Source: United States Department of Justice News
Remarks as Delivered
Good morning, Chair Durbin, Ranking Member Graham, and distinguished members of this Committee.
Every day, the 115,000 employees of the Justice Department work tirelessly to fulfill our mission: to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.
Every day, our FBI, ATF, and DEA agents, and our Deputy U.S. Marshals put their lives on the line to disrupt threats and respond to crises. Every day, Department employees counter complex threats to our national security. They fiercely protect the civil rights of our citizens. They pursue accountability for environmental harms. They prosecute crimes that victimize workers, consumers, and taxpayers. And they defend our country’s democratic institutions.
And every day, in everything they do, the employees of the Justice Department adhere to and uphold the rule of law that is the foundation of our system of government.
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss our work.
First, Upholding the Rule of Law
When I began my tenure as Attorney General, I said it would be my mission to reaffirm the norms that have guided the Justice Department for nearly 50 years.
I did so because those norms matter now more than ever to our democracy.
The health of our democracy requires that the Justice Department treat like cases alike, and that we apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution.
It requires that, as much as possible, we speak through our work and our filings in court, so that we do not jeopardize the viability of our investigations and the civil liberties of our citizens.
And the survival of our democracy requires that we stand firmly against attempts to undermine the Rule of Law both at home and abroad.
I am proud of the work the Department has done on each of those fronts.
We are strengthening the norms that protect the Department’s independence and integrity.
We are securing convictions for a wide range of criminal conduct related to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
We are disrupting, investigating, and prosecuting violence and threats of violence targeting those who serve the public.
And we are working closer than ever with our Ukrainian partners in defense of democracy, justice, and the Rule of Law. We will continue to do so for as long as it takes.
Second, Keeping our Country Safe
The Justice Department is using every resource at our disposal to keep our country safe.
We are working to counter, disrupt, and prosecute threats posed by nation-states, terrorist groups, radicalized individuals, and cyber criminals.
And together with our partners across the country, we are continuing to combat the rise in violent crime that began in 2020.
All 94 of our United States Attorneys’ Offices are working alongside their state and local partners to pursue district-specific violent crime reduction strategies.
The Department’s grantmaking components are providing financial assistance to local law enforcement agencies. At the same time, they are supporting community-led violence intervention efforts.
And our law enforcement components are working with state, local, Tribal, and territorial counterparts to apprehend the most dangerous fugitives and seize illegal drugs and illegal guns.
For example, last year DEA and its partners seized enough fentanyl-laced pills and powder to kill every single American.
We are also aggressively prosecuting the crimes that inflict economic harm on the American people.
We are prioritizing the prosecution of schemes that impact older Americans and vulnerable populations, as well as schemes involving pandemic and procurement fraud.
In our corporate criminal enforcement, we are prioritizing and securing individual accountability.
And we are vigorously enforcing our antitrust laws. Our enforcement actions have already resulted in the blocking or abandonment of mergers that would have stifled competition and harmed consumers.
Third, Protecting Civil Rights
Protecting civil rights was a founding purpose of the Justice Department, and it remains an urgent priority.
The Department’s storied Civil Rights Division has been at the forefront of our efforts to protect the right to vote; ensure constitutional policing; and enforce federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in all its forms.
But now, protecting civil rights is also the responsibility of every Justice Department employee, every single day.
We are working across components to combat hate crimes and improve hate crimes reporting.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe and Casey, the Department has pulled together to protect reproductive freedom under federal law.
And the Department recognizes that communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities often bear the brunt of the harm caused by environmental crime, pollution, and climate change.
So, we are prioritizing cases that will have the greatest impact on the communities most burdened by those harms.
I am proud of the work of the Department’s employees, the work they have done to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.
The Department’s career workforce has demonstrated extraordinary resilience after years of unprecedented challenges.
They have conducted themselves with the utmost integrity, without regard to any partisan or other inappropriate influences.
And they have done their work with a singular commitment to the public we all serve.
The employees of the Justice Department are dedicated, skilled, and patriotic public servants.
It is my honor to represent them here today.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to your questions.