TRANSCRIPT OF REMARKS BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FY '97 BUDGET ANNOUNCEMENT Tuesday, March 19, 1996 GOOD MORNING. THIS BUDGET IS ABOUT BUILDING ON PROGRESS -- IN FIGHTING DRUGS, IN FIGHTING CRIME, IN FIGHTING TERRORISM, AND IN FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. WE ARE ASKING CONGRESS TODAY FOR $18.6 BILLION IN FISCAL YEAR 1997 -- A 13.7 PERCENT INCREASE OVER LAST YEAR'S BUDGET. THIS INCREASE UNDERSCORES PRESIDENT CLINTON'S COMMITMENT TO FIGHTING CRIME -- EVEN AS HE SUBMITS A PLAN TO BALANCE THE BUDGET IN SEVEN YEARS. IN THE THREE YEARS SINCE I CAME TO WASHINGTON, I BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE MADE REAL PROGRESS IN BRINGING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO THE STATUS OF FULL PARTNER IN FIGHTING CRIME AND UPHOLDING THE RULE OF LAW WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT: þ THE 1994 CRIME BILL WILL PUT 100,000 POLICE ON THE STREETS, IF CONGRESS WILL KEEP ITS PLEDGE. þ THE ANTI-VIOLENT CRIME INITIATIVE HAS BROUGHT FEDERAL AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT CLOSER THAN EVER AND IT IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE. þ OUR BORDER CONTROL EFFORTS ARE FINALLY TURNING THE SOUTHWEST BORDER AROUND, AND WE ARE ENFORCING WORKSITE SANCTIONS AND CRIMINAL ALIEN REMOVALS AT RECORD LEVELS. IN THREE YEARS, WE HAVE MADE SO MUCH PROGRESS. OUR CHALLENGE NOW IS TO BUILD ON THAT PROGRESS. FIGHTING DRUGS BUILDING ON THIS STRONG FOUNDATION WE MUST CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN OUR COMMITMENT TO FIGHTING DRUG TRAFFICKING, DRUG ABUSE, AND THE CYCLE OF CRIME AND DRUGS. THIS BUDGET PROVIDES $700 MILLION IN NEW DRUG ENFORCEMENT RESOURCES -- AN 11 PERCENT INCREASE OVERALL, WHICH INCLUDES AN ADDITIONAL 18 PERCENT BOOST IN DEA ENFORCEMENT RESOURCES. THAT MEANS þ 60 NEW DEA AGENTS ON THE STREET; þ A SOUTHWEST BORDER DRUG INITIATIVE THAT WILL DEPLOY ANOTHER 54 NEW DEA AGENTS, 70 NEW FBI AGENTS AND 91 NEW ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEYS -- TO INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE MAJOR MEXICAN DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING ALONG THE SOUTHWEST BORDER AND TO HELP CONTROL PUBLIC CORRUPTION; þ A NEW DEA OFFICE IN SOUTH AFRICA TO BEGIN A NEW EFFORT TO FIGHT INTERNATIONAL HEROIN TRAFFICKING, IN A REGION THAT IS BECOMING A MAJOR CENTER FOR SMUGGLING HEROIN INTO THE UNITED STATES; AND FINALLY þ ADDITIONAL COMPUTERS, COMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT, AIRCRAFT, VEHICLES, AND LABORATORIES. BUT WE MUST DO MORE. AND THIS BUDGET WILL HELP PROVIDE $100 MILLION TO LOCALITIES TO BUILD DRUG COURTS, WHICH HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL IN HELPING NON-VIOLENT OFFENDERS BREAK THE CYCLE OF DRUGS. CONGRESS NEEDS TO KEEP THE PROMISE IT MADE IN 1994, AND FUND THESE DRUG COURTS. FIGHTING CRIME IN PART BECAUSE OF THE NEW COPS ON THE BEAT AND OUR ANTI -VIOLENT CRIME INITIATIVE, VIOLENT CRIME FELL IN 1994 AND AGAIN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1995. THIS BUDGET CAN HELP US SUSTAIN THAT PROGRESS -- AND COME TO GRIP WITH THE GROWING PROBLEM OF YOUTH CRIME IN AMERICA. STEP ONE IS AN UNAMBIGUOUS COMMITMENT TO KEEP THE PRESIDENT'S PROMISE AND TO FUND 100,000 COMMUNITY POLICE OFFICERS FOR THE STREETS OF THIS NATION. OUR BUDGET WOULD PROVIDE $1.98 BILLION TO HELP US HIRE ANOTHER 19,000 POLICE OFFICERS -- BRINGING US TO NEARLY 68,OOO IF CONGRESS KEEPS THE PROMISE OF THE 1994 CRIME ACT. STEP TWO IS A CRACKDOWN ON THE CONSEQUENCES AND CAUSES OF YOUTH AND GANG VIOLENCE -- WITH MORE THAN $30 MILLION TO PAY FOR COMMUNITY BASED SOLUTIONS, THE FBI'S SAFE STREETS TASK FORCES, AND AN EXPANSION OF THE OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAM'S COMPREHENSIVE GANG PROGRAM. STEP THREE IS TO KEEP OUR PROMISE TO FIGHT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN WITH $189 MILLION FOR PROJECTS LIKE SPECIAL UNITS MADE UP OF LOCAL PROSECUTORS AND POLICE TO DEAL WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND EMERGENCY ROOMS WITH SPECIAL CAPACITY TO FOCUS ON SUCH INCIDENTS. FIGHTING TERRORISM AT HOME AND ABROAD, WE FACE THE TERRORIST THREAT. THIS BUDGET PLEDGES NEW RESOURCES TO HELP PREVENT TERRORISTS ACTS AND TO MAKE TERRORISTS PAY FOR WHAT THEY DO. THE BUDGET FUNDS 108 NEW FBI AGENTS TO MAINTAIN OUR AGGRESSIVE COUNTERTERRORISM INITIATIVES AT HOME AND ABROAD. WE HAVE ALSO REQUESTED $9.7 MILLION FOR THE COUNTERTERRORISM FUND ESTABLISHED IN RESPONSE TO THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING. THE FUND IS USED TO REIMBURSE OTHER AGENCIES FOR THE COSTS OF COUNTERING, INVESTIGATING, AND PROSECUTING DOMESTIC AND/OR INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, AND TO FINANCE REWARD PAYMENTS. THE MONEY CAN ALSO BE USED TO RESTORE OFFICES DESTROYED OR DAMAGED IN THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING OR OTHER DOMESTIC OR INTERNATIONAL ACTS OF TERRORISM. FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FINALLY, WE HAVE MADE HISTORIC PROGRESS IN SECURING OUR BORDERS AND UPHOLDING OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS AFTER YEARS OF NEGLECT. WE ARE SEEING REAL RESULTS. BUT AGAIN, WE MUST BUILD ON THE PROGRESS WE HAVE MADE. THIS BUDGET PROVIDES A 16 PERCENT INCREASE FOR INS AND CONTINUES OUR COMMITMENT TO A FIRM AND EQUITABLE IMMIGRATION POLICY THAT ENFORCES THE RULE OF LAW AT OUR BORDERS AND IN THE AMERICAN WORKPLACE. THAT'S A MORE THAN 100 PERCENT INCREASE SINCE 1993, WHEN WE BEGAN TO IMPLEMENT PRESIDENT CLINTON'S COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION STRATEGY. þ ON THE BORDER, WE WILL BE ABLE TO HIRE 700 MORE BORDER PATROL AGENTS, 150 NEW IMMIGRATION INSPECTORS AND PURCHASE MORE EQUIPMENT SUCH AS BORDER SENSORS AND INFRARED SCOPES -- TO CONTINUE AND BUILD ON SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS LIKE OPERATION HOLD -THE-LINE, OPERATION SAFEGUARD AND OPERATION GATEKEEPER. þ AS I MENTIONED A MINUTE AGO, OUR SOUTHWEST BORDER DRUG INITIATIVE WILL DEPLOY NEW DEA AGENTS, NEW FBI AGENTS AND NEW ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEYS TO INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE MAJOR DRUG TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING ALONG THE BORDER. þ WITH NEARLY $6 MILLION IN NEW RESOURCES, WE WILL BE ABLE TO STRENGTHEN OUR EFFORTS TO CRACK DOWN ON BORDER CORRUPTION. þ AND WITH THIS BUDGET WE WILL STEP UP ENFORCEMENT AND SANCTIONS AGAINST EMPLOYERS WHO HIRE ILLEGAL ALIENS, EXPAND OUR EFFORTS TO REMOVE CRIMINAL ALIENS, AND HELP REIMBURSE STATES FOR THE COST OF INCARCERATING ILLEGAL ALIENS. CONCLUSION OUR BUDGET WILL DO MUCH MORE. WE ARE ASKING FOR FUNDING TO CONTINUE TO CREATE A NATIONAL SYSTEM TO STOP ILLEGAL GUN SALES, TO IMPROVE FORENSIC TESTING, TO PAY FOR MORE PRISON CELLS, TO FIGHT HEALTH CARE FRAUD, TO STOP SCAMS AGAINST SENIORS, AND TO CONTINUE REINVENTING OUR GOVERNMENT BY SPEEDING UP THE PRISONER BOOKING PROCESS AND AUTOMATING OUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION SYSTEM. BUT THE CORE OF THIS BUDGET WILL HELP US FOCUS ON OUR CORE PRIORITIES -- DRUGS, VIOLENT CRIME, TERRORISM AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. WE HAVE MADE REAL PROGRESS FIGHTING THESE PROBLEMS IN THESE THREE YEARS. AND NOW, WITH THE HELP OF THE CONGRESS, WE CAN CONTINUE THAT EFFORT.