screeria -- nigeria. - and hamas did

right and wrong during last summer's conflict in dpazgaza. officials talk about combatting terrorism cyber attacks and drug trafficking. this runs an hour and 45 minutes.

>> they will later testify about their agencies' 2016 budget request. this morning, i want to begin by thanking the men and women of

the fbi the marshals service, the dea and atf who work every day to protect this nation. we are indebted to them and grateful forever their service and sacrifice n particular, i want to express my condolences to the family of deputy u.s. marshal josie wells who was killed in line of duty on tuesday while participating in a fugitive task force in baton rouge rouge, will a l.a. deputy marshal wells was attached to the marshal southern district office in mississippi and had dutifully volunteered for this recent task force. our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and the entire marshals service community for their loss here. the constantly changing landscape of criminal activity at home and abroad challenged the justice's department ability to deal with the emerging threats. we expect federal law enforcement agencies to be more anymore pell and sophisticated than the criminals and

terrorists they pursue. the goal of this joint law enforcement hearing is to determine how the 2016 budget would give law enforcement agencies the tools and capabilities to tackle those changing threats, whether they are cyber attacks drug trafficking, financial fraud or terrorism. i believe our federal law enforcement agencies must work together, particularly in tough budget environments to target limited resources in a manner that safe guards taxpayers' dollars while preserving public safety. the fbi's mission includes protecting and defending the united states against terrorism and foreign intelligence threats, fighting cyber crime as well as tending to traditional criminal activities such as violent crime, public corruption and white collar crime. in order to carry out these

priorities, the fbi's 2016 budget request is $8.5 billion, which is an increase of $47 million above the 2015 enacted amount. in the past year, we've seen terrorist threats and increased cyber attacks. i believe it's imperative that the fbi appropriately balances the bureau's diverse responsibilities while targeting the highest needs and criminal threats facing our nation. the marshal's service has the honor of being america's oldest federal law enforcement agency. the marshals provide judicial security, apprehend fugitives and protect witnesses and transport prisoners, among other important duties. the 2016 budget request of $2.7 billion for the marshal service is $100 million less than the 2015 enacted level of $2.8 billion. the funding reductions are largely isolated to the federal prisoner detention account.

i want to hear how the 15 budget requests will allow the marshall service to continue its critical missions for the pursuit -- pursuit and arrest of fugitive tax offenders who are targeting our children. the drug enforcement administration's 2016 budget request totals $2.5 billion. the agency serves a central role in our society, working with domestic and international partners in enforcement and control of substance laws and regulations of the united states. in addition, the dea's diversion control program prevents, detects and investigates the diversion of controlled pharmaceuticals and listed chemicals. this mission is critical with prescription drug abuse arguably being the country's fastest growing drug problem. the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms and explosives is tasked with combatting illegal

use and trafficking of firearms, illegal use and storage of explosives and acts of arson and bombings, among other crime-fighting roles. atf's 2016 budget request is $1.3 billion, which is $60 million above the '15 level. i'm interested in how the agency would use this increased funding, particularly in light of recent complaints from hunters and sportsmen who believe that atf overstepped its authority by attempting to ban certain ammunition for recreation use. i look forward to hearing the views and explanations of the witnesses for the details of their 2016 funding totals and working with our committee members to prioritize necessary funding for our federal law enforcement agencies.

at this point, i'd like to recognize my friend and colleague, senator mikulski, former chairman of the committee. >> thank you, mr. chairman, for this hearing today and really bringing the full complement of federal law enforcement before the committee, not only to review their budget, but so we could first of all truly express our appreciation. and we do appreciate every single man and woman who works for the agencies represented here today are so much valued and so much appreciated and they should do that. and i think we need to do that in three ways. number one, give them respect and respect them and the sacrifices they do and their families do every single day while they're often away protecting us. number two, let's have the right resources and let's make sure we don't do another sequester where fbi agents were digging into

their pocket to pay for gasoline and dea agents wondering what they could do to do their job, and while we're looking at the sequester, how we go after the sexual predators and the judges. and the wonderful lab in adelphi, the forensics lab, not only what you're enforcing but able us to identify we had few years ago came from a single gun through the forensics that you did. it's that. some carry a gun, some work with a microscope, all are on their job and i wanted to say that. tomorrow, i will be at a maryland montgomery county chamber of commerce event in which they honor those who provide public safety, firefighters and also police officers. the baltimore field office, mr.

comey, will be receiving an award for being the best public safety partner. it's not only what you do, how you do it, actually engaged in the community, leveraging the assets of both the federal government and state and local, where everybody's best at what they're best at and best at what they're most needed for. so we appreciate that. and of course, we want to express our condolences to the death of deputy marshal jose wells, killed in the line of fire, and, of course, we wish our police officers in ferguson a good recovery. so we've got a big job to do. and the we way we start, with respect, i believe with the right resources. while we're looking at the law enforcement agencies of the fbi, dea and atf, make up most -- half of the justice department's budget. close to $15 billion. i think that's a bargain.

i think that's a tremendous bargain for what we get in the way you are out there protecting america. there's only a modest increase in here of $98 million, and i'm concerned whether that enables you to keep on hiring the people that you need to do the job, to be able to sustain the effort with the people that you hire. and also, will we be able to do the cost of living adjustments for the people who work with you, whether they're agents, intelligence analysts or computer analysts. these needed increases come in the context of the president's request. yes, we do know it's above the caps and we will be having a robust discussion. while there are many calling and pounding the table, let's lift the caps on defense, a needed

debate, there's another way we need to defend america. we need to defend america in the streets and neighborhoods of our communities and we need to defend them from sexual predators. we need to defend them from murderers and killers. we need to defend them against the lone wolf who could be roaming around one of our big cities or small towns. so, if you want to protect america, you not only want to lift the defense caps, you want to lift the domestic caps and have parity with that. and i want you to know i feel very strongly about it. and when i say i didn't want to run again because i didn't want to raise money but raise hell, this is one of the areas that i'm going to raise hell about and we're going to do it here today. so we look forward to hearing what it is you need for those resources. we count on you to be able to do this job. i could go through the data, which i will, when we get to the questions. two areas i hope we could also

focus on, in addition to your specific mission, of course, is the heroin crisis that we hear from every governor, including my own in maryland. we look to work with our governor. yes, he's a republican and, yes, i'm a democrat, but we're 100% marylanders and we're 100% involved in dealing with heroin. and, of course, the women of the senate joining with very good men are now focusing on the issue of human trafficking. and we look forward to hearing it. but i need to know what are the right resources for you to be best attitude what you're best at and be best at what you're needed for and we best better get our act together and make sure we support you. i look forward to the dialogue. >> thank you. we will start the hearing testimony with fbi director comey and then go right to left. we welcome all of you. your written testimony will be

made part of the record, if you will sum up your remarks. director comey, welcome again. >> thank you. nice to be here. vice chairman mikulski and senators. thank you for the opportunity to sit with three, i would say old friends, but i don't want to criticize anyone, people i've worked with for many years more than we'd like to admit and appreciate your expression of condolence for the marshal's service, terrible loss. it's a reminder of the people we have and risk they take to protect this country. so, we're very grateful for that. the fbi's 2016 budget request is about maintaining the capabilities that you have given us. it's about being good stewards of the taxpayer's money and make sure we recover from the effects of sequester by filling the ranks that were so depleted over the past couple of years. there are two enhancements requested in our budget, each for about $10 million. one relates to our cyber capabilities, trying to build those and the second to our efforts to integrate better in a technological way with this

the rest of the intelligence community community. as the rest of you know, the fbi like my colleagues here, it's all about the people. 70% of our budget goes to our good folks. we have remarkable men and women who are working 24 hours a day all around this world to protect this country and its citizens. the members of this committee are very well aware of the threats the fbi is responsible for addressing. counterterrorism remains at the top of our list, for reasons that make good sense. the world of terrorism has shifted just in my 18 months on this job, particularly in the growth and flourishing in ungoverned or lightly governed spaces of the progeny of al qaeda, most predominantly with isil and use of groups like isil and aqap with sophisticated technology and social media to spread their poison, to attract recruits to their so-called caliphate and to try to motivate

people who don't travel to do harm to people in the united states. this poses an enormous challenge to us to find the people responding to that siren song and track those traveling and find those who may be motivating to radicalize and stay in place but engage in murderous behavior in the name of some misguided effort to find meaning in their lives. so counterterrorism remains at the top of our list for reasons i know the american people appreciate. as chairman shelby mentioned, we also have responsibility for counterintelligence. the spy game is not a thing of 1950s or '60s. it is alive and well. increasingly, as with all the threats, it is manifesting on the internet. cyber dominates the fbi's life and have to be digitally literate to protect kids, fraud, terrorism, protect critical infrastructure and our secrets. we're working very hard to make sure we have the workforce and technology and we're deployed in a smart way to be able to deal with the threats that come at us through the internet, which is all the threats we're

responsible for. and we spend a tremendous amount of time working with our partners here at this table to address a variety of criminal threats. vice-chairman mikulski mentioned our efforts to protect children. we work very hard on that to fight public corruption, as chairman shelby said, and a host of other efforts we do around the country. we do them almost entirely in partnerships with federal partners and state and local partners. there is literally nothing the fbi does alone. we accomplish great good but do it in partnership with lots of other folks. i want to close just mentioning a couple of our capabilities this committee has supported that don't get the attention, in my view, that they deserve. the first is tedac. it is the analysis center for improvised explosive devices used by terrorists around the world. it is a tremendous resource for this country and our allies.

we are putting together a world-class facility in huntsville, alabama, so we can do with explosive devices the way we do fingerprints, to connect the dots and save lives. i had a chance to visit recent recently for the commitment to keep our allies safer and i appreciate your support. and we have the hazardous devices school for today and tomorrow to diffuse devices and protect the american people. two tremendous resources that don't get much attention. i'll mention one other. in the great state of west virginia, we have thousands of people working at our criminal investigation services department, our division, which is literally the frame on which hangs the law enforcement of this country. they run the information sharing, they run the fingerprint database, they run the dna database, they run the sharing of vital information that protects law enforcement officers. i told them when i visited them, your work to a lot of people sounds boring. it is only boring because it works so well.

we take it for granted that this work will be there so when a cop pulls somebody over and runs their name or their fingerprints, they know immediately whether that's a rapist or terrorist or fugitive and people are protected by virtue of that. they are underappreciated but the are the frame that hangs law enforcement of this country and we are hugely grateful for the support of this committee for our west virginia colleagues. with that, i'll stop and thank you again. this committee has been tremendously supportive of the fbi. we recognize it and our great folks are extraordinarily grateful for the support we've gotten from the committee and i look forward to taking your questions. >> thank you. miss hilton. >> thank you, mr. chairman. well, good morning, everyone, and i want to start by thanking you for your recognition of deputy jose wells, who we lost this past tuesday. he was, without a doubt, one of our finest.

he was a young man committed to our fugitive investigation operations. he was a young man who worked to make our country safer. his loss was really unbearable for all of us but you can imagine his family. deputy wells came from a long line of law enforcement. his father is a retired law enforcement officer from mississippi and his two brothers currently serve as local law enforcement police officers. we will stand with them as we will support them as we bid farewell to jose as this weekend we recognize yet another fallen u.s. marshal service hero. our total request includes $1.2 billion for salaries and expenses and $1.5 billion for detention and $15 million for construction of federal courthouses nationwide. the agency's many accomplishments over the years, as we celebrate our 225th

anniversary this year, recently would not have been possible without your support, from this committee in particular. in recent years, you have acknowledged and provided resources for us to safely guard the nation's federal prison inmate and detention populations. and you recognize the importance of those resources. over the past year, we had worked carefully to assess the agency's spending, and where necessary, make improvements and reduce costs. the usms has also benefitted from this committee's decision to restore our resources in 2014 on salaries and expenses. this allowed us to fill 200 vacant u.s. marshals and i thank you for that support. i can assure you that we take our fiduciary responsibilities very seriously. and we will work the office of management and budget and with

your staffs to submit a moderate budget mindful of our country's financial situation. in doing so, we have worked proactively to creatively address our shortfalls and use existing resources, to ensure officer safety. aside from retaining a small carryover from the detention balance the u.s. marshal service worked to make sure a significant amount are made available to the administration and congress for other purposes. it is my ongoing focus to ensure that we be as efficient and effective as we can within the dollars that are given to us and a priority to take transformational steps to make the marshal service to be a data-driven agency to make strategic and tactical business decisions. ultimately, this is helping us present a performance-based budget to show how we are managing our resources appropriated from congress. the '16 budget that you have in front of you provides the necessary resources to maintain and enhance you spoke about

today, arresting violent fugitives, protecting our children and reducing crime in our communities. enforcing law enforcement in the communities is still a paramount concern for the marshal services as we see more violence in our federal courthouses and federal judiciary. we saw it in wheeling, west virginia, saw it recently at a judge's home in the florida in the middle of the night, the judge just barely escaping the shooting and his family and the violence in the courthouses in the shooting in utah. you can see it play across the media and violent criminals introduced to our court system pose a great risk to our judiciary. the '16 budget increases our enforcement efforts for law enforcement as we provide safety to our officers, as we try to work and ensure we can meet the requirements under the adam walsh child protection safety act. the national center for missing

and exploited children estimates over 769,000 sex offenders live in the united states, of which i am proud to say we have apprehended at least probably close to 12,000 annually, brought them into compliance, because over 100,000 of those 769 are not in compliance. it is my top priority in this agency as we have lost too many and every effort is made to ensure personnel are adequately equipped. along with those at the table and my partners, as director comey stated, we're collectively together, we the marshal service apprehended warrants for more than 105,000 violent fugitives a year. deputy marshals who risk their lives arresting and apprehending those who flee from justice that are wanted. we are requesting $1.5 million for law enforcement training so we may keep that effort. the committee has recognized the

urgent need to contain proliferation of gangs across our country. criminal gang activity has a severe impact on law enforcement because of the high-rising level of violence we see. gangs are no longer isolated to motorcycle gangs and violent urban street gangs. they are now in existing in suburban and rural communities, socially economically depressed communities and over more than 1 million members are criminally active in the united states. this is something we all want to address. our '16 budget request has an increase of $5.2 million for a total of $15 million for federal courthouses as i spoke earlier about the situation we face to make sure to mitigate the risks of the public that attend those courthouses and the judiciary. mr. chairman, ranking member mikulski and members of the subcommittee, i do request your support to fully fund the '16 budget request to support the

men and women of the marshal service you recognized earlier to carry out the protection efforts of our judicial process. and we have proven ourselves a valuable asset to our communities, ensuring public safety and protecting our children. thank you. >> good morning, chairman shelby, ranking member mikulski and members of the subcommittee. i want to start by thanking ranking member mikulski for her many years of leadership and dedicated service to our country. you have been a trailblazer for women in the senate, and i am especially thankful for your support of dea's museum's traveling exhibit that went to the maryland science center in baltimore last year. over 350,000 people visited the exhibit during the seven-month run. and they learned not just about law enforcement but also the science behind drugs, addiction and recovery.

dea is in mourning this morning after hearing the news of deputy jose wells and we offer all our assistance to director hilton. the support of this committee has led to the arrest of many violent drug traffickers. this is exemplified by the recent arrest of cervando gomez martinez also known as latuta and omar morales. these arrests are another win for mexico in the fight against brutal criminal cartels like the knights templar and lasettas. and these arrests along with last year's capture of joaquin guzman signal major steps forward in our shared fight against drug trafficking and violence. since the department of justice began coordinating efforts against the most known wanted drug traffickers in 2003, there have been 183 identified around the world.

cumulatively, over three-quarters have been indicted in the united states. over half have been arrested here or abroad, and one-third have been extradited to the united states to face justice. in fiscal year 2014 alone, we saw several successes against them, including seven who were extradited to the united states, one surrendered to the united states' authorities and six more who were arrested and are in custody outside the united states. historically, the image of organized crime in the united states was of hierarchal organizations exerting influence over criminal activities at the local levels, with cells of loosely affiliated groups. that still remains true today. however, these organizations now have direct connections to mexican drug trafficking organizations to distribute heroin, methamphetamine,

cocaine, marijuana and other drugs throughout the country. this is the new face of organized crime. the violence perpetrated by these groups harms communities across the united states and dea is uniquely positioned to target and dismantle the distribution cells and traffic organizations with whom they conspire. of notable concern is the alarming level of heroin use and abuse in this country and increases in heroin-related deaths. after years of declining use, the availability and abuse of heroin is now increasing, especially among younger americans. this is due in part to the increased production of heroin in mexico, even as colombian production has declined. and in 2013, 8,257 people died

of a heroin overdose, nearly tripling since 2010. a contributing factor to increasing demand for heroin is prescription opioid abuse. prescription drug abuse is a nationwide epidemic. overall, 43,982 people have died of a drug overdose in the united states in 2003. that was more than half of which involved prescription drugs. these deaths represent not just a statistic, but they are our family members, our friends, our neighbors and our colleagues. and if we look at the operational successes we are having today, coupled with the decline in overall drug use, there is reason for optimism. since its high point in 1979, the overall rate of elicit drug illicit drug use

in america has dropped by over 30%. by taking harmful drugs off the street, dismantling major drug organizations and seizing profits we are making our nation a safer place to live and to do business. the support of this subcommittee is critical to our success. so i look forward to working with you and would be happy to answer any of your questions. thank you. >> good morning, chairman shelby, ranking member mikulski and members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today with my colleagues. this is a great team that i'm privileged to work with within the department of justice. i think together, we are moving forward to enhance public safety around the country on behalf of the citizens that we serve. i'm also pleased to be here to discuss the president's fy 2016 budget request for atf. atf's principal mission is to protect our communities from violent criminals who illegally possess and use firearms, use explosives for illicit purposes and engage in deadly acts of

arson. we accomplish our mission through partnerships and through the enforcement of the criminal law and regulations of firearms and explosives industry. this makes us somewhat unique among u.s. law enforcement. and we have a long history of maintaining working relationships, not only with our federal partners, but with our state and local partners. and we put a premium on those partnerships. the public safety agencies, the industry groups and the community organizations that we work with are vital to us being able to accomplish our mission. when serious violent crime happens at communities across the country, atf is there working side by side with our partners. in the past three years alone, atf has been at the front line against crime helping our partners investigate the boston marathon bombing, the horrific mass shootings in aurora, colorado, newtown, connecticut, and the washington navy yard as

well as assisting in thousands of other investigations that have simply not made the national news. atf's work with its partners is producing tangible results in communities across the country. our discussion today, i hope, leads to some help for you all in sustaining the results we have accomplished in various places around the country. for example, we recently completed an enhanced enforcement operation in new haven and bridgeport, connecticut and chicago, illinois. in both circumstances, we have made an impact working with our state and local colleagues on diminishing and lowering violent crime in those communities. we accomplished this not only through manpower and strong partnerships but by also leveraging our technology resources, such as nybin, the national integrated ballistics informational network. this technology compares high-resolution cartridge cases, the senator alluded to it earlier, recover from multiple crime scenes and compares and contrasts and follow the gun strategy to identify the worst of the worst offenders in communities.

and this technology has been integrated with e-trace and we are, in certain communities around the country, test driving crime gun intelligence centers. it's showing very promising results. atf's contributions to public safety extend beyond these operational successes though. as director comey mentioned, tedac is in huntsville. we have our national training for explosive training and research there, established through the members of this committee and it's performing important work. by the end of fy 2016, it will significantly increase its staffing by 30% and work on increasing fire and arson investigation in addition to explosives research. because we are getting healthier as an organization over the last several years, we will offer several courses that haven't been offered because training is usually the first thing to go when you have tough budget times unfortunately.

in addition, we will be bringing our u.s. bomb data center from atf here in washington, d.c., and put it in the cedar facility in an effort to make sure we are not only fully integrating our capacity but collaborating at the highest levels with the fbi's terrorist explosive device analytic center that is down there. another important atf asset, our fire research lab in maryland is currently involved in research of several high-profile fire incidents. i want to thank this committee for the support that that lab has. it's sort of an unsurprisingly to me, as i've learned across the country, our arson capacity is something that's a great treasure to federal law enforcement. we've worked on several significant arson investigations with state and locals trying to figure out what happened. we are performing tests recently on the west texas fertilizer

plant that killed 15 first responders and injured 160. and we're currently looking at the horrific fire that happened several months ago in annapolis that killed a grandmother, grandfather and their grandchildren, trying to determine some of the things with christmas trees. and this kind of research is taken care of very quietly, but would be very helpful to public safety across the board. to support this important work, and i look forward to discussing it further, atf's 2016 budget request totals $1.26 billion, including 5100 permanent positions, nearly half of which are special agents. and this request includes 52 million increase in base resources that really is focused, as director comey mentioned, on our human capital. atf has a very experienced special agent workforce. within the next three years, we will have nearly 35% of that workforce be either mandatory or eligible for retirement.

and so we need to do all we can over the next several years, including to this budget cycle, to refresh and get new agents out there before the senior agents leave. i look forward to answering your questions. and i do want to maybe set the table here as a preemptive. the chairman mentioned about in our regulatory effort, a proposal that we posted -- requested comments on for the last 30 days. that comment period will close. it involved not -- it involved an exemption for a particular type of .556 round. we've gotten nearly 90,000 comments. we will assess those comments and working with you, with others, see how we can really address what was at the genesis of that posting, which was an effort to address nearly 30 exemption requests and finding a framework for dealing with that. with that said, i see the time

is over and i will be happy to answer any questions that you have. >> thank you. thank you very much. i'll direct my first question to you. on february 13th, the atf released a proposed framework that would have eliminated the m855 green tip ammunition from the sporting purposes. this week, the atf abandoned this proposal. a lot of us are troubled that the atf's process and intent regarding this proposed ban. i've heard from numerous constituents who use this ammunition for shooting sport and hunting and they're strongly opposed to the ban, as you know. additionally, it's concerning to a lot of us that the new federal firearms regulation reference guide published in january inexplicably removed m-855 ammunition from the exemption list for sporting purposes.

why did the atf propose this m-855 ban when such ammunition has been allowed under sporting purposes exemption for many, many years? >> senator, thank you for the question. i think it's important for everyone to understand again that the genesis of us putting that framework proposal up for public comment was our good-faith effort to try and construct a framework to deal with nearly 30 exemptions that we have had in the queue for many, many years at atf. we do have a responsibility to regulate. we can't stick our head in the sand with respect to the additional exemption requests. the m-885 exemption has been in place for nearly 30 years. it was a classification that atf made on that particular round. and i want to make sure everybody understands that this was not -- contrary to some of the blogosphere and effort to completely ban that certain type

of cartridge. it's this one particular green tip that is, in essence, military surplus, that under leopa does qualify as armor piercing but has had an exemption for 30 years and been in the market and used for sporting purposes for the last 30 years. and so our request for input on a framework was our effort to try and get a transparent process that we could act on the nearly 30 other exemptions that were there and not sort of not look at the exemption that was out there on m-885. and so, you know, i think the reality of it is we need to deal with the pending exemptions. there aren't going to be any new exemptions granted until we work our way out through this. the exemption for m-885 has been there for 30 years and will remain. >> you abandoned it this week, did you not? >> we're going to take the input in. we are not going to move forward without analyzing the nearly 90,000 comments from all spectrums with a sense of

figuring out how we do this rationally, in a common sense way that, first and foremost for us, protects our law enforcement officers in compliance with leopa. >> i'll direct this question to the fbi director. you talked about earlier the terrorist explosive device analytical center we call tdac and so forth and how important it is. what is tdac's operational and construction status at this point? when will the facility be fully operational, do you know? >> i think we're on track, senator, to open it sometime late this spring or in summer. i went down there to check on its progress because i'm keenly interested in it. the building's up, looks good to me but other things to be done for it to be ready.

we have had some delays because our contractor has struggled with some of the unique technical requirements we need to deal with explosives in that building. my understanding we're on track for no later than summer opening. >> how is the atf working cooperatively with you, with the fbi on this? are they putting their good offices forward to work with you and cooperate with the fbi regarding tdac? >> yes, as they always do. as director jones said, one of the hallmarks of atf, they are a great partner in a whole host of ways and they are with tdac. >> director jones, you reference in cedar a few minutes ago. where are we exactly on that, as far as staffing the program we call it the national center for explosives training and research? >> you know, i've had an opportunity -- >> you mentioned this earlier in your testimony. >> i've had an opportunity on a number of occasions to go to in

cedar, a wonderful facility for our organization and asset. i think when tdac is up and running and what we've done at in cedar and what we plan to do expands beyond the explosive training and research, focusing primarily on homemade ieds and some of the research there has expanded into the fire and arson realm, not to -- we have a great lab in ammendale and doing work down there and that necessitates us moving additional personnel down there. and i think the main thing is that we're finally going to move the u.s. bomb data center personnel from washington down there to in cedar as originally envisioned and that's going to happen this year. >> one last question to the fbi director. how is the fbi responding from the army's separation from the hazardous device school they sent word, as i understand it where they had a partnership there and the army indicated they would no longer provide

personnel to the school but i think that's an important operation there. >> i agree completely, mr. chairman. we're working with them to see if there are folks they will no longer have there as part of their complement that can come work for us so we don't lose the expertise and our overall commitment is not to lose any capability there. as you know, with the support of this committee, we're expanding that facility because there's such a hunger for advanced bomb tech training. >> thank you. >> thank you. i want to compliment you on the fact we will continue the tradition of a classified hearing after this because so much of what we want to do about counterterrorism and organized crime are questions in that setting and thank you very much for being able to provide us with that opportunity. i've got essentially two questions.

one i want to raise is about heroin. i have a significant issue in maryland, and it's been raised by our local dea people as well as governor hogan. we heard a place like vermont has declared it a state of the state issue. in fiscal '15, this committee requested that the doj convene a task force to come up with a comprehensive federal solution of law enforcement, health care treatment and prevention, not only law enforcement. director comey, you told me that it had been handed to the dea, is that right? are you -- could you tell me what dea is doing? and are you the task force that i asked for? because we've gotten very little feedback about it. >> sure, i'd be glad to address that. the task force you called for

was not tasked to dea. but i do know that the department has been looking at it and actually has convened some meetings that we have attended to put together -- >> is there a department of justice task force? i'll ask the attorney general, that you know of, that has the task force that we asked for? >> i know that they have had meetings with people outside the department and within the department -- >> okay. >> -- and have gathered -- >> so they didn't do it. we'll come back to that. could you tell us what you're doing though, miss leonhart? >> sure. europe is the perfect example of what it's going to take for our country to stem the flow of the rising heroin problem. as you know, in maryland, your heroin deaths nearly doubled. and in fact, when you look at all overdose deaths in maryland last year, the majority of them were actually heroin overdoses.

so we very quickly and have over the past year, we put together a local task force. we have one in baltimore. we have a similar task force arrangement here locally that we're working with our partners. but in baltimore, we became very concerned about why this raise in heroin overdoses. we understand why there's more heroin coming into our country. and that's because more and more of it is coming -- almost all western hemisphere. but more and more of it is coming from mexico and is being controlled by the same mexican organizations and trafficking groups that we see all across the country who have brought cocaine, midwest and marijuana to our communities. so we started looking at it and started --

>> remember, i have five minutes. so could we get -- >> we started to be concerned because there was an epidemic of fentanyl-laced heroin a few years back. we started working with medical examiners, coroners and county police departments and looking at those deaths and finding a number of them are actually fentanyl-laced heroin overdoses. so we have efforts going enforcement-wise, public service announcements, warning local law enforcement. >> so how many of these task forces do you have doing this great work in the baltimore community? >> i know the washington hida is working this. >> no, no, no. i'm asking dea, the baltimore efforts i compliment you on. okay. i'm frustrated the doj did not do the comprehensive thing.

you can't only fight the -- law enforcement is a tool. we have to look at prevention, enforcement and interdiction and then recovery. okay? >> yes. >> that's not going on. >> you are doing a great effort. do you have seven of these? 17 of these efforts? how many do you have? >> we have the main effort in baltimore, but we also have a couple different task forces operating and coordinating together here in washington, d.c., and then we have communities throughout the country, where we have replicated what baltimore did. the results of what we've done when we've been able to get health folks together, law enforcement -- >> okay. i'm gonna ask you. what are you doing on drugs, director comey? >> in every field office, we are engaged in focusing on the complex trafficking organizations, almost all the time in partnership with dea. our contribution to the heroin epidemic has been to work with dea to try and disrupt the

traffickers who are bringing it in. we have not touched the other pieces you've talked about. >> does the marshal service have a role? >> ma'am, our role is primarily dedicated to the regional task forces and district task forces on the apprehension of the fugitives involved and we work collectively with our colleagues on state and local levels in apprehending drug fugitives. >> mr. jones? >> we look for the worse of the worse on firearms and protecting either their organization or business. the guns are always the driver for us, but that obviously leads us to some collaboration with dea and fbi and state and locals across the board. >> well, my time is up, but i think it says, we really need a different kind of coordination here. and, first, i want to compliment everybody on what they're doing.

it's not a criticism of you, and the fact also of working with the state and local governments. we had the methodology of task forces. there needs to be, i think, a more organized effort. if we have a second round, i'll follow up with other questions. i appreciate what you're doing. i gained a great deal of insight here. thank you. >> senator langford. >> thank you. i would like to follow up on what senator mikulski was just talking about. is there a clear layout of the lanes of responsibilities when you deal with drug issues? in two areas i can see clearly dealing with gangs and drugs, and obviously, there's a tremendous amount of overlap, all four of you have lanes of responsibility in those areas. does it exist that there is a clear layout of who has what lane? >> i believe that there are very clear lines. for instance, atf and fbi,

they're violent crime task forces. and our role at dea is really to identify those trafficking organizations, especially mexican cartels, major mexican organizations that are supplying the gangs and that's what's fueling violence on our streets. so we work together in a collaborative way all knowing what our lanes are. and i have been very proud to say in the 12 years that i've been in washington, we've not once ran into a problem that i had to go to the fbi director and say we were overlapping here. i've not had to go to the director of atf. we work very well together and know what our lanes are. >> with that, and i would like to have that document, just to be able to see so we can get clarity of who has what lane, if it's a task force or whatever that may be. i'd like to be able to have that

so we can get the clear differentiation. but part of the issue for us as well as we deal with a bunch of issues, we appreciate very much what you do and the folks that are on the street and individuals that literally lay down their life for our country and do that every day and deal with the grief and our nation grieves. we want to have the maximum number of people that are actually engaged on the street both protecting each other and our nation, the least amount of administrative work. so where there are areas of overlap and one entity is related to the area, we'd rather have one on the street and half the administrative cost as possible. so, that would help us to be able to get that perspective. i know there's a lot of focus right now on national terrorism, rightfully so, by the way, but we can't lose the focus on drug and gang violence that's happening in the united states because we lose more folks to drug and gang violence every week in the united states than we do to national terrorism. we can't put one priority over another one. we just can't lose that priority. and i would continue to

reenforce that with the funds and focus we have, that's a continued, major emphasis we have to keep up and the dea's trying to lead the way, but all four of your agencies are very involved in that as well. i do have a specific question. mr. jones here as well. attorney general eric holder and i had a conversation several years ago coming out of fast and furious, and it was a conversation about some of the procedures and process and trying to align the fbi processes for how they do undercover operations and the permissions and access points going all the way to d.c. because there's two different sets of processes. it was about three years ago, we had that conversation. it was ongoing. do you know where that is in trying to align atf processes with more on fbi-like process for investigations? >> senator thank you for the question and i think we are in a very good place from were i was when i came on three years ago. >> i had three priorities when i came on board. one was to get the organization healthy. not just in resources, the infamous morale question.

number two was to fully integrate atf into the department of justice policies. having served on the agac, being intimately familiar with undercover review committees, ci committee, all of the process that are there at the department of justice, we are on target with integrating and making sure that we are all in sync with all of the doj law enforcement components on how we do some of those fundamentals in terms of processes for higher or high-risk law enforcement operations. now, the challenge for all of us, and the thing that gets attention oftentimes is when the policy is not put into practice completely and uniformly across the country and that's -- that's sometimes a challenge, because putting it into practice involves people and

communication and training. >> what do you think that is in implementation of the policy though first? >> for us? >> yes. >> we are in sync with doj policy across the board and will continue to refine all of our orders and policies and practices on paper and in practice. >> okay. thank you. there's a decrease in budget on the prisoner detention budget line on that and the reason there was a decline in population. can you tell me the reason you've seen there's a decline in federal prison population? >> you're accurate, senator, is that the major contributor is the decline in the population. it's also a lot of efficiency and time in detention that's been reduced in business practices. >> any certain population there's a decline in length of detention? >> the decline in population while stays strong in immigration, stays at a steady pace, there's a slight decline in drugs and a slight decline in

supervised release. but those fluctuate, primarily because of the length of time it takes to prosecute the cases. so it's time in detention that really impacts the dollar at times. so immigration is a faster processing of those cases compared to drugs. it's really the time factor that reduces it. >> thank you. i yield back. >> senator feinstein. >> thanks very much, mr. chairman. director comey, i want to thank you for the work your people do in counterterrorism. i was there when bob mueller announced the development of an intelligence branch within the fbi, and at that time, i had some concerns about it. and i've watched its evolution. whether it was zazi, which is well know, or plots that are not

well known, the fbi has been able to disrupt plots in the united states and i think that's a very important and significant thing and i want very much to thank you for it. i want to ask you yes or no. one of my disappointments was to learn that the six-year report of the committee on detention and interrogation program sat in a locker and no one looked at it. and let me tell you why i'm disappointed. the report, the 6,000 pages and the 38,000 footnotes, which has been compiled, contains numerous examples of a learning experience of cases of interrogation, of where the department could learn perhaps some new things from past mistakes. and the fact that it hasn't been opened, at least that's what's been reported to me, is really a great disservice. it's classified.

it's meant for the appropriate department. you're one of them. i'd like to ask if you open that report and designate certain people to read it and maybe even have a discussion how things might be improved by suggestions in the report. >> i will do that, senator. as you know, i have read the executive summary. you asked me to do it during my confirmation hearing. i kept my promise and read it. there is a small number of people at the fbi who have read it, but what we have not done, have we thought about whether there are lessons learned for us? there's a tendency for me to think we don't engage in interrogation like that, so what's there to learn. >> you did. and bob mueller pulled your people out, which is a great tribute to him. >> so, the answer is yes. i will think about it better. and i will figure out where we are in terms of looking at the entire thing.

i don't know enough about where the document sits at this point this time. you mentioned a lockbox. i don't know that well enough to comment at this point. >> thank you very much. let me talk to you about another problem. human trafficking is now the second largest criminal enterprise in the world. it's behind only the drug trade. and in this country, too, children 12, 13, 14 are being trafficked. they're being transported across state lines to cities all over the united states. in some areas, like los angeles, even street gangs are running these trafficking rings. so, traffickers now to distance themselves, have come upon a method of using the internet. and there are some 20 internet sites where a purveyor, a trafficker, for as little as a dollar, can buy an ad. and so the internet effectively becomes complicit. these are children.

underage girls. sometimes, boys. they're held against their will. i've become very concerned about this and will be doing more on it. but my question to you is what kind of -- what can the fbi do to really make this a major priority and crack down on it? it's international, but it's also big time national. >> i think you're characterization of it is correct, senator. it's a huge feature of our work. in all of our field offices, we work in 70-some task forces to try to address it. we work internationally to try and address it, so it's a big feature in our life. we are trying to make sure we send a message that there are huge costs to doing this in the united states. we're focused on the individuals. you allude to the challenge with internet sites. that's a challenge for us. obviously, we have a wonderful country with a first amendment that protects people's ability to create sites. we're trying to focus on the

individuals who may be operating a site with purposes of trafficking and lock them up for a long period of time and we're doing that all over the country. >> have you had any success? >> oh, yeah. we sure have. >> could we learn more about that? not now. i'd appreciate sitting down with you. according to the government accountability office, the famous gao, for the last ten years, february '04 to december '14, there were 2233 cases in which a known or suspected terrorist, individuals who are on the federal terrorist watch list at the time, attempted to buy a firearm or obtain an explosives permit. in 91% of the cases, this is not me, this is the gao, 2,043 separate occasions, those known or suspected terrorists were

successful in passing a background check. what can be done about this? >> well, senator, what we do now is if someone on the watch list purchases or attempts to purchase a firearm, an immediate alert is sent to the agents who are the source of the suspicion about that individual so they can incorporate that information into their investigation. because known or suspected means it hasn't been adjudicated. it's somebody we're investigating, so we don't want to lower our investigation. >> let me say this.gap. and prevent a known or suspected terrorist from buying a gun or explosives in this country. in 2009 attorney general holder expressed the obama administration's support for the legislation. and i interviewed similar legislation in the senate last year.

the question comes for the law enforcement element of the administration to really come forward and be supportive of this. because the national rifle association even opposes this. now, this is terrorists. you know, we can have people come into this country, meaning to do us harm and they can go in and buy a weapon to carry it out. that's simply unacceptable. so i want to bring it to your attention, you know we have to come together and prevent this from happening. your biggest concern is the lone wolf. the lone wolf can come in unarmed. he can buy the explosives, he can buy the gun. this must be stopped. >> thank you, senator. >> no comment? >> i don't know where the administration is on the legislation. so i have nothing intelligent to say about that. i want to make sure we are alerted. i'll have to find out where the

administration stands on the legislation. >> if you will. i'd also like to know where you stand. >> i'm the fbi, i don't stand up too tall to legislation. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you all for being here. we appreciate what you all represent. director johns, first of all, i would like to send our condolences to special agent william sheldon's wife and two young children. i understand that he's lost a bout with cancer. and we certainly are thinking of him. and director hilton, we also want to express our condolences to josie wells killed in the line of duty on march the 10th. and again to family and friends, and the u.s. marshal's service. i think this -- again these things illustrate what you all are all about. and we sure do appreciate you.

in regard to -- i really want to follow up on what senator mccow ski was talking about. just the tools we've got out there to try and find the drug epidemic, and then along with that, the violent crime that comes with that. director jones, as a response to the crime in little rock and west memphis, arkansas i understand that both are potentially candidates to be named of violence reduction network. can you talk a little bit about that? and that initiative and how that's helpful? >> thank you senator, for the question. and the vr violence reduction network is an initiative that the old becomes new. it really is a collaborative effort with not only federal law enforcement across the board but also with state and locals to address violence crime at a multitude of levels.

and make it sustainable. i know that little rock in particular has been discussed not only as a vrn potential site, but also as a site that we've done some work through our new orleans field division to try and address the unacceptable levels at times of violent crime. but the vrn is really -- it's got a lot of potential. in its genesis there are ten cities now. there has been a conference here. we've brought all the stakeholders. d.a.s, local district attorneys, state and local departments, all of the representatives here to discuss in a focused way the nature of the violent crime problem the perpetrators of the violence in those communities, and sustainable strategies to lower it eradicate it and sustain it. >> very good.

and related, ms. leonard can you talk a little bit about hidea, how that fits in? >> sure, the hidea program is run by ongcp not dea. but all of our -- the agencies at the table -- >> tell the senator what those initials stand for. not that he doesn't know but it gets -- we get lost in initials that you know every day. >> you're exactly right. >> they sound like cans of alphabet soup to us. >> you're exactly right. >> with scrabble games. >> it's the high intensity drug trafficking program run by ondcp. and it really allows us the numerous hidas, with different initiatives that bring state local, federal together. in the task forces, we are able to concentrate on kind of in a

regional concept the threats, both drug and other violent type crime that are wreaking havoc on those communities. >> so, is there a -- i guess my question is, is there a way to -- and we could go down the line. we've got all of these programs going on. >> a way to integrate the programs so that when you're doing your thing, director jones, and you're doing your thing, ms. leonard, and director hilton, fbi, do we integrate those things when we go into a community? >> absolutely. the beauty of, say a hida task force is some of the groups are run by the fbi, concentrating on the violent gangs that the fbi brings expertise to the table on. others are fugitive related and run by the marshal's service to make sure that we are going

after the most significant wanted violators in the area. and then ones that are concentrating on firearms, are often run by the atf. they are integrated, and actually, all the different initiatives and task forces complement each other. and that is why our four departments, and our state and local partners can almost seamlessly work between these task forces to go after the threat. >> thank you. ms. hilton, very quickly, because i'm out of time. as the -- if we do make success at reducing the prison population, how is that going to affect you guys? >> well i think there's always criminals ready to come into the system unfortunately on our streets. so as the prison population decreases, our detention population is all contingent on what is brought in. as we all fight for gangs and drugs to be reduced i see that pol lags as coming into

detention as we aggressively address those issues that congress has explained. you'll see them go down in prisons, but you'll see it come back up. thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you all for being here very much. >> senator murphy? >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i wanted to follow up on some of the early questions regarding the work that atf is doing surrounding -- following on the law enforcement officers protection act. this was just for the committee's recollection a piece of legislation that was passed in 1986 by 400-21 margin in the house of representatives passed by unanimous consent in the united states senate. and president reagan said upon signing it that there are, quote, certain forms of ammunition that have no legitimate sporting recreational or self-defense use and thus should be prohibited. it's always been tricky work to try to stay true to the act's

intention of stopping criminals from killing law enforcement officers with specifically dangerous type of weapons while also preserving the right of sportsmen hunters to enjoy their pastime. but i just want to first thank the atf, you mentioned in your prepared testimony, for the amazing work that they did in and around the sandy hook shooting. but also just relay a story. i was in that firehouse mere hours after the shooting took place. and i had a law enforcement officer who was standing next to me remark that in a way he was glad that adam took his own life, because he feared for the life and safety of his officers should a shootout have occurred given the ammunition, given the

power of the weapons that were found on adam's possession. that speaks to why we passed this act in the first place. so i wanted to just maybe ask a follow-up question as to why we were considering this particular type of ammunition in the first place. it's my understanding that what has happened here over time when we talk about these green tips is that they were initially exempt in part because they were only used in rifles but they are now able to be used in handguns. and we look at handguns in a different way, given that they are much more likely to be used in an assault on an officer. and in fact, the underlying legislation specifically references handguns as something that atf should be looking at. so i just -- i think it would be helpful for us to understand why you got to the point of proposing that we take a new

look at a type of ammunition that had been exempted as you said, for a period of time. it's used in a different way today. that's the reason for the relook correct? >> senator, i think it's important to remember that this 30-day period for public comment on a framework involves additional exemptions. the classification for that particular round which is military surplus which is 5.56, 62 grain steel core following into the parameters of leopa's armor piercing was given, and it's had an exemption for 30 years. it's been on the market for that long. >> right. >> it's been available to folks for 30 years or more. i think the challenge for us separate and apart of how do we

grant exemptions going forward, and given recent experience that's probably not going to happen anytime soon, is the evolution of firearms technology, and some of the platforms, assault rifle based platforms have evolved over those 30 years, and the capabilities of those, and concealability of those. in fact, some of them that would qualify as pistol platforms creates some challenges for us. now, i do believe that this is going to take work across the board, that this is not going to be something that atf alone is going to do through a regulatory process. leopa is absolutely critical to officers' safety. i think everybody, if you're paying attention to some of the challenges there, the handgun phenomena, the crime gun phenomena, primarily pistol phenomena, but as we see more and more of the firearms that

could be classified as pistols, being able to use not just the m885 round it's a challenge for officer safety public safety. bottom line, you know, you all have an opportunity maybe to have a discussion that we would gladly help you with on leopa. because it was passed in '86 and a lot has happened in the last 30 years. >> i appreciate it. my time's expired. i would just point out the genesis of the law, to just remind folks, this was bipartisan at the outset. and as we perfect it and as you mentioned, this rule contemplates exempting far more types of ammunition that involves prohibiting. we should remember the bipartisan spirit in which we began this effort, hopefully we can regain that. thank you very much, mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> could i say one word to

senator roseman? this goes to heroin. i didn't know when you were leaving. i think there's a real bipartisan interest on this committee around this issue. doj is supposed to give me -- not give me, excuse me that was the old days, give the committee -- [ laughter ] -- a report an interim report. because we asked for a task force. when we get that we'll have a staff briefing. so we can all be up to date. and really have a concerted effort in it. i just wanted to say that. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank the witnesses. i apologize for missing your testimony. i was chairing my own subcommittee. i also want to thank you for your service to our country. we are extremely proud of the work done by the criminal justice information systems that the fbi facility in clarksburg. over the years by oh metrics has been exceedingly useful to the fbi as partners in the law enforcement and intelligence

communities. not only to authenticate an individual's identity to confirm that you are who you say you are, but more importantly to figure out who someone is by either a fingerprint left on a murder weapon or a bomb for example. typically by scanning a data base of records for a match. the fbi has been a leader in biometrics. since the '90s, the fbi has been saving the american taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by defraying the cost of running, and modernizing its fingerprint repository formerly known as iafis. but this budget seems to jeopardize those efforts. it includes an offset of $120 million for this important function. director, can you tell me -- can you tell this committee what the impact would be and how this reduction could affect fbi's ability to invest in the latest biometric technology, including facial recognition, iris scans and dna, just to name a few? >> thank you senator.

during my opening statement, i was bragging a little bit about my folks. because they are a hidden gem in the fbi. and i believe they are the frame upon which hangs all of law enforcement, the information we share, the identities we share, the dna, all of it goes through that great facility there. and i'm very excited. we're going to open very shortly a biometrics facility with dod that's going to make this country even safer. so it's a -- i told them when i visited them i said, people don't know how cool you are here in west virginia. and that's part of a testament to the quality of your work. you do it so well, that everybody takes it for granted. so very excited about them. they know how much i love and admire their work. i don't think it will have an impact. there is an offset in the budget that is about moneys that sit in -- additional moneys in the account for fee for service. the statute restricts my use of that funds in certain ways, as i

understand it. i'm looking for ways to use it consistent with the law. but my understanding is, this $125 million, the loss of that will not affect next generation identification, the dna database, any of the great work we're doing out there. it's simply some extra dough that came in over time of fees being paid that we can use to invest in additional information systems. but even if we're not able to, it's not going to affect the rest of the work. >> well, that's good. because i think the modernization is something that is ongoing changing forever. we're extremely pleased to have the cegis folks and fbi in clarksburg. it's been a wonderful addition to our community. and we know how great it is out there, too. so i appreciate that. i'd like to ask director jones a question, because you also have a facility in west virginia. >> wonderful facility. >> yes. and there's an aspect of the budget that i'm pleased about and would like to ask you regarding the investment of a proposed atf tracing facility in martinsburg.

i think this would be an amplification of what's already existing there. but you're requesting an $8.1 million increase for the facility for a mixture of personnel, and equipment software upgrades. can you discuss the work that's being done at the tracing center there and why this increase would be justified? >> i'm very -- like the director, i love our facility. because -- in west virginia, because it does such critical work to what we do. we have our national firearms nfa branch there that processes the ever-increasing number of requests for nsa licenses. that's primarily been driven by silencers. we've got almost a quarter of a million requests last year. and so that $8.1 million will do two things. one, it will allow us to add permanently ten more legal instrument examiners that are crucial to processing the nfa. and we're making progress on

cutting down the time. and it will give us money for contractors. because about half of our work force in martinsburg is contractors. not only do nfa licensing, they also do our crime gun tracing. we have a violent crime analysis branch and our firearms technology branch is out there. so that's kind of the heart of our gun work at atf is out there in that martinsburg facility. >> okay. good. that's good news. i certainly would be supportive of that. i think i'm out of time. could i just make a quick comment? >> go ahead. >> i missed the discussion on heroin and the ranking member mentioned that. and i'm assuming that in reflection of the rise in heroin, the rise in heroin overdoses, younger people being affected by this, even a state like -- a small state like west virginia, this is having some devastating effects. i certainly would love to be a part of some preventive

measures, either at the supply or demand side to try to stop what we see happening, and destroying lives all across this country. i want to be supportive of those efforts. thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you all very much for your service. and for being here this morning. i guess i want to start with administrator len hart. i want to follow up on some comments, so many of the other comments we've heard about the heroin epidemic around this country. we're seeing it in new hampshire and northern new england. in new hampshire in the last ten years, we've seen people admitted to state treatment programs increase 90% for heroin use, 500% for prescription drug use, and so it is truly an

epidemic. one police chief described it to me this way. he said, when we have someone shooting up at 2:00 in the afternoon in the parking lot of target, in bedford, which is a very upscale community, we know we've got a problem. so we have a problem. and what i'm interested in is not which lanes people are in i'm interested in what coordination is going on. between agencies. and specifically one of the things -- i've done a series of round tables, meeting with law enforcement, treatment officials, and the medical community in new hampshire because one of the things that we have heard there is that the heroin abuse is the result of prescription drug abuse. and that one place where there is a breakdown in how we address this issue has to do with prescribing. and the medical community needs

to be very involved in that discussion. and as far as i can tell at the national level, we're not doing as much as we should be doing. so can i ask you or anyone on the panel, i suppose, director comby, you might have some thoughts about this, but what are you doing to coordinate the efforts that your agency is engaging in, and how are you getting out information about those activities to local communities? the availability of grant moneys, what resources are available in local communities. >> i'll start with that. yes, the northeast especially with the exploding prescription drug problem comes -- what follows is a heroin problem. so what we've done, and have done very well with our state and local partners in the northeast is form -- we've got

tactical diversion squads, of diversion, investigators, dea agents intel analysts, state and local officers, and they become the teams that are responsible for not only the prescription drug problem, but also that rise in heroin abuse in those communities. >> and excuse me for interrupting, but are you working with the medical community? and with some of our medical colleges around the whole prescribing challenge? because one of the issues is that doctors are really not given a lot of guidance on how to prescribe because it's a variable issue depending on the disease, on the individual. >> that's correct. it's the one drug problem that isn't just about law enforcement. so there are a number of efforts. we have been at the table with medical professionals.

we have gone out we have had seminars, we've worked with our u.s. attorneys to bring the medical community the law enforcement community, treatment prevention people together. a number of those have actually occurred in the northeast. but overprescribing is one of the major problems. and we're working with hhs. you know they're -- the

that's our dcfa part of the budget that handles diversion control. with that budget, it will allow us to continue to do outreach. part of that outreach is working with the medical associations getting the word out. we put a number of things on our website. we give them training manuals, a number of things. the budget for 2016, if we were to get that money, that will allow us to continue that outreach, as well as bring 50 additional diversion investigators and 50 additional special agents into the program. enforcement is just one piece. we feel that the public outreach is very important. and with our 66 diversion squads around the country allowing

them additional resources to be able to go out and reach the medical community is one of our priorities. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and ranking member mccullski and the panel for your services and the men and women you lead. i want to ride on this line of questioning with administrator lenhart. reports indicate that the dea is investigating drug diversion from a veterans affairs medical facility in wisconsin, which is also the -- the facility is also the subject of a broader va investigation into opioid and benzodiazepine prescribing practices and management at the medical facility.

of course the va is itself a federal agency. and the possibility that illicit drug use and sale may be fueled in part by the federal government. this is extremely troubling. i look forward to discussing your investigation into the facility during your closed session. but i have two related questions for this session. has the dea identified va medical facilities as a potential source of illicit opioid drug distribution? >> i'm not, in this setting not going to be able to talk specifically about tomea. but i will say in general, that we're concerned with any medical facility that is contributing to

diversion and contributing to prescription drug abuse. we have the authorities, we have regulatory authorities, and administrative authorities that we have used, and we will use, whether it's a va facility or not. so we share your concerns especially when this is regarding our treatment for our veterans. >> you noted in your testimony that prescription drug abuse, and particularly prescription of opioids has become a national crisis. the cdc's reported that more than 16,000 people died using prescription opioids. that's about 37% of all drug overdose deaths in the united states in the calendar year 2013.

experts see a direct connection between this and the increase in heroin use and overdose deaths. we've heard some of my colleagues cite local numbers and tragedies in this regard and wisconsin in milwaukee county alone we saw 72% increase in heroin related deaths from 2013 to 2014. just one year. so i know you've been asked this in many different ways but what is your overall strategy, your overarching strategy that we need to know about for cracking down on prescription drug diversion, and heroin abuse, and does your budget request include sufficient funding to meaningfully reduce drug diversion in heroin abuse? >> thank you senator.

yes, if you support the budget request, it will allow us to continue at the dea to prioritize heroin and prescription drug abuse. we can't separate the two. you're absolutely correct, that the prescription drug use has led to a heroin epidemic. the funds that we're asking for in the 2016 budget allows us to do a number of things. one is, continue expansion of our tactical diversion squads. those are the squads that are going to be able to go into communities, not just our big cities, but we've actually started to move these out into smaller cities, and pockets of the country that have had severe prescription drug problems. we're working those problems and we're also able to both on our diversion side and our enforcement side work on those organizations that are moving -- taking advantage of the addiction in these areas, and

are moving drugs into those communities. we're working with our state and local partners and federal partners, take off those distribution organizations. at the same time, with our diversion control personnel, we're using them to use every tool we've got in the toolbox, regulatory authority administrative authority, we have pumped up the regulatory side to make sure that they are out doing cyclical investigations and we are focusing on the entire stream. so from the manufacture to the distributors, pharmacies, doctors, you name it. a piece of that that we also are concentrating on is educating the public. there are certain tools that doctors should be using, pharmacists. it's important for them, the pdmps, we now have 49 states

that have either passed laws for pdmps, or have them in use, and we understand missouri is the last state has just passed, or there's a bill being looked at. using every tool to include disposal getting the drugs out of the medicine cabinet has been very important in this fight. so it's not just enforcement. it's not just the outreach. it's hitting at each and every level, to be able to take care of the prescription drug problem. and we've seen over the last year, year and a half, it level off. but that heroin problem continues to rise. and now our international folks play a huge role here. because the majority of the heroin that is hitting your streets is coming from mexico. and it's being trafficked by those same organizations that are bringing coke meth

marijuana, you name it, to your communities. these are the same organizations for the drug organizations. and we have partnered with our partners in mexico who now have done over the last year, have really taken a look at the heroin problem. they see the role that they play. and we have actually done some very good work together with them to focus on the problem. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and i would just like to follow on some of the questions that you've been fielding, administer administrator and sigh how grateful i am for your focus. highly potent, inexpensive widely available heroin is now killing many people in my hometown of will whing tonmingtonwilmington delaware. it is touching all backgrounds, all income levels, all communities, and we are eager to work in partnership with you. and with all of federal law enforcement in finding more effective models for