00:00Thank you Mr. Chairman and welcome Attorney General Bondi. Tens of
00:04thousands of public servants at the Department of Justice and its bureaus
00:08have historically worked very hard and continue to work hard to protect public
00:13safety and uphold the rule of law in our country. Yet I must take this
00:18opportunity to express my very strong concerns about this current
00:23administration's lack of respect for the rule of law. Over the past five months
00:29we have seen numerous examples of this administration outright breaking the law.
00:34The administration continues to illegally hold withhold billions of dollars in
00:41funding that Congress appropriated including hundreds of recently terminated
00:46justice grants that had been previously been awarded through open and
00:51competitive processes. The administration is violating the federal law that
00:56mandates that the Office of Management and Budget publish apportionments and show
01:02the public how and when federal agencies are spending appropriated funds. The
01:08Justice Department has begun illegally restoring the gun possession rights of
01:13convicted felons and domestic abusers. It's allowing the sale of forced reset
01:20trigger devices without a background check. These are devices that effectively convert
01:26regular firearms into machine guns which I fear will only make mass shootings in the
01:32United States more numerous and deadly. More than 1,500 individuals involved in the
01:40January 6th attack on the Capitol were pardon or granted commutations of sentences. The
01:46president's new appointee as pardon attorney Ed Martin previously raised money to help defend some of the
01:53most violent of these individuals, people who assaulted police officers. Some of the
01:59pardoned January 6th defendants have subsequently been arrested, charged, or
02:04sentenced for other crimes. Under this president the U.S. has accepted a luxury jetliner from Qatar, very likely in
02:13violation of the emoluments cause of the Constitution. This president has also issued a series of illegal and
02:21unconstitutional executive orders, several of which are being challenged in courts right now.
02:29Presidential actions in recent months have also directed highly political and targeted investigations
02:36against law firms and individuals, including Miles Taylor, a former staffer for the House Appropriation
02:42Committee's Republican majority. Meanwhile, the administration has weakened law enforcement
02:48against political corruption by gutting the department's public integrity section, which
02:54fairly investigates and prosecutes corruption by government officials. It has dismantled task force
03:01klepto capture, which was started after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, to enforce sanctions and
03:09target oligarchs close to the Kremlin. It has also ended the FBI's foreign influence task force, which was
03:16created to defend against foreign influence operations targeting U.S. institutions. Furthermore, dozens of
03:24experienced career federal prosecutors, litigators, and FBI leaders have been fired or forced out since the
03:32start of this administration, including James Dennehy, the highly respected leader of the FBI's New York field office.
03:41I'm really concerned about what is happening in the Department of Justice, especially based on the
03:45Department's fiscal year 2026 budget request. The proposed budget weakens the country's efforts to fight crime and keep Americans safe.
03:55The proposal reduces funding for the FBI, despite the heroism of Asians like those in Minnesota, who aided in the recent capture of the deranged man accused of killing a state representative and nearly killing another.
04:11It slashes funding to fight the trafficking of fentanyl and other dangerous illegal drugs by reducing the budget of the DEA, cutting the high intensity drug trafficking areas program by more than a third,
04:25and by completely eliminating the dedicated funding for the organized crime drug enforcement task force's program.
04:33The administration also proposes a cut of more than 25% to the ATF, which will further weaken the government's ability to fight illegal gun trafficking.
04:43This budget proposal also puts further pressure on state and local budgets at a time of great economic uncertainty.
04:51The proposal cuts by more than $800 million funding to grants to local and state law enforcement for fighting and reducing crime, including a cut of more than $37 million to burn justice assistance formula grants that help our local law enforcement in every single state.
05:11I'm also concerned about the huge cuts to grants aimed at preventing and prosecuting violence against women, such as STOP grants and sexual assault services grants.
05:22The administration also proposes eliminating three valuable programs aimed at fighting and preventing hate crimes at the same time that the FBI is reporting that hate crimes are at historic highs.
05:33The administration's budget would completely eliminate the community relations service, which was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prevent and resolve conflicts in American communities.
05:46These actions and this budget proposal simply don't demonstrate a commitment to the rule of law and equal rights for all Americans.
05:54I look forward to discussing these important issues at today's hearing.
05:59Thank you for being here, and thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
