DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Countering the Threat of Terrorism

• Bolsters the national security functions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). $7.1 billion for the FBI, including $361 million in enhancements that will support FBI’s intelligence and counterterrorism programs, improve surveillance capabilities, bolster response to weapons of mass destruction, and protect the security of the Nation’s cyber systems.

• Strengthens the Department's National Security Division (NSD). $84 million in total resources for NSD, to support intelligence operations to combat terrorism and other threats to national security.

Arresting and Prosecuting Federal Criminals

• Combats identity theft and financial fraud. $178 million for the FBI's financial crime investigations, which have aided in strengthening cases leading to arrest and prosecution by the U.S. Attorneys. In 2007, the U.S. Attorneys charged 2,470 defendants under identify theft statutes and charged 8,566 defendants for white collar fraud, including bank fraud and embezzlement, as well as corporate, consumer, bankruptcy, securities, tax, commodities and other fraud.

• Continues the fight against obscenity and child pornography. $40 million for the FBI to investigate sexual predators that will lead to prosecution and conviction. The $36 million provided in 2007 for FBI investigations of sexual predators enabled the U.S. Attorneys under the Attorney General’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative to charge 2,218 defendants that year.

• Reduces procurement fraud and tax crimes. $47 million for investigating and prosecuting promoters of tax, procurement, and other corporate fraud.

Supporting State and Local Law Enforcement

• Funds the Violent Crime Reduction Partnership Initiative. $200 million targeted to support community-driven responses to increases in violent crime.

• Reforms the Byrne Public Safety and Protection Program. $200 million for State and local criminal justice needs, including Project Safe Neighborhoods, the DNA Initiative, Prisoner Re-entry, and other priorities, to be funded through competitive grants.

Fighting Criminal Activity on the U.S. Southwest Border

• Creates the Southwest Border Enforcement Initiative. $100 million in new resources to strategically focus Department of Justice law enforcement and prosecutorial efforts on the U.S. Southwest border to combat violent crime, gun smuggling, and illicit drug trafficking.

• Continues the fight against illegal drugs. $2.2 billion for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and $532 million for the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. Together, DEA and OCDETF fight the spread of illegal drugs and seek to dismantle and disrupt major drug trafficking organizations.

Supporting Essential Federal Detention and Incarceration Programs

Source: Carol Rodgers, Training Coordinator Firearms training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

• Funds Federal detention and incarceration programs. $5.5 billion for the Bureau of Prisons and $1.3 billion for the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee (OFDT), to ensure that Federal criminals and those awaiting trial or sentencing are safely and cost-effectively incarcerated and detained.

• Expands detention capacity. $50 million in new resources to increase the number of contract prison beds and $38 million to strengthen OFDT’s detention resources along the Southwest border.

Major Savings and Reforms

• More than 70 State and local law enforcement assistance programs representing over $2 billion in spending are proposed for consolidation into four flexible and competitive grants. This will eliminate earmarks and formulas and improve the ability of States, localities, and Tribes to respond to increases in violent crime by better targeting funds to key criminal justice priorities, including:

  • $200 million, Violent Crime Reduction Partnership;

  • $200 million, Byrne Public Safety and Protection Program;

  • $280 million, Violence Against Women Program; and

  • $185 million, Child Safety and Juvenile Justice Program.

Since 2001, the Department of Justice has:

• Transformed the FBI to improve the Nation’s ability to prevent and combat terrorism.

• Made more than $3 billion in investments in critical crime-fighting initiatives, including Project Safe Neighborhoods and the DNA Initiative, helping communities address violent crime.

• Provided more than $16 billion to DEA and OCDETF, leading to the disruption or dismantlement of over 5,000 major drug trafficking organizations.