases and the subsequent backlogs, is that as a result of paying more attention to the lower part of the morton memorandum where we say we want to go after folks who are law -- you know, not law abiding and leave alone the rest of the folks on that morton memo? >> well, i'm not sure that i can say what exactly has generated the backlog, but it is there. it's extremely real. i mean you know 358,000 is an unacceptably high number. >> sure. >> it leads to resolutions that occur way too far from a time -- from the time that we would like to have them occur. you know, asylum cases take significantly longer to resolve

than cases in which removal is not requested, and so those are very time consuming kinds of matters. but it's clear that we simply need more bodies. when i say immigration judges we're actually talking about immigration teams. the judges and all the people who support them. >> so when we talk about immigration judges, and cases we're talking about not only criminal, but we're also talking about asylum issues, and deportation? >> right. we're looking at the full panoply of things that immigration judges have to deal with. >> so if -- as many deportation cases that i've heard about does not go through a court process, it sounds like, and it feels like that they're denied that process in terms of being adjudicated before they're decided whether you're going to deport them or not. whether they fit some of the executive orders that we say we

can keep some folks here or not, or whether some of the folks are dream youngsters and their parents are being deported, whether we want to use -- put them through the adjudication process to see whether they should stay or not. is that all part of the caseload or is that separate? >> well, i think, you know, the caseload is varied. as i said there are asylum cases, there are cases involved detained aliens who have criminal convictions. there are, you know, unaccompanied minors that we have to deal with. we have a program that we're trying to put in place so that they get adequate representation. there are a whole variety of cases that immigration judges have to deal with, and the issue at base is simply we need more immigration judges, and that's why that request is in the budget. >> thank you. in that process did we provide any kind of training or

assistance to those who are noncitizens in terms of having them understand the process of our judicial system so that they're properly handled? and do we have hang considerations when they're being worked with? or going through the process so that they understand their rights and the things that are going on? >> i know that we have tried to make efforts to deal with the language issues that exist for people who find themselves in our immigration system. it is something that we have tried to focus attention to, and resources on. you cannot have a meaningful process unless somebody understands what it is they are -- what they are in the middle of. so we've had to try to increase our language capability, and that is also something that is -- that is costly because we're dealing with, you know, predominantly maybe one or two

languages but the reality we deal with a variety of language capabilities that we have to have. >> my sense about your stance on due process is that you want to do the best that you can. and that's costly, and i'm not sure that you get all the resources you need. perhaps we can talk more about that later. on the rape kits, i understand there is about 400,000 to 500,000 kits sitting in the evidence room waiting to be processed. we have some sunding that's been set aside so that we can ask the fbi to be able to consider training local law enforcement agencies so that they can proceed and move on the backlog. and i understand that there's a constriction there, where the fbi requires all these tests to