Watching on cspan. Org, as we will take you live to a hearing with fbi director Christopher Wray on the fiscal year 2025 budget request for his agency before a House Appropriations subcommittee. The subcommittee will be in order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. Welcome to the first fiscal year 2025 hearing for the subcommittee on commerce, science, justice, and related agencies. Before we get started, i want to think thank chairwoman granger for her years of dedication to this committee and formally congratulate chairman cole on becoming the new chairman of the committee. We look forward to continuing to work with both of them. I will begin by recognizing myself for an opening statement. We want to welcome our witness, the honorable Christopher Wray, director of the federal bureau of investigation, back to this subcommittee. Director wray, who has nearly 30 years of doj and fbi experience, dating back to the late 1990s, has served in his current role since august of 2017. In his capacity as director, the overseas agency of about 35,000 people, including special agents, intelligence analysts, language specialists, scientists, and Information Technology specialists. The 25 budget request for fbi salaries and expenses is 11. 3 billion. With 6. 7 billion of that amount, about 60 , designated as defense spending. The request amounts to a 6 increase above the fiscal 24 enacted level for salaries and expenses. Overall, the fbi budget request includes 119 million in program increases, and approximately 700 million in other adjustments. Representing the substantial increase cost of continuing the fbis current activities. In particular, the Largest Program increase request is what the fbi has labeled restoration of 2023 National Security and Law Enforcement personnel. This request is for 85. 4 billion, and aims to fund 270 headquarter positions, of which only 60 would be actual agents. The bureau claims these resources are necessary to limit reductions and function areas. Lets be crystal clear. Cartels continue to flood our streets with fentanyl and poison. Americans are being hurt in record numbers. They are exploiting our southern border, and devastating families and communities, Violent Crime rebels, murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, all too high. There is no question. The fbis mission is more critical than ever. The request to increases in the fiscal 25 budget are significant, and it is my hope that they are fully discussed in todays hearing, in relation to many of the issues this country is facing. However, it is no secret that the nations federal debt stands at approximately 34 trillion. Let me repeat that number. 34 trillion. And hardworking americans continue to face elevated costs for everyday items. Congress and this committee in particular cannot ignore the unsustainable path that we are on. It is essential that we ensure every dollar appropriate to agencies is spent effectively, efficiently, and appropriately. Anything less would be ignoring our constitutional duty. To that end, our fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill made some difficult and necessary funding reductions, for many agencies, including the fbi. As with all appropriations bills, the fiscal 24 bill was the product of careful consideration and collaboration within congress. We review budget submissions, call hearings, analyze program increase requests, engage with the agencies, have catalyst debates, and make final judgment calls. Not everyone will be satisfied with the final appropriate levels. Whatever increasing debt levels require tough decisions. Director wray, we look forward to the opportunity to discuss with you today, the president s fiscal year of 2025 budget submission for the fbi. We are looking forward to a full conversation on the major cost drivers within this budget request. Beyond the funding implications of the budget request, i am also interested in the ongoing issues at the fda that include but are not limited to, the erosion of public trust of the bureau. This includes the fbis overly aggressive tactics, questionable investigative standards, and the overall politicalization of the bureau. Importantly, i also want to ensure we fully explore the grave crisis at our southern border. And the fbis responsibility, when it comes to combating the wide range of illegal activities happening at the border. That not only impacts the nations southern states, but the entire country, as a whole. I believe the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill achieved the right balance and represented a step in the right direction, with targeted cuts, aimed at pushing the bureau to refocus on its core mission. Federal agencies expanding beyond the required duties is a real problem, and it must be corrected. I believe in the fbis mission, to protect the American People and uphold the constitution of our great country. I recognize the challenging, yet critical work the Agency Performs daily, defending the u. S. Against terrorists, and espionage, combating deadly fentanyl, protecting the nations children from becoming victims, and more. Fbi agents are our nations defenders. It is not lost on members of congress. The sacrifices they make, to protect our country. To be clear, the fbis mission is critical to the health of our entire nation. Mr. Wray, once again, we appreciate you being here to answer our questions. We appreciate your hard work. On behalf of the American People, let me now recognize the Ranking Member of the subcommittee, for any remarks. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I joined chairman rogers in thanking our overall appropriations chair, kay granger, for her years of dedication and service to this appropriations committee. And congratulate chairman cole as he takes over that very important role. And i also joined chairman rogers in welcoming director Christopher Wray to testify today. As we all know, the fbi does an enormous amount of work to help protect the American People as a primary Law Enforcement agency for the u. S. Government, the fbi employs roughly 36,000 people in 56 field offices, 350 resident agencies, and several specialized facilities and Analytical Centers across the country, as well as in over 60 legal attachi offices in 80 countries around the world. The fbi works to investigate and disrupt crime including everything from violent gang networks, cyber criminals, whitecollar crime, Human Trafficking, and domestic and international terrorism. I could not agree more with chairman rogers as he talks about fbis mission including combating opioid entity opioid epidemic, including fentanyl poisonings that are killing well north of 100,000 people, american citizens, every year. In addition, since russia was brutal and unprovoked invasion of ukraine last year, the fbi has also successfully worked to disrupt criminal, cyber, and hostile intelligence activities from russia that endanger ukraine, our partners in american citizens. The biden admirationis requesting funding for several fbi initiatives in fiscal year 2025, including investments to restore and enhance the fbis efforts to combat Violent Crime and cybercrime and to enhance the fbis counterintelligence and Counter Terrorism capabilities, among other initiatives. Director wray, i look forward to hearing more from you about these and other priorities surrounding the fbis budget request. Again, i thank you very much, mr. Chairman, and i yield back to you. We want now to recognize our witness, director wray, for an opening statement. Without objection, his written statement will be entered into the record, and i would ask him that we would like to see him keep his remarks to five minutes or less, so we can have additional time for questions. Director wray . Thank you, and good afternoon, chairman rogers, Ranking Member cartwright, members of the committee. Im proud to be here today, representing the roughly 38,000 men and women who make up the fbi. Every day, our people are working relentlessly to outpace our adversaries and to stay ahead of complex and evolving threats. So, i would like to start out by thanking you and the rest of the committee for your support over the years, for our efforts to achieve our mission of protecting the American People and upholding the constitution. At the same time, i also realize the reality of the environment we are in today, where so many agencies are dealing with tightening budgets. This year, the fbi is one of those agencies. With our fiscal year 2024 budget having now come in at almost 500 million below what the fbi needs just to sustain our 2023 efforts, and candidly, this could not have come at a worse time when i sat here last year, i sat through how we were already in a heightened threat environment. Since then, we have seen the threat from foreign terrorist raised to a whole other level since october 7th. We continue to see the cartels pushed fentanyl and other dangerous drugs into every corner of the country, claiming countless american lives. We have seen a spate of ransomware and other attacks, impacting parts of our Critical Infrastructure and businesses, both large and small. Violent crime, which reached alarming levels coming out of the pandemic, remains far too high, and is impacting far too many communities. China continues its relentless effort to steal our intellectual property and most valuable information. And that is just scratching the surface. As i look back over my career in Law Enforcement, i would be hardpressed to think of a time when so many threats to our Public Safety and National Security were so elevated, all at once. But, that is the case as i sit here today. And while we have always found ways at the fbi to innovate and make the most with what we have this is by no means a time to let up or dial back. This is a time when we need your support the most. We need all the tools, all the people, and all the resources required to tackle these threats and to keep americans safe. So, to take the each of those into turn, the people, and resources. First, an absolutely indispensable tool that congress can give us in our fight against foreign adversaries is the reauthorization of section 702 of the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act. It is critical in securing our nation, and we are in crunch time with our 702 authorities, set to expire next week. So, let me be clear. Failure to reauthorize 702 or gutting it with some kind of warrant requirement would be dangerous, and would put americans lives at risk. Second, we need people, and i will stack the fbis workforce up against anyone, anywhere, anytime. They are innovative, they are efficient, they are relentless, they are professionals, they are patriots. And we have been fortunate at the fbi in recent years that our recruiting has gone through the roof. Americans are applying in droves to devote their lives to a career with us, protecting others. But, we need more positions to be able to bring all the good people we can to the fight. Certainly not fewer. Now is not the time to cut back. It is time to lean forward. Third, we need resources, which you will see in the 2025 budget request that we are here today to discuss. So, we need funding to protect america from terrorism. I touched on this earlier. But, there was already a heightened risk of violence in the United States before october 7th. Since then, we have seen a rogues gallery of foreign terrorist organizations call for attacks against americans and our allies. Given those calls for action, or most immediate concern has been that individuals or small groups will draw some kind of twisted inspiration from the events in the middle east, to carry out attacks here at home. But now, increasingly concerning, is the potential for a coordinated attack here, in the homeland, akin to the isys attack we saw at the russian concert hall just a couple years ago. We also need funding to counter the threat from the peoples republic of china. A government is sparing no expense in its quest to hack, lie, cheat, and steal its way to the top, as a global superpower, and to undermine our democracy, and our economic success. We need funding to counter cyber threats, certainly those from china, but also from a crowded field of sophisticated hostile nationstates and criminals, nationstates like russia, iran, north korea. We need funding. To mitigate the range of threats from the border. Fentanyl, gangs like ms13 Human Trafficking. We need to address the Violent Crime that remains at levels in this country that are still too high, and we need funding to keep going after child predators and to rescue young victims from their torment. Out of all those areas i just mentioned, we are working closely with our partners and all levels of government to achieve our shared goal of keeping our communities safe. Every day, fbi agents, analysts, and professional staff are working shoulder to shoulder with thousands of Task Force Officers from hundreds of Different Police departments and sheriffs offices all over the country on our fbi led task forces. On top of that, we provide technology and expertise, valuable, investigative leads like dna matches, and cutting edge training to Law Enforcement nationwide, to help them protect americans from harm. So, cuts to us our cuts to our partners, state and local Law Enforcement agencies and officers who are on the ground, putting themselves in the line of fire, often quite literally. And that is just one way those cuts are going to have real impacts on the American People. So, yes, we took a hit in the 2024 budget, but the 2025 budget is a chance to get back on track, to provide the fbis men and women the tools and resources the American People need us to have to keep them safe. So, thank you, again, for having me here today, and i look forward to our discussion. Thank you, director wray. We will now proceed under the five minute rule, with questions for the witness. I will begin by recognizing myself. Director, has the bureau observed any improvements in our efforts to dismantle the fentanyl pipeline, and what role can the bureau play here . So, i would say it is a mixed bag. Certainly, the scourge of fentanyl is still claiming way, way, way too many lives, and i will tell you that from the fbis perspective, one of the things that we have been observing is in our takedown of violent gangs which is, of course, something we are doing all around the country, all the time as we are noticing, almost without exception now, that those takedown is of violent gang members also include seizures of fentanyl. So, the fentanyl that is coming from the cartels, built on precursors from china, ending up all over the United States, is often being distributed, of course, by these violent street gangs. So, that is one of the things we are observing. We are trying to do our part of this, and this goes beyond anyone agency, and frankly, beyond Law Enforcement, as i know a lot of your efforts are recognized. But, some of the things that we, at the fbi, are trying to do our part i will mention a few. Our safe Streets Task Force is going after the gangs that are distributing so much of this poison. Our organized crime, Transnational Organized Crime Task forces are going after the cartels. We have, i think, close to 400 investigations that go just after cartel leadership. We also have things like j code, which is an initiative where we bring together 12 agencies that are focused on the dark web trafficking of fentanyl and other dangerous substances, dismantling darknet marketplaces, when we do that. We have a Prescription Drug initiative because, of course, especially in certain parts of the country, pill mills and irresponsible prescribers of opioids are a driver of much of this epidemic. So, we are using our healthcare fraud, expertise, for example, to go after some of those folks. We are working with our partners on the other side of the border. There, i would say, it is very uneven. We have had some instances where we have had a key arrest, an extradition, a key operation, we are starting to work with vetted teams down there, which is an important effort from the right direction. But, we need much, much more than we are getting from the Mexican Government. So, i guess i would summarize my answer to your question by saying, a lot of things to be encouraged by in terms of the effort and the work across multiple agencies that people are making. But, a lot of things to be very, very concerned about. Last year i guess, the last two years in a row, i will just leave it with this point, the fbi seized enough fentanyl to kill 270 million American People. And that gives you a sense of the scale of what we are up against. When it comes to mexico, what is the level of cooperation between our Law Enforcement agencies . Especially when it comes to drug trafficking. Are they working with you, in mexico . Absolutely, i think one of the really bright spots that i see, especially when i compare to earlier in my career, is how close the partnerships are, across all levels of Law Enforcement. All the federal agencies, state and local Law Enforcement is so entwined with todays fbi. For in L