During a House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) questioned AG Pam Bondi about threats facing the United States following U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.
00:00Thank you. Mr. Gonzalez. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you, Attorney General, for being here today.
00:05You know, when the DOJ submitted their budget, the United States was a nation at peace, and now we're a nation at war.
00:11So my questions are going to be focused on national security.
00:14How many Iranian sleeper cells do we suspect are in the United States?
00:20Congressman, I can't talk about that in this setting, but what I can tell you is I know Homeland Security.
00:27I know the FBI. They are focusing on doing everything we can to keep our nation safe, and they will continue to do that.
00:40Yeah, it's a frightening time in which we live right now, but President Trump is committed to keeping all Americans safe, and we look forward to working with you on that.
00:50Great. Thank you. How many active cases of threats to the homeland does DOJ currently have open as of today?
00:59Countless. Countless. I can't talk about those in this setting either. Obviously, anything pending regarding national security issues.
01:09But there is not a day that goes by that we don't discuss the issues that you just brought up with me at the Department of Justice.
01:19But I also know that our counterparts at DOD, HSI, the State Department, and all of our agencies are working together to make America safe and, in turn, keep our world safe.
01:32This is very much on my mind. I spent 20 years in the military. I spent five years in Iraq and Afghanistan.
01:38These aren't, of course, these aren't dots on a board. And, you know, not only American lives abroad, what we saw today are at risk, but it's also American lives here at home.
01:47And I don't want us looking back and going, what if. I want us to, as much as we can, get ahead of it, to give you the resources, the instruments that you need to go out and make sure that we're preventing things from happening, not waiting until after the fact.
02:01There was a report, you know, of over 1,500 Iranian nationals that have entered the country illegally over the last several years.
02:09Do we know out of those over 1,500 how many of those have been convicted of a crime?
02:14Yeah, I don't have the number of the conviction, but it's well over 1,000 have entered. Yes, I don't know if it's quite up to 1,500, but yes, it's well over 1,000 have entered our country.
02:25And I can tell you we are on high alert and everyone is looking at that very closely.
02:31Just some things just don't line up as far as us. I see the world is on fire now more than ever before, right?
02:38Once again, when this budget was submitted, we were a nation at peace and now things have changed.
02:43I look at this, I see law enforcement and national security has a reduction of 645 million, over 1,500 positions.
02:51You know, the notes I have, the FBI will implement cost-saving measures.
02:55The largest decreases will be in criminal, cyber response and service branches and national security branches.
03:02FBI's criminal investigation, cyber and international operations will reduce resources and support various investigations and partnership.
03:10Additionally, the counterintelligence, counterterrorism, threat screening and weapons of mass destruction programs experience reductions.
03:20I mention those things because those, in my eyes, those are the programs that we need more resources to, more manpower to.
03:28And not everything's about money. I mean, you've alluded to this.
03:30A lot of times it's about being more efficient with the things that you're doing.
03:34And I'd love to hear your thoughts on some of the way we're looking to get ahead of any problem sets.
03:39Thank you. And we can do more with less. Of course, you can always do more with more.
03:43But we're doing more with less. We're prioritizing. We're refocusing.
03:47And the budget request supports $7.5 billion for national security.
03:54Also, that's why it's very important, I believe, for all of you to support Big Beautiful Bill.
03:59The one big, beautiful bill gives us a lot of additional funding at the Department of Justice to carry out our mission.
04:09The Senate version gives us $11.82 billion.
04:14Currently, the House version gives us $3.3 billion.
04:17Hopefully, they will come to a compromise in there.
04:21But that's where it will truly help Department of Justice combat all of the issues that you brought up and many others.
04:30And thank you for your service to our country, especially now.
04:33I didn't realize that you had served in Iraq. Thank you.
04:36Yeah, no, of course. And thank you for saying that.
04:39I mean, resources matter. And the Big Beautiful Bill, we look forward to getting that to the president's desk as soon as possible.
04:45Once again, to give you the resources and the tools you need to get ahead of these problems that we see so clearly coming through.
04:53I represent nearly half of the southern border. The border is on my mind quite a bit.
04:58One of the questions I have, I focus a lot on convicted criminal illegal aliens.
05:02Do we know how many illegal aliens have been convicted of a crime in the United States?
05:07Yeah, I can get you those specific numbers.
05:09I don't know, but many, I can tell you, our prosecutors are indicting and charging illegal aliens constantly, violent crimes, rapes, thefts, many crimes throughout this country.
05:24And yes, our borders were were wide open.
05:27And Congressman, I, back in September, I went to our border at Yuma, Arizona, not in Texas, but in Yuma.
05:36And at our border, what I saw firsthand, we saw IDs just dropped from every country you can imagine.
05:48El Salvador, Venezuela, China, every country you can imagine.
05:53And, of course, I didn't see Iranian driver's license, but they are coming into our country.
05:59Yes, we know that's documented, but just walking into our country.
06:03And that's why Homeland Security, that's why ICE, that's why the FBI, that's why all of our agencies, DEA, ATF, are all working hand-in-hand to combat that and to keep Americans safe.
06:16And that is what President Trump is committed to doing.
