II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 331 

To increase the number of Federal law enforcement officials investigating 

and prosecuting financial fraud. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 27, 2009 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. SHELBY, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

BAYH, Mr. TESTER, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. SESSIONS, and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To increase the number of Federal law enforcement officials 

investigating and prosecuting financial fraud. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supplemental Anti5 Fraud Enforcement for our Market Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 

6 Markets Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) A critical part of solving our current finan2 cial crisis, and preventing future debacles, is to 

3 bring to justice those who caused it through fraudu4 lent acts. 

5 (2) However, law enforcement resources di6 rected to financial fraud have been severely dimin7 ished in the last several years. Recent reports indi8 cate that the FBI’s staffing for white collar crimes 

9 such as mortgage fraud has decreased by 36 percent 

10 from 2001 levels, with a loss of 625 agents. The 

11 number of Assistant United States Attorneys has in12 creased between .5 and 1 percent per year in recent 

13 years, but virtually all new prosecutors have been 

14 dedicated to fighting gang, internet, and immigra15 tion crimes, and some offices have been subjected to 

16 hiring freezes. In addition, the budget of the Securi17 ties and Exchange Commission has remained static 

18 for 3 years until Congress increased its appropria19 tions by 4 percent for 2009. 

20 (3) In the wake of the Savings and Loan crisis 

21 of the 1980s, a series of strike forces based in 27 

22 cities was staffed with 1000 FBI agents and foren23 sic experts and dozens of federal prosecutors. That 

24 effort yielded more than 600 convictions and 

25 $130,000,000 in ordered restitution. 


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1 (4) This authorization will bring FBI and pros2 ecutorial staffing up to the levels that are necessary 

3 to investigate and prosecute complex financial 

4 crimes. Only through effective law enforcement can 

5 we restore worldwide faith in American markets. 

6 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

7 (a) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES FOR THE FEDERAL

8 BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.—The Director of the Fed9 eral Bureau of Investigation is authorized to hire an addi10 tional 500 agents who shall be dedicated to investigating 

11 violations of the law relating to the United States financial 

12 markets. 

13 (b) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES FOR THE DEPARTMENT

14 OF JUSTICE.—The Attorney General is authorized to hire 

15 an additional 50 Assistant United States Attorneys who 

16 shall be dedicated to prosecuting violations of the law re17 lating to the United States financial markets. 

18 (c) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES FOR THE SECURITIES

19 AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, DIVISION OF ENFORCE20 MENT.—The Securities and Exchange Commission is au21 thorized to hire 100 additional enforcement staff members 

22 who shall be dedicated to prosecuting violations of the law 

23 relating to the United States financial markets. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 

Æ 


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