Statement of Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte Full Committee Hearing on Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice

Chairman Goodlatte: Welcome, Attorney General Lynch, to your first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee since your confirmation earlier this year.  We are pleased to have you here with us. Last week, we witnessed horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, which claimed the lives of over 120 innocent civilians and for which ISIS has taken credit.  Our thoughts and prayers remain with the French people and we mourn with them. At the same time, these terrorist attacks are a stark reminder that ISIS poses a threat to our allies and America. Yet this reality is not clearly seen by our President. Just hours before the attack, President Obama boasted that ISIS is contained. ISIS is not contained in Syria. It is not contained in Europe, and we know ISIS is continuing its campaign of propaganda here in the U.S. We know from the Paris attacks, that at least one of the perpetrators was registered as a refugee from Syria in countries through which he traveled on his way to France.  Just last month FBI Director Comey told this Committee that the U.S. refugee vetting process is not adequate to guarantee that Syrians referred for resettlement in the U.S. are not terrorists who plan to harm us.  Yet the President presses on with his plan to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees during this fiscal year alone.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this issue considering that the top counterterrorism investigator in the U.S. consistently states that the databases and law enforcement resources are not available to properly vet Syrians. Furthermore, reports indicate that despite repeated Congressional action to the contrary, this Administration thinks terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, who are cut from the same cloth as the Paris attackers and many of whom are deemed too dangerous for release to foreign countries, should be brought to the U.S.  Transferring these combatants to the United States will only increase their odds of being released inside the U.S. These public and national security concerns, coupled with unanswered questions about the cost and logistics of bringing detainees into the U.S., should cause the Administration to hit pause on its reckless decision to close the Guantanamo detention facility. Enemy combatants should remain outside of the United States where they can be detained away from our communities and without needlessly jeopardizing the safety and security of the American people. In addition to the mounting national security threats facing the Department of Justice, I would also like to focus on the need for an impartial Justice Department. Americans have become more and more suspicious that their government agencies are biased.  To understand this, one need look no further than the well-founded allegations that the IRS targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny.  After numerous appeals to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate this, last month the Justice Department announced that no criminal prosecution would be brought against IRS personnel in connection with this matter.  It is not difficult to understand why a Special Counsel was needed given that only those organizations opposed to the President’s overreaching agenda were targeted by high ranking IRS officials.  Apparently officials at the IRS share Secretary Clinton’s abhorrent notion that Republicans are the “enemy.” I am profoundly disturbed by the Administration’s handling of this matter.  At every turn, President Obama and Administration officials repeatedly and publicly undermined the investigation.  When the House of Representatives took the responsible step of calling for the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate the matter, our concerns, and those of the individuals targeted by the IRS, went unresolved by the Administration. Madam Attorney General, now that your Department has concluded its investigation, I look forward to discussing the Department’s decision with you in greater detail. Given the controversy surrounding the Administration’s mishandling of the IRS targeting scandal, it is critical that the Justice Department clearly demonstrate to the American people that it will handle with impartiality its investigation surrounding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for official purposes.  Earlier this year, two Inspectors General reported that classified information was contained within the private emails of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and have referred the matter to the Justice Department.  During his appearance before the Committee last month, FBI Director Comey vowed that this investigation will be conducted “promptly, professionally, and independently.”  Rest assured, Congress and the American people will hold both the Bureau and the Department to this standard. The Committee also remains concerned that the Department is subverting Congress’s budget authority by using settlements to funnel money to third-party interest groups.  The concern is institutional and non-partisan.  Yet, rather than suspend the practice, DOJ has expanded it, while quietly obstructing the Committee’s investigation.  Last week, the Department finally produced a small subset of relevant documents that the Committee requested 11 months ago.  I would like to know, Madam Attorney General, what you – an experienced prosecutor – would do if a large corporation behaved this way in an investigation. As we sit with you today Attorney General Lynch, law enforcement agencies across the country face profound challenges.  Thirty-one police officers have been shot to death this year alone.  In many places, officers are understandably asking whether it is worth pursuing violent criminals, or otherwise putting themselves in harm’s way, lest they be the targets of intentional violence or community backlash. Force must be used appropriately and police officers must take proper steps to protect innocent civilians.  However, irresponsible, anti-police activity from many in the advocacy community and the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to micromanage state and local police agencies have only served to exacerbate the divide between police and citizens. This trend cannot continue.  Many American cities have seen a spike in violent crime.  In Baltimore, homicides are up 71 percent.  In August of this year, the number of murders here in Washington, D.C. already matched the number for all of 2014.  Other cities have seen similar increases in violent crime. Despite these grim statistics, however, the Obama Administration has continued to support initiatives that will only exacerbate this violence.  On November 1st of this year, nearly six thousand federal drug offenders were released from prison pursuant to a 2014 Sentencing Commission amendment, which the Justice Department supported.  Over the next two years, some additional 10,000 offenders will be released early. This ill-advised amendment applies without regard to an inmate’s criminal history, and will result in the release of some dangerous, violent criminals, as well as illegal criminal aliens. As you know, the Committee has introduced bipartisan legislation to institute meaningful sentencing reform while preventing release of serious violent felons. Speaking of releasing violent criminals, the murder of Kate Steinle in San Francisco earlier this year is a tragic reminder that the lack of appropriate immigration enforcement in our nation today, and the reckless sanctuary policies in many cities across the country, can have deadly consequences.  It is not enough for Administration officials to pay lip service to the problems presented by sanctuary cities.  Federal agencies, including the Justice Department, must take meaningful steps to ensure that criminal aliens released from federal custody are promptly deported. Attorney General Lynch, I look forward to hearing your views on all of these important topics today, as well as on other issues of significance to the Justice Department and our nation.

For more on today’s hearing, click here.