ms. leonhart? >> thank you. chairman sensenbrenner, ranking member scott -- >> could you, please, pull the microphone a little closer to you? >> chairman and members of the which, it is my honor to appear before you to discuss your oversight of the dea and our role in protecting crime, protect america from drugs and increasing our nation's security. bure highlighting dea's recent accomplishments i want to thank you for your continued support of our essential law enforcement mission. your partnership is especially appreciated in what we face. today a mall mark of our many trafficking organizations is the increasing number of their operations. traffickers are using the latest technology to conduct daily business from sophisticated communication devices and services to laundering money through electronic value transfers. they use innovative transportation methods. moving drugs in everything from planes to tunnels, from wooden canoes to fully submerced submarines. we cannot let up or we will never catch up. dea part

ms. leonhart, welcome.wanted to ask you about reports that dea field agents in southern arizona were unaware of the gun walking being done by atf. tony coulson, the dea agent in charge of southern arizona during fast and furious said that many dea field agents knew that the atf was walking guns to mexico, but their supervisors told them to back off when they objected. have you investigated who within the dea knew what about fast and furious, and why they did so little to stop gun walking to mexico? >> thank you, sir. as i mentioned earlier, those statements, as i understand from mr. coulson, were actually recanted. he said he was misquoted and he has recanted that. we are very excited, and we are waiting on these results from oig. because prior to mr. coulson's statements, we were not aware that, that dea was aware -- dea agents in arizona were unaware of the tactics that atf was using. so the investigation is being done by oig. that should answer. we have made all our people available. that should answer t

ms. leonhart for coming. we look forward to seeing you come back here. you might look forward to seeing us again. might not do that. but thank you for your testimony today. without objection, all members will have five legislative days to submit to the chair additional written questions for the witnesses which will move forward and ask the witness to respond as promptly as they can so that their answers may be made a part of the record. without objection, all members will have five legislative days to submit additional materials for inclusion into the record and with that i thank ms. leonhart and without objection this hearing is adjourned. >>> next a discuss on the progressive movement and the 2012 national campaigns. then a forum on what issues will be facing voters this november. after that, a house judiciary hearing on renewing the fisa act. on "newsmakers" minnesota congressman john klein looks at the division in congress over issues such as student loans, education and job training. "newsmakers" sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on cspan.

ms. leonhart, for a very comprehensive statement. let me use my five minutes to try to pack inasmuch as i can. first let's get the issue of daniel chong, who as a 23-year-old who apparently was forgotten in a holding cell in san diego after a decision was made not to charge him. has anybody been disciplined as a result of this? >> thank you for asking about that. that incident, mr. chairman. i'm deeply troubled by the incident. d.e.a. is deeply troubled by the incident. the incident was a mistake. it wasn't malicious and it wasn't intentional. and during our 39-year history as an agency, we are not aware anything like that has ever happened. and like you the entire agency was shocked by what happened and no one's more shocked than the agents that were actually the task force officers involved in the incident. immediately upon learning about the incident, i soared add review of our detention policies . we are currently fully cooperating with the office of the inspector general for department of justice, and they are conducting the inv

ms. leonhart, welcome. i wanted to ask you about reports that dea field agents in southern arizona were aware of the gun walking being done by atf? colson, the dea agent in charge during "fast and furious" said that many dea field agents knew that the atf was walking guns to mexico but their supervisors told them to back off when they objected. have you investigated who within the dea knew what about "fast and furious" and why they did so little to stop gun walking to mexico? >> thank you, sir. as i mentioned earlier, those statements, as i understand it from mr. colson, were actually recanted. he -- said he was misquoted and he's recanted that. we are very excited and -- we are waiting on these results from the oig, because prior to mr. colson's statements, we were not aware that -- that dea was aware -- that dea agents in ars were aware of the tactics that atf was using. so the investigation is being done by o ig. that should answer. we've made all of our people available. that should answer the question

ms. leonhart, the research center has estimated that any incarceration rate starts creating diminishing returns and over 500 per 100,000 becomes actually counterproductive. you're adding to the crime rather than detracting from it. our incarceration rate in the united states is over 700 some per 100,000. in minority communities in some states, it's as high as 5,000 per 100,000. what role does dea policy play in overincarceration in the racial disparity and what is dea doing about it? >> thank you, ranking member. i can tell you that the drug enforcement administration, our mission is really go after the world's biggest and baddest drug traffickers. we spend our resources, our work hours going after the largest drug traffickers. the sources, the supply, the heads of organizations, the heads of drug cartels, the heads of trafficking organizations, transportation organizations, those that most impact the drug supply on the united states. for instance -- >> well, has any dea policy contributed to over-incarceration and the racial disparity? >> well, there are federal drug laws that dea enforces. yo

ms. leonhart. >> well -- thank you, sir. it was my impression that we could devote the rest of the next couple hours to a discussion between you and her about what you raised in your opening statement. so i don't -- i don't understand with a -- two, four, five six -- yes, sir? >> the chair notes from years and years that the current chair enforces the five-minute rule on himself as well as on everybody else. >> well, that's what makes it more difficult. i mean, that's the problem that i'm raising. with six members here and probably more that come, under the five-minute rule, there's no way she can ever get to the any kind of a cogent response to e the -- to the issues that were raised, some of which are very serious. so i leave that for us to discuss further as we go on. i'm very interested in this subje subject, because i started off my career on the subcommittee on crime when i first was able to get on the house judiciary committee. and this subject that, about drugs is extremely, extremely critical, and i'm looking forwar

ms. leonhart. what is your budget? approximately triet >> 2 million. >> i'm sorry, $2 billion -- >> about $2 billion. and then we have additional with the account for the diversion program so the total budget -- >> over $2 billion. did you get any confiscation money? did you get any money for the confiscation of properties? >> more talking about the forfeiture? there is money that the department of justice gives. estimate how much money do you get from that? do you have any idea at all? >> if you give me a moment. >> what is your number one drug you are fighting what is your priority? >> our priority right now is pharmaceutical drugs. >> what is your second priority? >> we don't prioritize specific drugs because the organizations that we are going after or polydrug. stomachs and you're not going after the drugs for the harm they do that because the affected has on these organizations and you're going after the organizations? is that right? >> we are going after the organizations that are having the most impact on our c

ms. michelle leonhart. it is my impression that we could devote the rest of the next couple hours to a discussion between you and her about what you raised in your opening statement. i don't understand -- [talking over each other] >> yes, sir. >> the chair knows from years and years that the current chair enforces the five-minute rule on himself as well as on everybody else. >> well, that is what makes it more difficult. i mean, that is the problem that i am raising. the problem i am raising with six members here and probably more to come under the five-minute rule. there is no way she can ever get to any kind of response to the issues that were raised, some of which are very serious. i will leave that to discuss further as we go on. >> i am very interested in the subject. because i started off my career on the subcommittee on crime when i first was able to get on the house judiciary committee. the subject about drugs is extremely, extremely critical, and i'm looking forward to a discussion, and i have no p

ms. jackson lee. >> thank the chairman and the ranking member, administrative leonhart, thank you for your appearance here today. having been in phoenix a couple of weeks ago, let me express my appreciation for the service of the drug enforcement agency officers, their professionalism, and as well the work that is done in houston, texas, where we are the center point, if you will, for a number of issues dealing with gun trafficking and as well the confluence, if you will, of money, drugs, and guns. and so we're well aware of the importance of collaboration. i'm going to ask a series of quick questions, and appreciate helping me get as much on the record as i possibly can. what is the importance of collaboration between the major federal law enforcement, i use as an example fbi, dea, atf, and be others along with those that i represent on homeland security? what's the importance of that? >> well, ma'am, let me start by saying that state and local participation has been dea's bread and butter for the 39 years we've been an agency, and you combine that partnership with the partnerships that we've develo