Mr. LEAHY. I am pleased to the Senate is finally passing the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act. I thank Senator Hatch, the Ranking Republican Member of the Judiciary Committee, for his hard work and support of this legislation.

The last time Congress properly authorized spending for the entire Department of Justice ("DOJ" or the "Department") was in 1979. Congress extended that authorization in 1980 and 1981. Since then, Congress has not passed nor has the President signed an authorization bill for the Department. In fact, there are a number of years where Congress failed to consider any Department authorization bill. This 21-year failure to properly reauthorize the Department has forced the appropriations committees in both houses to reauthorize and appropriate money.

We have ceded the authorization power to the appropriators for too long. Our bipartisan legislation is an attempt to reaffirm the authorizing authority and responsibility of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. I commend Chairman Sensenbrenner and Ranking Member Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee for working in a bipartisan manner to pass similar legislation in the House of Representatives.

The "21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act," is divided into two divisions: the first division is a comprehensive authorization of the Department; and the second division is a comprehensive authorization of expired and new Department grants programs and improvements to criminal law and procedures.

Division A of our bipartisan legislation contains four titles which authorize appropriations for the Department for fiscal year 2002, provide permanent enabling authorities which will allow the Department to efficiently carry out its mission, clarify and harmonize existing statutory authority, and repeal obsolete statutory authorities. The bill establishes certain reporting requirements and other mechanisms, such as DOJ Inspector General authority to investigate allegations of misconduct by employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), intended to better enable the Congress and the Department to oversee the operations of the Department. Finally, the bill creates a separate Violence Against Women Office to combat domestic violence.

Title I authorizes appropriations for the major components of the Department for fiscal year 2002. The authorization mirrors the President's request regarding the Department except in two areas. First, the bill increased the President's request for the DOJ Inspector General by $10 million. This is necessary because the Committee is concerned about the severe downsizing of that office and the need for oversight, particularly of the FBI, at the Department. Second, the bill authorizes at least $10 million for the investigation and prosecution of intellectual property crimes, including software counterfeiting crimes and crimes identified in the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act (Public Law 105-147). The American copyright industry is the largest exporter of goods from the United States, employing more than 7 million Americans, and these additional funds are needed to strengthen the resources available to DOJ and the FBI to investigate and prosecute cyberpiracy.

Title II permanently establishes a clear set of authorities that the Department may rely on to use appropriated funds, including establishing permitted uses of appropriated funds by the Attorney General, the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Federal Prison System, and the Detention Trustee. Title II also establishes new reporting requirements which are intended to enhance Congressional oversight of the Department, including new reporting requirements for information about the enforcement of existing laws, for information regarding the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), and the submission of other reports, required by existing law, to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Section 206(e) expands an existing reporting requirement regarding copyright infringement cases.

Title II also provides the Department with additional law enforcement tools in the war against terrorism. For instance, section 201 permits the FBI to enter into cooperative projects with foreign countries to improve law enforcement or intelligence operations. Section 210 of the committee approved bill also provided for special "danger pay"allowances for FBI agents in hazardous duty locations outside the United States, as is provided for agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration. At the insistence of a Republican Senator, section 210 has regrettably been removed from the bill to ensure final passage.

Title III repeals outdated and open-ended statutes, requires the submission of an annual authorization bill to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, and provides states with flexibility to use existing Truth-In-Sentencing and Violent Offender Incarceration Grants to account for juveniles being housed in adult prison facilities. Title III requires the Department to submit to Congress studies on untested rape examination kits, and the allocation of funds, personnel, and workloads for each office of U.S. Attorney and each division of the Department.

In addition, Title III provides new oversight and reporting requirements for the FBI and other activities conducted by the Justice Department. Specifically, section 308 codifies the Attorney General's order of July 11, 2001, which revised Department of Justice's regulations concerning the Inspector General. The section insures that the Inspector General for the Department of Justice has the authority to decide whether a particular allegation of misconduct by Department of Justice personnel, including employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, should be investigated by the Inspector General or by the internal affairs unit of the appropriate component of the Department of Justice.

Section 309 directs the Inspector General of the Department to appoint an official from the Inspector General's office to be responsible for supervising and coordinating independent oversight of programs and operations of the FBI until the end of the 2003 fiscal year. This section also requires the Inspector General of the Department to submit to Congress not later than 30 days after enactment of this Act an oversight plan for the FBI. This section further requires the Attorney General to submit a report and recommendation to the House and Senate Committees on the Judiciary not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act on whether there should be established a separate office of Inspector General for the FBI that shall be responsible for supervising independent oversight of programs and operations of the FBI.

In addition, the bill as passed by the Committee, contains language offered as an amendment by Senator Feinstein to authorize a number of new judgeships. I strongly support Senator Feinstein's amendment, and believe that the need for these new judgeships is acute.

Title IV establishes a separate Violence Against Women Office (VAWO) within the Department. The VAWO is headed by a Director, who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. In addition, Title IV enumerates duties and responsibilities of the Director, and authorizes appropriations to ensure the VAWO is adequately staffed. I strongly support a separate VAWO office within the Department of Justice.

The 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act should result in a more effective, as well as efficient, Department of Justice for the American people.

Division B of our bipartisan legislation includes eight titles which compile a comprehensive authorization of expired and new Department of Justice grants programs and improvements to criminal law and procedures.

Title I authorizes Department of Justice grants to establish 4,000 Boys and Girls Clubs across the country before January 1, 2007. This bipartisan amendment authorizes Department of Justice grants for each of the next 5 years to establish 1,200 additional Boys and Girls Clubs across the Nation. In fact, this will bring the number of Boys and Girls Clubs to 4,000. That means they will serve approximately 6 million young people by January 1, 2007.

I am very impressed with what I see about the Boys and Girls Clubs as I travel around the country. In 1997, I was very proud to join with Senator Hatch and others to pass bipartisan legislation to authorize grants by the Department of Justice to fund 2,500 Boys and Girls Clubs across the Nation. We increased the Department of Justice grant funding for the Boys and Girls Clubs from $20 million in fiscal year 1998 to $60 million in fiscal year 2001. That is why we have now 2,591 Boys and Girls Clubs in all 50 States and 3.3 million children are served. It is a success story.

I hear from parents certainly across my State how valuable it is to have the Boys and Girls Clubs. I hear it also from police chiefs. In fact, one police chief told me, rather than giving him a couple more police officers, fund a Boys and Girls Club in his district; it would be more beneficial. This long-term Federal commitment has enabled Vermonters to establish six Boys and Girls Clubs--in Brattleboro, Burlington, Montpelier, Randolph, Rutland, and Vergennes. In fact, I believe the Vermont Boys and Girls Clubs have received more than a million dollars from the Department of Justice grants since 1998.

In May of this year at a Vermont town meeting on heroin prevention and treatment, I was honored to present a check for more than $150,000 in Department of Justice funds to the members of the Burlington club to continue helping young Vermonters find some constructive alternatives for both their talents and energies, because we know that in Vermont and across the Nation Boys and Girls Clubs are proving they are a growing success at preventing crime and supporting young children.

Parents, educators, law enforcement officers, and others know we need safe havens where young people can learn and grow up free from the influence of the drugs and gangs and crime. That is why the Boys and Girls Clubs are so important to our Nation's children. Indeed, the success already in Vermont has led to efforts to create nine more clubs throughout my home State.

Continued Federal support would be critical to these expansion efforts in Vermont and in the other 49 States as well.

Title II and III is the Drug Abuse Education, Prevention, and Treatment Act of 2001. I am pleased that we have included in this package the version of S. 304 that the Judiciary Committee passed unanimously on November 29. This legislation ushers in a new, bipartisan approach to our efforts to reduce drug abuse in the United States. It was introduced by Senator Hatch and I in February. Senator Hatch held an excellent hearing on the bill in March, the Judiciary Committee has approved it, and the full Senate should follow the Committee's lead. This is a bill that is embraced by Democrats and Republicans alike, as well as law enforcement officers and drug treatment providers.

I have wanted to pass legislation like this for years. This legislation provides a comprehensive approach to reducing drug abuse in America. I hope that the innovative programs established by this legislation will assist all of our States in their efforts to address the drug problems that most affect our communities.

No community or State is immune from the ravages of drug abuse. Earlier this year, I held two town meetings up in Vermont to talk about the most pressing drug problem in my state: heroin. Vermont has historically had one of the lowest crime rates in the nation, but we are experiencing serious troubles because of drug abuse. I was pleased that so many Vermonters – parents, students, teachers, and concerned community members, as well as professionals from our state's prevention, treatment, and enforcement communities – took time out of their busy schedules to discuss the way Vermont's heroin problem affects their lives. They have informed my thinking on these issues and rededicated me to reducing the scourge of drug abuse throughout our nation.

This bill will provide necessary assistance to Vermont and every other State. It contains numerous grant programs to aid States and local communities in their efforts to prevent and treat drug abuse. Of particular interest to Vermonters, S. 304 establishes drug treatment grants for rural States and authorizes money for residential treatment centers for mothers addicted to heroin, methamphetamines, or other drugs.

This legislation also will help States and communities reduce drug use in prisons through testing and treatment. This is an effort I proposed in the Drug Free Prisons Act, which I introduced in the last Congress. It will fund programs designed to reduce recidivism through drug treatment and other services for former prisoners after release. As Joseph Califano, Jr., the president of the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse and former secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, told the National Press Club in January: "The next great opportunity to reduce crime is to provide treatment and training to drug and alcohol abusing prisoners who will return to a life of criminal activity unless they leave prison substance free and, upon release, enter treatment and continuing aftercare." This legislation will accomplish both of those goals. In addition, this bill will authorize drug courts – another step I proposed in the Drug Free Prisons Act – and juvenile drug courts.

Through this legislation, we extend food stamps to people who are ineligible under current law due to a past drug offense, but have completed or are enrolled in drug treatment. Senator Hatch and I wanted to go further, and the Judiciary Committee approved language that would have also extended food stamps to those who were pregnant, seriously ill, or had dependent children. At Senator Kyl's insistence, those provisions have regrettably been removed from this amendment.

This legislation also includes a grant program to assist State and local law enforcement in developing new ways to fight crime. This National Comprehensive Crime-Free Communities Act will provide funding for 250 communities, including at least one from every State, to support crime prevention efforts. It also provides funding for each State to assist local communities by, among other things, providing training and technical assistance in preventing crime.

Our bipartisan bill, S. 304, represents a major step forward for our drug policy. It is a bill that has been very important to Senator Hatch, and it has been very important to me. I think it will greatly benefit Vermonters, and citizens of every State, and I urge the Senate to give this bill its full support.

Title IV is similar to S. 1315, the Judicial Improvement and Integrity Act of 2001, introduced by myself and Senator Hatch, to protect witnesses who provide information on criminal activity to law enforcement officials by increasing maximum sentences and other improvements to the criminal code.

This title would do a number of things, such as:

1. protect witnesses who come forward to provide information on criminal activity to law enforcement officials by increasing maximum sentences where physical force is actually used or attempted on the witness;

2. eliminate a loophole in the criminal contempt statute that allows some defendants to avoid serving prison sentences imposed by the Court;

3. eliminate a loophole in the statute of limitations that makes some defendants immune from further prosecution if they plead guilty then later get their plea agreements vacated;

4. grant the government the clear right to appeal the dismissal of a part of a count of an indictment, such as a predicate act in a RICO count;

5. insure that courts may impose appropriate terms of supervised release in drug cases;

6. give the District Courts greater flexibility in fashioning appropriate conditions of release for certain elderly prisoners; and

7. clarify the District Court's authority to revoke or modify a term of supervised release when the defendant willfully violates the obligation to pay restitution to the victims of the defendant's crime.

The only difference between this amendment and the earlier bill which was cosponsored by Senator Hatch is additional language in the provision dealing with newly imposed terms of supervised release for certain elderly prisoners. The new language would limit such new terms to the unserved portion of the prison term which the judge is considering amending. I thank Senator Hatch for his assistance on this legislation

Title V is the Criminal Law Technical Amendments Act, which makes clerical and other technical amendments to title 18, United States Code, and other laws relating to crime and criminal procedure and is similar to H.R. 2137 as passed by the House of Representatives by 374-0 vote. I commend Chairman Sensenbrenner and Senator Hatch for their leadership on this technical corrections legislation.

Title VI clarifies that an attorney for the federal government may provide legal advice and supervision on certain undercover activities for the purpose of investigating terrorism.

Title VI of the bill modifies the McDade law, 28 U.S.C. §530B, which was included in the omnibus appropriations bill at the end of the 105th Congress. The McDade law was intended to codify the principle - with which I strongly agree - that the Justice Department may not unilaterally exempt its lawyers from State ethics rules that apply to all members of the bar.

Unfortunately, the McDade law has had serious unintended consequences for Federal law enforcement, delaying important criminal investigations, preventing the use of effective and traditionally-accepted investigative techniques, and serving as the basis of litigation to interfere with legitimate Federal prosecutions.

Of particular concern, the McDade law is wreaking havoc on law enforcement efforts in Oregon, where an attorney ethics decision by the State Supreme Court - In re Gatti, 330 Or. 517 (2000) - has resulted in a complete shutdown of all undercover activity. The loss of this essential crime-fighting tool poses a serious and continuing problem for law enforcement in that State, and threatens to hamstring investigations into all manner of criminal activity, including terrorism.

I have introduced a bill, together with Senators Hatch and Wyden, that would remedy the problems caused by the McDade law while adhering to its basic premise: The Department of Justice does not have the authority it long claimed to write its own ethics rules. The proposed legislation, S.1437, would clarify the ethical standards governing the conduct of government attorneys and address the most pressing contemporary question of government attorney ethics - namely, the question of which rule should govern government attorneys' communications with represented persons. The Senate approved S.1437 on October 11, 2001, as part of a broader antiterrorism bill (S.1510), but the House dropped this reasonable corrective legislation from the final antiterrorism package (H.R.3162).

Title VI of Division B of the bill that the Senate passes today is a subset of S.1437, which will restore to Federal law enforcement in Oregon the ability to use undercover techniques to investigate terrorist activities. This legislation is a much-needed step in the right direction; however, it is hardly a complete solution for the many serious problems caused by the McDade law. At a time when we need our Federal agents and prosecutors to move quickly to catch those responsible for the recent terrorist attacks, and to prevent further attacks, we need to address these problems in a thorough and comprehensive manner. I therefore urge my colleagues in the House both to approve title VI of this bill, and to consider the other provisions of S.1437. We cannot afford to wait until more investigations are compromised.

Title VII contains amendments, authored by Senator Sessions, that modify the Paul Coverdell National Forensic Science Improvement Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-561) to enhance participation by local crime labs and to allow for DNA backlog elimination. Dr. Eric Buel, the Director of the Vermont Forensic Laboratory, has written to me to endorse these changes to the Coverdell Act, which I was proud to cosponsor last year. I support this title to help bring the necessary forensic technology to all states to improve their criminal justice systems.

Title VIII contains the Ecstasy Prevention Act, authored by Senator Graham, authorizes several Department of Justice grant programs to combat Ecstasy drug abuse. I commend Senator Graham for his leadership in fighting Ecstasy use.

I look forward to working with Senator Hatch, Congressman Sensenbrenner and Congressman Conyers and other members of the upcoming conference to bring the important business of re-authorizing the Department back before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. Clearly, regular reauthorization of the Department should be part and parcel of the Committees' traditional role in overseeing the Department's activities. Swift passage into law of the "21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act" will be a significant step toward restoring our oversight role.

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