Minister Pinter, Director Wegkamp, members of the Task Force, I am very pleased to be with you this morning and very pleased to be here in Budapest and delighted to have a chance to tour this facility. I think it's very impressive and has a very important role. The International Law Enforcement Academy here, and its counterparts in other regions, reflects the new realities of this new era. While other perils have diminished, the dangers posed by transnational crime have increased and these dangers are deadly and real. I don't have to tell you about the risks posed by transnational crime, or the damage that drugs, guns and violence can do to our families and to our communities.
Crime attracts terrorists and it drives investors away.
It slows development, it endangers democracy, and undermines public trust, and weakens the fabric of society. New technologies have helped us to improve the equipment that we are able to use or you are able to use fight crime. But they have also made it easier for criminals to operate across national lines. That makes it essential for the forces of law to cooperate across national borders. This joint U.S.-Hungarian Task Force is a model of such cooperation.