Prepared Opening Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Executive Business Meeting
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Good morning, everyone.
Today we have three nominations and eight bills on the agenda.
Two of the nominations listed today, Terrance Cole, to be Administrator of Drug Enforcement, and Gadyaces Serralta, to be Director of the United States Marshals Service, are being considered for the first time.
We’ll hold them over under the Committee rules and will plan to vote on them next week.
The nomination of Jason Reding Quinones to be the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida is ready for a vote today. I look forward to supporting his nomination.
The eight bills on the agenda are a part of the Senate Judiciary Committee's long-standing bipartisan commitment to law enforcement.
In a true testament to the bipartisan nature of National Police Week, today’s markup has four Republican led bills and four Democrat led bills.
I’d like to thank Ranking Member Durbin and his staff for working with me to put together this agenda.
And I’d like to thank all the members of the committee for their continued support of this long-standing tradition.
Law enforcement across the country put their lives on the line every day.
This year, I led a resolution with Senator Durbin honoring 234 officers who made the ultimate sacrifice and are being recognized as line-of-duty deaths.
This includes two of my fellow Iowans: Trooper Jeffrey Brown and Senior Police Officer Tran Phoukhm.
The devotion of these officers merits our admiration, and we’re deeply indebted to them.
I’m pleased my resolution with Senator Durbin passed the Senate with over 80 cosponsors, demonstrating the overwhelming support the United States Senate has for law enforcement.
The bills on today's agenda are a good example of the extensive problems facing our law enforcement community.
They deal with recruitment and retention issues, protecting law enforcement from the dangers of fentanyl, providing law enforcement with the equipment they need to serve our communities, protecting the families of first responders and providing resources for the mental health of law enforcement.
I’ve always backed the blue. And when I see law enforcement, I take the chance to tell them, “Thank you for keeping the peace, and I’m not for defunding the police.”
That’s why I’m pleased that we’re able to have so many bills on the agenda.
Each of these bills will help law enforcement and first responders across our country.
Once these bills are out of committee, I look forward to quickly moving them on the Senate floor.
I’ve heard a lot of criticism from Democrats about the Trump administration’s reallocation of resources within the Justice Department.
But there’s a great deal of positive news from the Trump administration we should recognize.
Effective law enforcement and responsible spending are not incompatible.
The administration’s focus on returning federal law enforcement to its core mission of combating violent crime has delivered results.
Mr. Patel was sworn in only a few short months ago, but under his leadership the FBI has already brought into custody three of its top 10 most wanted fugitives, including a key leader of MS-13 who has been extradited from Mexico to face justice.
In early March, the DOJ and FBI secured the arrest of one of the key orchestrators of the deadly ISIS-K attack at Abbey Gate, which killed 13 young American servicemembers during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
More recently in May, 115 children were rescued, and 205 predators were arrested in the FBI’s Operation Restore Justice, protecting our nation’s most vulnerable.
Even without a permanent administrator, the DEA has delivered similar results.
As part of Operation “Take Back America,” in partnership with other federal and state law enforcement, the DEA accomplished its largest seizure of illicit fentanyl to date, consisting of 2.7 million potentially lethal pills.
I could go on.
The President’s focus on taking down violent criminals has brought to justice many of the worst of the worst – targeting dangerous criminals and terrorists who threaten Americans’ safety and way of life.
I applaud these early accomplishments and look forward to more.
Part of the administration’s efforts to refocus on violent crime included evaluating inappropriate spending from the Biden administration.
Here are some examples of programs we were spending taxpayer dollars on:
Over $600,000 was spent on a podcast series, blog and academic conference presentations. It seems to me we ought to use those resources to prosecute crime, instead of just talking about crime.
Some grants appeared to be aimed at sending children into dangerous situations to mediate gang conflict.
We ought to take a hard look at that spending.
That said, in April, I wrote the Justice Department for clarity about its plans for these grant funds. I’d like to enter their response into the record.
The Justice Department told me that 93 percent of the terminations affect grants awarded to non-governmental agencies.
The Justice Department plans to reallocate funds from terminated grants to new grants that more effectively support law enforcement.
To those worried about grant cuts, I’ll say Congress has the ability to authorize spending, and several bills on today’s agenda do just that.
I look forward to advancing those bills out of Committee.
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