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[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 31, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H5515-H5518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL AND RESOURCES ALLOCATION IMPROVEMENT 
                              ACT OF 2012

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 1550) to establish programs in the Department of Justice 
and in the Department of Homeland Security to help States that have 
high rates of homicide and other violent crime, and for other purposes, 
as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1550

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Law Enforcement 
     Personnel and Resources Allocation Improvement Act of 2012''.

[[Page H5516]]

     SEC. 2. PRIORITY FOR ALLOCATION OF FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 
                   PERSONNEL AND RESOURCES.

       (a) Requirement.--In the allocation of Federal law 
     enforcement personnel and resources, the Attorney General 
     shall give priority to placing and retaining those personnel 
     and resources in States and local jurisdictions that have a 
     high incidence of homicide or other violent crime, based on 
     records of crime acquired under section 534 of title 28, 
     United States Code, including reports of crime under the 
     system known as the National Uniform Crime Reports, or on the 
     best and most current information otherwise available to the 
     Attorney General.
       (b) Designation of Existing Federal Official.--Not later 
     than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
     Attorney General shall designate an existing official within 
     the Department of Justice--
       (1) to develop practices and procedures to carry out the 
     requirement established in subsection (a); and
       (2) to monitor compliance with those practices and 
     procedures by the bureaus, agencies, and other subdivisions 
     of the Department.

     SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT.

       Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
     Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall 
     submit to the Committees on Appropriations and the Committees 
     on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of 
     Representatives a report on the implementation of the 
     requirement established in section 2. The report shall, for 
     the year it covers--
       (1) specify which States and local jurisdictions have a 
     high incidence of homicide or other violent crime;
       (2) identify the specific steps taken by the Attorney 
     General to implement the requirement with respect to each of 
     those States and local jurisdictions; and
       (3) provide a description of the methodology (including any 
     changes made in that methodology) that the Attorney General 
     has used to determine the total number of authorized Federal 
     law enforcement positions, to allocate those authorized 
     positions among States and local jurisdictions, and to assign 
     personnel to fill those authorized positions.

     SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act, the following definitions apply:
       (1) Federal law enforcement personnel.--The term ``Federal 
     law enforcement personnel'' means law enforcement personnel 
     employed by the Department of Justice, including law 
     enforcement personnel in any of the following agencies of the 
     Department:
       (A) The Drug Enforcement Administration.
       (B) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
       (C) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 
     Explosives.
       (D) The United States Marshals Service.
       (2) Local jurisdiction.--The term ``local jurisdiction'' 
     has the meaning given the term ``unit of local government'' 
     in section 901(3) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
     Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3791(3)).
       (3) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the 
     United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the 
     United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, or the 
     Northern Mariana Islands.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.

                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 1550, as 
amended, currently under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1550, the Federal Law Enforcement Recruitment and 
Retention Act of 2012, was introduced by my friend and colleague on the 
Judiciary Committee, Mr. Pierluisi of Puerto Rico. It helps focus the 
Justice Department's law enforcement efforts on the areas of the 
country that need them the most.
  Crime in the United States began to rise sharply in the 1960s and 
continued up to its peak in the early 1990s. In response, Congress and 
the States reformed their criminal laws to include tougher penalties 
and truth-in-sentencing laws, and they dedicated additional resources 
to target the rising crime rate.
  To a great extent, our national focus on crime has been successful. 
The national violent crime rate in 2010 was almost half of what it was 
in 1991, and crime in the United States has continued to fall in spite 
of difficult economic times. The violent crime rate fell 5 percent from 
2008 to 2009, and another 5 percent from 2009 to 2010.
  Despite this good news, we are far from a solution to the problem of 
violent crime in all areas of the country. There are still areas where 
violent crime remains a very serious issue and is even on the rise. For 
example, in my district, the number of murders in the city of Austin 
nearly doubled in 1 year, going from 22 homicides in 2009 to 38 
homicides in 2010. Puerto Rico, home to the sponsor of this bill, has 
experienced an increase in drug-related violent crime. With more than 
1,100 deaths in 2011, the homicide rate in Puerto Rico last year was 
more than five times the national average. The majority of this 
violence is attributed to the area's growing drug trafficking trade, 
which has implications, of course, for mainland U.S.
  The problem with high-crime areas may increase if there are not 
sufficient Federal law enforcement officers in these communities. To 
address this situation, the Justice Department started to dispatch 
surges of Federal law enforcement officers to prevent and investigate 
crime in high-crime cities like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Oakland, 
California. H.R. 1550 continues this momentum. It directs the 
Department of Justice to consider, in coordination with State and local 
governments, the need to recruit, assign, and retain Federal law 
enforcement personnel in areas of the country with high rates of 
homicides and other violent crimes, which of course should include 
Puerto Rico.
  H.R. 1550 has bipartisan support and has been endorsed by the law 
enforcement community. The bill was reported out of the Judiciary 
Committee on a voice vote, and once again I want to thank Mr. Pierluisi 
for sponsoring this legislation.
  H.R. 1550 improves the safety of the many Americans who live in fear 
of violent crime in their neighborhoods. So I urge my colleagues to 
support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1550, the Federal Law 
Enforcement Recruitment and Retention Act. This bill would require the 
Department of Justice to prioritize the placement and retention of 
personnel in those States and local jurisdictions that have high 
incidences of homicide and other violent crimes.
  The recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers has become 
increasingly difficult in recent years. These challenges are faced not 
only by State and local police agencies, but also by Federal law 
enforcement agencies. Difficulty in recruiting and retaining law 
enforcement officers is particularly acute in jurisdictions that 
experience high rates of violent crime.

                              {time}  2050

  In fact, the high incidence of crime in a jurisdiction can deter a 
Federal law enforcement officer from seeking assignment in that 
jurisdiction and can frequently lead to high turnover. The failure to 
retain a law enforcement officer has been estimated to result in 
approximately $100,000 in additional costs for the Department of 
Justice.
  H.R. 1550, as amended, aims to address this problem by directing the 
Attorney General to give priority in placing and retaining agents in 
jurisdictions with particularly high crime rates. This bill also 
requires the Department of Justice to annually provide Congress with a 
detailed report on how it is implementing this directive.
  H.R. 1550 is a modest, but necessary, measure to focus our crime-
fighting efforts on the areas most in need.
  I, too, want to commend our colleague, the gentleman from Puerto Rico 
(Mr. Pierluisi), for his work in developing this bill. I urge my 
colleagues to support H.R. 1550.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Pierluisi), the sponsor 
of the legislation.
  Mr. PIERLUISI. Thank you, Ranking Member Scott.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by expressing my gratitude to the 
chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith, for supporting H.R. 
1550 and for

[[Page H5517]]

working with House leadership to schedule the bill for floor 
consideration.
  I also want to thank the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, 
Congressman Conyers, the chairman of the Crime Subcommittee, 
Congressman Sensenbrenner, and the ranking member of the Crime 
Subcommittee, Congressman Scott, for their support.
  H.R. 1550 was unanimously approved by the Judiciary Committee and has 
been endorsed by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, 
which represents over 25,000 Federal law enforcement officers employed 
by 65 agencies.
  The short title of this bill, as modified, is the Federal Law 
Enforcement Personnel and Resources Allocation Improvement Act of 2012. 
The bill would direct the Department of Justice, when allocating law 
enforcement personnel and resources among U.S. jurisdictions, to give 
priority to those areas of the country that have high rates of homicide 
and other violent crime, including forcible rape, robbery and 
aggravated assault.
  The bill would require the Attorney General to designate an existing 
official within the Department of Justice who will be responsible for 
developing practices and procedures to implement this directive and for 
monitoring compliance with the directive by the Department's component 
agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Drug 
Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 
and Explosives; and the United States Marshals Service.
  Finally, the bill would require the Attorney General to submit an 
annual report to the appropriate congressional committees. The report 
would specify which jurisdictions have a high incidence of homicide or 
other violent crime and would identify the steps that the Department of 
Justice is taking to prioritize the allocation of law enforcement 
personnel and resources to those high-crime areas.
  In addition, the report would describe the methodology the Department 
is using to determine the total number of authorized Federal law 
enforcement positions nationwide, to allocate those authorized 
positions among different jurisdictions, and to assign personnel to 
fill those authorized positions.
  The basis for H.R. 1550 is as follows: in recent years, the number of 
murders and other violent crimes nationwide has decreased 
substantially. Between 2007 and 2011, for example, the total number of 
murders in the United States decreased by over 20 percent, and the 
total number of violent crimes decreased by nearly 18 percent.
  Most U.S. jurisdictions, whether urban, suburban or rural, have 
experienced a meaningful reduction in murders and other violent crimes. 
From the macro-perspective, the progress we have witnessed has been 
real and, in many cases, remarkable. Much of the credit is due to law 
enforcement officers on the Federal and local levels. Enhanced and 
effective policing can make, and has made, a tremendous difference in 
our communities.
  Unfortunately, certain jurisdictions, sometimes referred to as ``hot 
spots,'' have been exceptions to this steady downward trend in violent 
crime. My own district, Puerto Rico, is a case in point. Today, the 
number of annual murders in Puerto Rico is nearly 90 percent higher 
than it was in 1990. Between 2007 and 2011 alone, homicides rose by 55 
percent, with most of the violence linked to the drug trade. Yet the 
Federal law enforcement footprint in the U.S. Territory has not evolved 
in light of these changed circumstances. Instead, it has remained 
stagnant.

  Puerto Rico may be the most dramatic example of a U.S. jurisdiction 
where violent crime has increased rather than decreased, but it's by no 
means alone. For example, Flint, Michigan, experienced a 73 percent 
increase in homicides between 2007 and 2011, while a major metropolitan 
area in the Central Valley of California witnessed a 100 percent 
increase in murders.
  Moreover, there are numerous other areas where there has been some 
progress in reducing crime, but where violence remains far too high. 
Examples of such areas include Detroit, St. Louis, Memphis, Oakland, 
Little Rock, Birmingham, Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, 
Miami, and New Orleans.
  H.R. 1550 would promote and institutionalize steps that the 
Department of Justice, to its credit, has already begun to take. 
Recently, the Department developed a new initiative known as the 
Violent Crime Reduction Partnership to help target Federal resources to 
areas in need of additional law enforcement support.
  Pursuant to this initiative, for example, more than 50 officials from 
the FBI, DEA, ATF, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and DOJ's criminal 
division have begun a 4-month surge of Federal law enforcement 
resources in order to prevent and combat violent crime in the 
Philadelphia metropolitan area. This is a positive step that should be 
encouraged and replicated in other high-crime jurisdictions, which is 
the precise result that H.R. 1550 seeks to bring about.
  To be clear, it is well understood that the methods that DOJ may 
successfully employ to reduce violent crime in, say, Philadelphia or 
Baltimore may need to be adjusted for use in San Juan or St. Louis, 
with the specific approach dependent upon the nature of the crime 
problem that each jurisdiction confronts and other relevant factors.
  For that reason, my bill does not in any way try to micromanage the 
Department or to promote a one-size-fits-all approach to fighting 
crime. H.R. 1550 simply seeks to ensure, in this time of fiscal 
constraint on both the Federal and local levels, that DOJ has in place 
a carefully crafted and consistently applied policy of allocating 
limited law enforcement personnel and resources to those areas where 
they are needed the most.
  Again, I thank Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Scott; and I hope my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle will support this bill.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may 
consume to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I thank the ranking member for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I too rise in very strong support of H.R. 1550, the 
Federal Law Enforcement Personnel and Resources Allocation Improvement 
Act of 2012, which would require the Attorney General, in the 
allocation of Federal law enforcement personnel and resources, to give 
priority to placing and retaining such personnel and resources in 
States and local jurisdictions that have a high incidence of homicide 
or other violent crime.
  I commend my friend, the Congressman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Pierluisi) 
for its introduction, for his hard work, and for his leadership in 
getting it to the floor today.
  If this bill were to become law, my district, along with Congressman 
Pierluisi's, will be one of the local jurisdictions that would qualify 
for having that high incidence of homicide and violent crime. This is 
not a fact that we're proud of, but it is a reality; and it's the by-
product of the USVI and Puerto Rico being a trans-shipment point for 
illegal drugs traveling from Central and South America to mainland 
United States.
  There are many other communities in our country that are facing the 
same or similar incidence of violence; and the blame, in most cases, 
can be traced to drug trafficking. In the case of the Virgin Islands 
and Puerto Rico, it stems from the fact that we have become the route 
of choice for drug shipments to the east coast of the United States.
  According to Department of Justice statistics, in 2011, 165,000 
metric tons of illegal drugs were seized in the Caribbean, Bahamas and 
Gulf of Mexico, up 36 percent over 4 years. And up to 80 percent of 
cocaine trafficked through the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico is 
directed to U.S. east coast cities.

                              {time}  2100

  Congressman Pierluisi and I were recently at the Coast Guard station 
in Puerto Rico, and we had the opportunity to meet with the commander 
of the ship that had recently captured 1.4 kilos of cocaine off of St. 
Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. That was the port's largest capture 
in its history. These routes are also a threat to America's national 
security. In addition to the guns, assault weapons and drugs, the 
Caribbean region is susceptible to smuggling nuclear and all other 
kinds

[[Page H5518]]

of materials that could easily be used as staging areas for violence 
against our country.
  The most tragic of all are the young people who had been killed or 
who are now in jail, many of whom I knew and took care of as a family 
physician. Unfortunately, we, too, have one of the highest murder rates 
per 100,000 in our country. Our community was shocked a few months ago 
when two of our young policemen, who were in a high crime area but who 
were on what seemed to be a routine patrol, were shot earlier this 
year. Both sustained injuries which go beyond the physical. One is 
paralyzed and will require lifelong care and support.
  Our community, though, is fighting back. Our law enforcement has been 
meeting with those from across the Caribbean region. We are working 
with the Federal law enforcement that does exist in the Territory. Both 
of us, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are high-intensity drug 
trafficking areas. We have a well-integrated but still incomplete team 
led by Adjutant General Vicens from Puerto Rico and Executive Director 
Catherine Mills from the Virgin Islands, but we do need more Federal 
help in order to restore the safety of our communities and to protect 
the lives of our children. This is not only important to my 
constituents and me; it is critical to the well-being of the 
constituents of all of our colleagues but especially to those whose 
communities have high homicide and violent crime rates.
  In this legislation, which I am pleased to cosponsor, we are pleading 
for this critically important help in order to bring the vital Federal 
resources to save our communities--to save all of our communities--and 
to protect our Nation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1550.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from the 
Virgin Islands and the gentleman from Puerto Rico.
  I urge the passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 1550, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground 
that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum 
is not present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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