The Fiscal Year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill

1[House Hearing, 119 Congress]2[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]34               COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED5                AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 20266_______________________________________________________________________78                                 HEARINGS910                                 BEFORE A1112                           SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE1314                       COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS1516                         HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES1718                     ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS1920                              FIRST SESSION21                              ______________2223           SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND24                            RELATED AGENCIES2526                      HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky, Chair2728  DALE W. STRONG, Alabama,	GRACE MENG, New York,29    Vice Chair			 Ranking Member30  JOHN R. CARTER, Texas		GLENN IVEY, Maryland31  BEN CLINE, Virginia		JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York32  TONY GONZALES, Texas		MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania33  ANDREW S. CLYDE, Georgia	FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana34  MARK ALFORD, Missouri35  RILEY M. MOORE, West Virginia3637  NOTE: Under committee rules, Mr. Cole, as chairman of the full38committee, and Ms. DeLauro, as ranking minority member of the full39committee, are authorized to sit as members of all subcommittees.4041                Robert Yavor, Chris Esparza, Alley Adcock,42                Elizabeth Barczak and Christopher Eckhardt43                            Subcommittee Staff4445                             ___________________4647                                  PART 24849                                                                Page5051  Department of Commerce.........................................  152  Department of Justice.......................................... 9553  Public Testimony Submitted for the Record.................... . 1465455  [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABL IN TIFF FORMAT]56                          ________________________5758Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations5960                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE6162-425                     WASHINGTON : 202662_______________________________________________________________________6364                   HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS6566                                ----------67                      TOM COLE, Oklahoma, Chairman6869  HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky,70    Chairman Emeritus71  ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama72  MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho73  JOHN R. CARTER, Texas74  KEN CALVERT, California75  MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida76  STEVE WOMACK, Arkansas77  CHARLES J. ``CHUCK'' FLEISCHMANN,78    Tennessee79  DAVID P. JOYCE, Ohio80  ANDY HARRIS, Maryland81  MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada82  DAVID G. VALADAO, California83  DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington84  JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan85  JOHN H. RUTHERFORD, Florida86  BEN CLINE, Virginia87  GUY RESCHENTHALER, Pennsylvania88  ASHLEY HINSON, Iowa89  TONY GONZALES, Texas90  JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana91  MICHAEL CLOUD, Texas92  MICHAEL GUEST, Mississippi93  RYAN K. ZINKE, Montana94  ANDREW S. CLYDE, Georgia95  STEPHANIE I. BICE, Oklahoma96  SCOTT FRANKLIN, Florida97  JAKE ELLZEY, Texas98  JUAN CISCOMANI, Arizona99  CHUCK EDWARDS, North Carolina100  MARK ALFORD, Missouri101  NICK LaLOTA, New York102  DALE W. STRONG, Alabama103  CELESTE MALOY, Utah104  RILEY M. MOORE, West Virginia105106  ROSA L. DeLAURO, Connecticut,107    Ranking Member108  STENY H. HOYER, Maryland109  MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio110  JAMES E. CLYBURN, South Carolina111  SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia112  BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota113  DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida114  HENRY CUELLAR, Texas115  CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine116  MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois117  GRACE MENG, New York118  MARK POCAN, Wisconsin119  PETE AGUILAR, California120  LOIS FRANKEL, Florida121  BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey122  NORMA J. TORRES, California123  ED CASE, Hawaii124  ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York125  JOSH HARDER, California126  LAUREN UNDERWOOD, Illinois127  SUSIE LEE, Nevada128  JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York129  MIKE LEVIN, California130  MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania131  VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas132  FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana133  MARIE GLUESENKAMP PEREZ,134    Washington135  GLENN IVEY, Maryland136137                Susan Ross, Chief Clerk and Staff Director138139                                   (II)140141                    COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND142                    RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS.143                                FOR 2026144145                              ----------146147                                            Thursday, June 5, 2025.148149                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE150151                                WITNESS152153HON. HOWARD LUTNICK, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE154    Mr. Rogers. Good morning. The subcommittee will be in155order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a156recess at any time.157    Let me welcome everyone to this morning's hearing. Thank158you to our subcommittee members, and to Secretary for being159with us today for a good while.160    The fiscal year 2026 budget request comes at a time of161continued fiscal pressure. We must ensure every American162taxpayer dollar is used efficiently and continue to work to163reduce duplication across agencies and throughout the164government.165    The Department of Commerce's budget request totals $8.4166billion, a $1.8 billion, or 17 percent decrease from the167current level. The budget request includes funding for targeted168investments in tools to address unfair trade practices and169emphasizes important initiatives, such as American170manufacturing and trade enforcement.171    Specifically, it includes a 50 percent increase for the172bureau of industry and security to counter threats from China173and protect America's technological competitiveness.174    The budget request also includes a 20 percent increase for175the Census Bureau to continue providing reliable statistics.176    Overall, the Department of Commerce is charged with177protecting supply chain security, economic growth and job178creation, weather research and response, and economic data179analysis, all keystones imperative to American prosperity.180    On the international front, the department plays an181important role in protecting our industries from one-sided182trade practices, and strengthens supply chains that are key to183ensuring our economic security and global leadership.184    I have always been a big supporter of the Department of185Commerce. The department's core initiatives are vital to small186town economies across the country, including my district in187eastern Kentucky. One of the most critical components of188revitalizing rural America is expanding access to high-speed189reliable broadband. In far too many places a lack of broadband190access is not just an inconvenience, it is a barrier to191education, job creation, entrepreneurship, and even basic192healthcare.193    From EDA's emphasis on job creation and expanding economic194opportunity, to NOAA's local weather forecast offices that work195around the clock to send out alerts during times of severe196weather, the department's wide ranging responsibility requires197clear prioritization and accountability.198    We look forward to hearing from you, Mr. Secretary, how199this budget request furthers our shared goals of reducing200wasteful spending, ensuring global competitiveness, expanding201broadband, and driving economic development.202    Let me now recognize my ranking member of the subcommittee,203Ms. Meng.204    Ms. Meng. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you very much,205Mr. Secretary, for testifying today. And as a fellow New206Yorker, congratulations.207    We meet today to discuss the Commerce Department's fiscal208year 2026 budget request. At the same time I must express my209strong disappointment that we are still awaiting the complete210details of the budget request. We are also awaiting the full211legally required details of the Commerce Department's fiscal212year 2025 operating plan, despite the fact that such details213were legally required to be sent to our Appropriations214Committee more than a month ago.215    These delays are unacceptable. They are also disturbingly a216pattern that we have seen over the last four and a half months,217a pattern of significant and often illegal actions by Federal218agencies, including the Commerce Department.219    In most cases we have learned of these actions not from the220department itself, but from news media reporting, and from221grants and contract recipients whose critical grant funding and222contract extensions have been delayed or frozen often in direct223violation of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.224    We have also heard from numerous Federal workers who have225been fired without any good justification.226    The National Weather Service has taken a huge hit under227this administration. Hundreds of meteorologists and other228Weather Service employees were fired or felt pressured to sign229up for Elon Musk's deferred resignation program. As a result,230the National Weather Service has been scrambling to keep a231minimum staff at weather forecast offices around the country.232    This staffing shortage has also forced the Weather Service233to reduce its deployments of weather balloons, which have long234provided critical information for accurate weather forecasting235in local areas. This is all happening, by the way, right when236both hurricane season and wildfire seasons are just beginning.237    The Weather Service announced earlier this week that it is238moving its limited resources around, which will only change the239locations that are experiencing staffing shortages.240    It has also announced that it has received permission to241hire 126 new employees, but this is obviously far short of the242number of working employees the Weather Service has lost since243February.244    It is unclear when these new employees will be on-boarded,245let alone when they will be fully trained to the level of246performance of the recently departed weather service employees.247    Five former directors of the National Weather Service who248served under both Republican and Democratic administrations249wrote an open letter last month expressing their strong250concerns. They wrote that National Weather Service staff,251quote, ``will have an impossible task to continue its current252level of services. Not only are there fewer forecasters, but253there are also fewer electronic technicians responsible for254maintaining the critical NEXRAD radars. Our worst nightmare is255that weather forecast offices will be so understaffed that256there will be needless loss of life.'' Unquote.257    The administration is also holding back various emergency258designated fiscal year 2025 Commerce Department funds. This is259funding that Congress appropriated to support weather260forecasting, create and preserve American private sector jobs,261and protect our national security. Holding this funding back is262unacceptable, and the administration should issue the required263emergency designations immediately.264    The administration and the Commerce Department have265released some initial details regarding their fiscal year 2026266budget requests, most of which I find greatly concerning. For267example, the administration is proposing to end funding for the268Economic Development Administration, or EDA, contrary to your269testimony at your Senate confirmation hearing in which you270answered that you would maintain the programs at EDA.271    As you know, the EDA helps create jobs and economic272opportunities in distressed communities across the country, and273historically two-thirds of its budget has helped create jobs in274rural areas.275    The administration is also proposing to end funding for the276Minority Business Development Agency, or MBDA, again, contrary277to your testimony in which you answered that you did not278support dismantling MBDA.279    In addition, contrary to the Trump administration's stated280goal of bringing manufacturing jobs back to America, the Trump281administration is proposing to eliminate funding for the282Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, a successful283bipartisan program that helps small and medium sized U.S.284manufacturers in every State grow and improve their operations,285and create jobs.286    Furthermore, the budget request further effectively cuts287the operating budget of the National Weather Service in 2026.288It creates a real risk of a future gap in critical weather289satellite data. This needlessly risks lives, property and290public infrastructure across the country, especially during291periods of hurricanes, wildfires and other extreme weather292events.293    The administration proposes to slash funding for other294vital efforts, including grant funding to protect coastal and295Great Lakes communities, as well as funding to better study and296prepare for the consequences of climate change.297    I very much hope that the appropriations bill that our298subcommittee considers next month will reject these extreme299cuts.300    I look forward to further discussing these and other301concerns at today's hearing, and, again, thank you very much,302Mr. Secretary, for your testimony today.303    Mr. Rogers. Thank you, Ms. Meng. I would now like to304recognize our witness, Secretary Lutnick. Am I pronouncing that305correctly, Lutnick?306    Secretary Lutnick. You are.307    Mr. Rogers. For an opening statement.308    Secretary Lutnick. Thank you.309    Mr. Rogers. Without objection, your written statement will310be entered into the record, and we hope you can summarize in 5311minutes.312313                STATEMENT OF HON. HOWARD LUTNICK314315    Secretary Lutnick. I will do my best. Thank you, Chairman316Rogers, Ranking Member Meng, and the members of the317subcommittee. It is an honor for me to join you today.318    America is once again the most attractive destination for319investment in the world. Under President Trump's leadership,320the Department of Commerce is strengthening American industry321from the most popular to those industries that have been long322ignored.323    We are focused on building an America and driving our324economic growth, which will narrow the deficit and we will325deliver a new era of American innovation.326    Businesses are no longer looking overseas. They are327choosing to invest in America first. Through the President's328executive order establishing the investment accelerator in the329Department of Commerce, we have already secured trillions of330dollars of new commitments from world class companies and331sovereign wealth funds eager to build and invest in the United332States.333    This surge in investment, paired with renewed commitment to334fair and reciprocal trade is reigniting American's335manufacturing base. We are bringing car manufacturing back to336Michigan and Ohio. We are reopening steel mills in337Pennsylvania. And just last month Arizona welcomed the largest338semiconductor investment in the United States of America,339thanks to an investment of TSMC.340    The first chips deals that we are improving have now have341commitments more than doubling the $300 billion of investment342in America, and that is without spending any more taxpayer343dollars than those chips funds that you have already approved.344    So our Commerce Department is driving substantial345investments across America and benefiting the American346taxpayer.347    Critically, the President's America's first agenda goes348beyond just economic growth and investment. The President is349taking concrete actions to protect American workers, and our350national security.351    Under section 232, the Commerce Department is conducting352numerous investigations to protect, to reshore, and to revive353manufacturing capacity across our critical industries here in354America.355    The Trump administration is imposing tariffs and ending356loopholes. In April we ended the de minimus loophole which357allowed foreign companies to avoid paying tariffs on small358shipments which basically undercut American small business. New359export controls are protecting cutting edge technologies, and360finally protecting our critical industries, and protecting361American innovation.362    In fact, the Bureau of Industry and Security, working with363our partners in the Department of Justice, we have secured 22364criminal convictions, 32 arrests, 38 indictments, 231365detentions, and seized more than $185.5 million, and then we366did other types of seizures for another $40 million.367    Under this administration, the U.S. Patent and Trademark368Office is tackling a mountain of unexamined patent applications369left by the Biden administration, almost 800,000 unreviewed370patent applications, successfully reducing the inventory371backlog for the first time in 4 years. In the past 4 months372alone we have removed 50,000 fraudulent goods and services from373the trademark register that blocked the use of legitimate374products by American businesses.375    Many of these purported trademarks came from what they call376``specimen farms'' that are fake websites displaying products377that don't really exist.378    At NOAA we are transforming how we track storm and forecast379weather with cutting-edge technology. To improve the380understanding and prediction of how hurricanes intensify, this381season NOAA's research centers will deploy new small aircraft382drone systems and additional underwater gliders.383    This year the National Weather Service will be running an384experimental AI based forecast system, and all data we will385make publicly available.386    Today this commitment to innovation means earlier warnings387and increased accuracy for Americans no matter where they live.388    For far too long Americans have been unfairly treated by389foreign nations because we allowed them to take advantage of390our markets to the detriment of our own industry and Americans.391    Thanks to President Trump, and this administration's392efforts, we are reversing this trend by reshoring critical393manufacturing, eliminating unfair trade barriers and practices,394and investing in our American workforce.395    With your help, we will deliver growth and prosperity396across our great Nation. I deeply appreciate you inviting me397here today, and I look forward to answering your questions and398talking together.399    [The information follows:]400    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]401402    Mr. Rogers. Thank you, Secretary, for those words. We have403a full compliment of members of the subcommittee with us this404morning, and for that reason we will do our questioning under405the 5-minute rule.406    So, Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here. I yield myself4075 minutes.408    You touched on this somewhat already, but I wanted to ask409you about the Chinese Communist Party and their effect in this410country, and our bipartisan concern. From economic warfare, to411technological threats, China is seeking to obtain advantage of412our Nation, our people and our companies at all possible413opportunities.414    Again, summarize what we are doing to strengthen our415ability to counter China's unfair trade practices, protect416American intellectual property, and secure critical supply417chains and emerging technologies.418    Secretary Lutnick. The Chinese Communist Party seeks to419become the dominant culture of the world, and it uses our420knowledge, our innovation, and our entrepreneurial spirit421against us. It sends 100s of 1,000s of students to train and422learn here in order to build up their capacity to grow. They423copy our innovations.424    For example, if you see their airplanes, gosh, they look425just like the F-22 because they have copied our models and our426systems. They are trying to copy our technology. And in the427race for AI supremacy, they are behind us, but they are working428with a central government out to get us. Right. To beat us so429that they will have intellectual superiority over us.430    There are an AI race, and BIS, our bureau, is at the heart431of protecting America. And that is why we have sought an432increase in the budget, even though we are decreasing our433overall budget, we need to arm the Bureau of Industry and434Security to protect us and to help us keep key industries away435from the Chinese so that they can't just copy us all the time.436    Mr. Rogers. The budget request for BIS does not specify any437specific initiatives related to increasing oversight of438entities posing a threat to U.S. national security. Why is that439so?440    Secretary Lutnick. I would be happy to detail it either441here or in writing, but the idea is to add enforcement agents,442agents who carry weapons, agents who go and examine warehouses,443examine those people who are exporting, examine the imports,444find the particular items, and make sure we have export445controls are rigorously enforced. So that is the specific use446of the funds, is more people to protect and defend our export447controls. The policies the government make need to be448rigorously enforced, and we are trying to increase the449enforcement capacity because we just don't have enough450enforcement agents to do a great job.451    Mr. Rogers. Let me switch gears and ask you about the452National Weather Service. Kentucky has been the target of453floods and tornadoes and everything else. In fact, we lost 20454people 2 weeks ago in my hometown and adjoining area. I am455concerned about the implications of local weather forecast456offices operating at reduced staffing levels.457    Take, for example, the Jackson Kentucky office, which is458currently operating with multiple vacancies and no permanent459meteorologist. What can we do about that? What steps are being460taken to ensure NOAA's local weather forecast offices have the461resources, the technology and staffing to issue timely accurate462warnings and protect lives in high-risk communities?463    Secretary Lutnick. All weather collection technology is in464full force and effect, our satellites, our balloons, all465sources are in full force and effect. The National Weather466Service employs 2,100 meteorologists. Less than 130 took early467retirement. It is fake news and inappropriate to suggest a468single meteorologist or hydrologist was fired. That is469preposterous and silly.470    Less than 5 percent chose to retire. And we, using these471responsible--Commerce Department sought and were granted the472ability to hire those people, the same number, so we will have473no reduction in force. Our National Hurricane Center has full474staff.475    And I want you to understand just the last portion what you476said, we have numerous regional offices which are generally477small, and, you know, they usually have three or four478meteorologists, and these exist because the data is locally479hardwired into old computers with hard drives and green480screens. If I showed it to you you would be embarrassed.481    The idea is to automate that, to put it on the cloud so482that the 2,100 meteorologists we have, and the 100s of483hydrologists that we have can forecast the weather from central484locations and back up each other and be more appropriate.485    So I think the technological advancements we will make over486the next year or two years will totally change these things.487But I want to be crystal clear, every single person, the488National Weather Service, we are at full staff, we have full489capacity, and we will have the best forecasting capacity that490we possibly can to protect Americans. And I will not sleep if491that were not true. That is required of you, of me, and of the492America, that we deliver that for American people, and I493promise you we are.494    Mr. Rogers. Ms. Meng.495    Ms. Meng. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am glad to hear the496status update of the regional local weather offices. It is497very--your testimony and the numbers are really different from498what has been reported in the press. We just want to make sure,499you know, whether it is New York, my home State, or States like500Kentucky which have gone through such horrible circumstances,501and our condolences to your constituents and their families,502Mr. Chair, we want to make sure that our local communities can503be prepared.504    I know that you are saying it is inconsistent from the505reporting. Would you or your team be able to provide statistics506and just more accounting of what has happened, where there are507retired or layoffs, just so we can all be on the same page if508you do think it is inconsistent with the press reporting?509    Secretary Lutnick. Sure. There were no layoffs. As I said510there, were less than 5 percent retirements, and we have the511authority to replace them. But that turnover is historically512lower than it has normally been. As you can imagine, people are513entitled to retire who have worked at the department. But I514would be glad to give you very specific details. Be my515pleasure.516    Ms. Meng. Okay. Thank you so much. I wanted to switch gears517and ask about the Census Bureau. In April, NPR reported that518the hiring freeze and recent Census Bureau staff departures,519including those of five division or office chiefs, are raising520concerns about whether the Census Bureau can continue producing521reliable statistics for this country.522    Acting Director Ron Jarmin also recently noted that the523Bureau lost more than 1,000 employees in recent months. We have524heard warnings that the reports of Elon Musk and the DOGE team525accessing sensitive personal data of Americans at other Federal526agencies could also undermine public trust in the Census527Bureau.528    Mr. Secretary, what are you doing to address these529concerns?530    Secretary Lutnick. Again, my capacity to communicate531throughout this administration has made the Department of532Commerce well situated. We are not losing staff in ways that we533don't want to under any circumstances. We are able to fulfill534all of our mission at the Census Bureau.535    The Census Bureau is one of the great statistical places in536our government, our capacity to analyze and statistically think537things through. If you couple that in its full--the Bureau of538Economic Analysis. Right. Where we live and we do GDP. That is539a great center of statistical capacity. And I think--so we have540sought to add to the Commerce Department the Bureau of Labor541Statistics so that CPI--I mean, shouldn't we have all of the542great statisticians in the government working together. Again,543these are the same concepts, which is use technology, use544automation. I mean, the idea that the Bureau of Labor545Statistics has enumerators calling around and asking for data546when technology makes that amazingly capable, and we could do547so much better, so we are seeking to use technology.548    But I can promise you, the census is both well staffed,549and, more importantly, brilliantly covered by statisticians who550are great at doing their job. And I am really excited for the551structure of how the census will work going forward. But you552won't hear anything about weakness. And accuracy, I am not553saying the fake news doesn't like to just say these things, but554it is just not true. And I will happily send you those555statistics as well because you will be very comfortable with556the Department of Commerce.557    Ms. Meng. Thank you. And just to follow up with that,558recently you terminated the three advisory committees. There559are also scheduled only two major field tests in 2026. Can you560provide us an update on the field tests, when are they561scheduled, and what are the changes to the questions about race562and ethnicity, and also talk about the advisory committees.563    Secretary Lutnick. The advisory committees were set up--564again, many of these things were set up long ago and they have565sort of run their course. And we didn't really understand what566type of advisory committee we need to understand how to do a567census. It didn't seem logical.568    With respect to the questionnaire, we have not considered569that as of yet, so I don't--we just have not spent the time570thinking about those topics. The decennial census is quite far571away, and we have plenty of time to think about that going572forward.573    Ms. Meng. Thank you. I yield back.574    Mr. Rogers. Judge Carter.575    Mr. Carter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And welcome, Mr.576Secretary. My district in central Texas has become a leader in577semiconductor production thanks to strong partnerships between578the State, their local political organizations, the industry,579the universities, and the workforce training centers, including580programs tailored for veterans and military families.581    How is the department supporting these types of locally582driven efforts, and what more can be done to accelerate the583pipeline of skilled American workers entering the semiconductor584industry?585    Secretary Lutnick. Workforce training will be a centerpiece586of the Trump administration, and I have been tasked to be part587of the team to build that. So if the trillions of dollars that588the Trump administration is bringing in to invest in America to589build and to operate those gigantic production facilities, to590reshore manufacturing, we need to train great Americans to be,591you know, we say HVAC technicians. You realize these factories592have these really high-tech closed loop cooling systems.593Amazing. But training our workforce to do this is really a key594part of the administration.595    I think we will train 5 million Americans for these great596jobs that are coming, just like that semiconductor plant in597Arizona, I mean, 3,000 jobs for each plant and they are598building 10 of them. So these are just great jobs coming. And599Texas I know is going to have a great participation in that,600and both you--use the schools, and I think it will be an601extraordinary outcome for Americans.602    Mr. Carter. Well, Samsung is being a good neighbor in my603district, and I am real proud of what they are doing.604    As a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I605have remained deeply concerned about the national security risk606tied to our reliance on foreign-made semiconductor components.607What step is the department taking to reduce our dependence on608overseas manufacturing, particularly for chips that support609critical defense systems.610    Secretary Lutnick. Taiwan produces 90 percent of the611world's wafers, which then chip apart, and that becomes chips.612So the United States has a demand for 10 million sort of high-613end wafers, and we, with the increase of $100 billion614investment that the Trump administration was able to bring in615from TSMC, we will get to about 12 percent production. Woefully616inefficient.617    And I think what you are going to see is the Trump618administration is going to be very very focused on bringing619chip production to America, and the full supply chain to620America, that is going to bring in probably between $500621billion and a trillion dollar investment, and you are going to622see that across the United States of America.623    And the Trump administration is very very focused on trying624to get up to 5 million wafers during this administration, which625will be a record breaking speed, but I think it is very626important for exactly the topic you raised.627    Mr. Carter. Well, that is fantastic. I am encouraged, we628are encouraged by the launch of the United States investment629accelerator and appreciate your continued focus on revitalizing630American manufacturing.631    Can you share more about how the rollout of this new office632will take shape, and are there other--any early projects we can633expect, particularly those that support the development of634critical defense related semiconductor technology?635    Secretary Lutnick. It has been too slow, the process to636build a great factory and a great advanced manufacturing637facility in America. Generally it has taken 3 plus years from638start to finish. And so the idea of the investment accelerator639is exactly that, to assign, if you are willing to invest more640than $10 billion, assign your direct contact that will help you641with permitting, regulation, and be a one government response642to help you take that from 3 years, let's try to get it to 18643months so we can double our building capacity, focused on644semiconductors, of course, but across all industry, and that is645how we have been able to recruit over, just the department646itself, over $5 trillion of investment commitment and that we647are taking care of how quickly they can build in America.648    Mr. Carter. Fantastic. I yield back.649    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Ivey.650    Mr. Ivey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Mr.651Secretary. I wanted to join quickly with the comments from the652chair and the ranking member regarding NOAA. And I hear your653point about fake news and numbers, but I will say this, I mean,654I have two NOAA installations in my district, and headquarters655is, I don't know, just a couple of miles across the line, and I656heard a very different story than what you are saying about657people being forced out of there. But I look forward to getting658the answers that you provide here.659    I also saw your comments with respect to Senator Van Hollen660yesterday. I look forward to seeing your responses to his661questions, too.662    I wanted to ask you about MBDA, which the ranking member663raised as well. During your confirmation hearing on January66429th before the Senate Commerce Committee, Senator Blunt665Rochester asked, yes or no, do you support dismantling the666MBDA, and you said, I do not.667    Now, I got the skinny budget numbers here and its got EDA668and MBDA combined with a cut for $624 million. And then the669narrative connected with that, it says, that MBDA, the agency670is fully eliminated.671    So I wanted to ask you what changed, and what is the status672of MBDA at this point?673    Secretary Lutnick. MBDA is not being fully eliminated. That674is inaccurate. We are reducing it to its statutory minimum675size, as is appropriate. The problem I see with MBDA----676    Mr. Ivey. Could I ask before you move on, what that does677mean, statutory minimum size?678    Secretary Lutnick. It means that it is required by law to679be a certain size, and we will have it be a certain size.680    Mr. Ivey. What size is that?681    Secretary Lutnick. It was 65 people. I think it is at less682than 10 people.683    Mr. Ivey. Okay. And why are you doing that?684    Secretary Lutnick. These are both small size--the problem685is the GAO gives me a report that says there are 80 other686programs and 80 institutions that are so much larger, 10 times687larger that achieve the same outcomes and we are just too small688and too inefficient to do it correctly. So I think we are689better served with other programs----690    Mr. Ivey. I apologize. I have a couple other areas to hit.691I would love to see that GAO report. I want to know what those69280 other entities are because I am not aware of them. Maybe SBA693has an overlap with the MBDA mission, but the other--I don't694know what those other ones could be. But I look forward to695hearing back from you on that because I think it is an696important agency, it is statutory, so it needs to be697maintained, certainly at some level, and there is a lot of698benefit from it.699    I would also mention the Congressional Black Caucus sent700you a letter on this issue and asked for a response by April70118th. I don't think we have received it yet, so I would ask702that you provide that response as well.703    Let me move quickly to Quantum Technology. This is kind of704a quicker point for me, but Quantum Computing, this chart shows705basically funding by governments. China, as you can see, far706outpaces the United States. We have got a couple of other----707    Secretary Lutnick. I couldn't see it, but I was guessing708the top bar--I didn't need to see the words. I got the point.709    Mr. Ivey. Fair enough. Fair enough. Well, here is the710question, because this is concerning, obviously, and you711touched on this a bit in your opening testimony, although you712only talked about the enforcement side of competition with713China, and clearly they are stealing a lot of our data, but714they are also committing a lot of engineers, scientists and715resources to outpacing us on the legitimate size of this, too,716from the competitive side. I don't see that being reflected in717not, just the Commerce Department, but the overall U.S. budget.718    IonQ is a company in my district. It is a spinoff from the719University of Maryland's incubator. We have a lot of those720across the country.721    Quick point, man, I am out of time already, the cuts that722are being made, and there is an article I will submit for the723record here, World Scientists Look Elsewhere as U.S. Labs724Stagger Under Trump Cuts. New York Times, Cuts in Research, and725a Scientist is Brain Drain. As we push these people out, I726mean, you can shake your head if you want, but I went to a727visit IonQ, and one of the things that came up was, I was like,728how many of these people are from the United States, and he729said not many. And I said why is that, and he said, well, in730part because the pipeline isn't supplying these here in the731United States, so we go overseas to get many of them.732    And one last quick point on this, a venture capital firm I733had a chance to meet with said that they invest, I think there734are about 30 of these they invest in, they started setting up735shop in Canada because they can get their engineers and736scientists from overseas quicker over there. They don't have to737go through the immigration piece. So we are losing money on738that front.739    So I look forward to hearing from you on that. Mr.740Chairman, I apologize for the overrun, and I appreciate your741generosity.742    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Cline.743    Mr. Cline. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, I744appreciate you being here. As you have highlighted concerns745about the potential for unfair treatment of American tech746companies in the EU, which could potentially force them to make747costly operational changes, can you share with us some of the748steps the U.S. government is taking to promote a level playing749field and prevent discriminatory practices like excess fines,750enforced business model changes under regulations like their751Digital Markets Act?752    Secretary Lutnick. This is a key topic for us in our trade753negotiations with the European Union. We have a huge trade754deficit in goods with the European Union, $235 billion, so they755are just getting great advantage of us. And so part of our756reciprocity is--they also attack our great technology companies757because they don't have them, so they write these bills, but758basically they could just write America in the bill because759they are only attacking great American companies. And it is the760Trump administration's view that that is unacceptable. That if761you want to have a trade deal with us, you are going to take762your foot off of the necks of the great American companies and763treat them with respect, especially if you are taking this much764advantage from us. So we are looking at that as a one combined765way of thinking, and that is why we get calls from American766companies that say thank God someone is finally looking out for767us.768    Mr. Cline. Can you elaborate on what steps the U.S. would769take if the EU tries to regulate American AI through DMA or770other regulatory means?771    Secretary Lutnick. The President has made it clear that772EU's trade, and that they have a $235 billion trade surplus773with us, and he will say, well, if you are going to treat us774poorly, we are going to treat you poorly. And if you want to775treat us well, we will treat you well. Let's be reciprocal in776how we treat each other. You are taking advantage of us--and I777think the President will make sure, since we are the inventor778of all of the leading AI chips of the world, we, America, are779the inventors. We create it all. We make them in Taiwan, that780is another topic, but we invent it all. We need to protect our781intellectual property, and we need to make sure our compute782power is here in America.783    Mr. Cline. Mr. Secretary, in your testimony you mentioned784the removal of more than 50,000 fraudulent goods and services785from the trademark register. Can you expound upon your efforts786to counter trademark fraudsters, especially those that are787foreign entities?788    Secretary Lutnick. What is common is that a great American789company puts a trademark out, or even a young American company,790and these other companies, and generally China is the leader in791it, but they are not exclusively, they then file 1,000s of792trademarks modifying it slightly all around it and sort of793circle you and circle you and use our laws against us. And so794the idea is for us to bring technology to the patent office,795find them all and get rid of them so that we can protect our796American companies' trademarks and make it proper instead of797being sort of surrounded by these AI created trademarks. And798that is the technology we are bringing to the patent office.799    The Commerce Department is going to be so much more800technologically capable when we are done with this801administration you won't be able to recognize it as compared to802what was there before.803    Mr. Cline. Let me ask you about the BEAD program. Yesterday804you told our Senate colleagues that States must choose the805cheapest option under the BEAD program. Under the previous806administration, we know mismanagement and misguided attempts at807policy outcomes like rate regulation significantly slowed the808implementation of that program. Can you comment as to what809steps you are taking to deliver on what the previous President810was unable to do, and can you clarify how you define cheapest811option?812    Secretary Lutnick. Sure. The Congress authorized broadband813access to--across America, and I want to make sure we get the814benefit of the bargain, which means there are three ways you815can do it. You can do it by fiber, you can do it by what is816called fixed wireless, like WiFi we all understand, and, of817course, there is satellite. Whichever is the most efficient818option to get somebody broadband, that should be the only rule.819Let's have the outcome be the determiner. And if it is a tie,820then, of course, we don't care at all which one you pick. But821don't run fiber--they had proposals where they were running822$100,000 fiber to a house that was appraised at $100,000, and823that is silly. So whichever is reasonable. So what we have824asked all the States to do is rebid just with reasonable825technology, and then we will get the money out of the door.826    In the calendar year 2025, the Biden administration had 30827months and they got zero out the door. So that is the828difference between the Trump administration and the Biden829administration. We will get the money out the door.830    Mr. Cline. Thank you for keeping the taxpayers in mind. I831appreciate it. I yield back.832    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Morelle.833    Mr. Morelle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling us834together. And thank you, Mr. Secretary. Also, as a fellow New835Yorker I congratulate you on your appointment.836    You mentioned earlier the mission of the U.S. Commerce837Department. You said nothing will take away from our mission.838How would you in a sentence describe the mission of the839Commerce Department?840    Secretary Lutnick. To protect, to defend and to enhance841business in the United States of America.842    Mr. Morelle. The mission, according to the Commerce843Department, is to create the conditions for economic growth and844opportunities for all communities, you agree with that845definition as well?846    Secretary Lutnick. Sounds excellent.847    Mr. Morelle. Okay. Great. And I apologize, you know, 5848minutes is so little time, we could have a much longer849conversation, and I hope we will have the opportunity to do850that, I want to also just reiterate what people said. This is851not your choice, but I would pass along to the President that852doing budget hearings when we don't have a budget is really853hard to do. It is hard to drill down on numbers that we don't854have, priorities that you have.855    I appreciate you being here. I appreciate you defending the856administration's approach. But it is really hard to do, so I857just--you don't need to respond to that.858    But I would love if you would provide, to whatever detail859you can, the trillions of dollars investment that have been860made during the last couple of months and how we were able to861achieve the commitments of those trillions.862    I will note, because this subcommittee had a fair amount to863do with the CHIPS and Science Act, that I suspect much of the864chip investment being made, whether it is in Texas, or whether865it is in Arizona, or made in upstate New York in Syracuse, is866partly by the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. I hope you will867continue to--continue those efforts.868    I have to say that in talking to folks, both in my region869in upstate New York, but throughout the State and other folks870in the business world, what I hear about most is the need for871predictability. And I have to say that most of the commentary872that I hear from CEOs is the lack of predictability caused873largely by the tariff situation has made it nearly impossible,874whether you are a business large or small, to make judgments875about where you will deploy capital and where you will deploy876workforce.877    As decisions are made to advance tariffs, sometimes878reciprocal, sometimes--and then retrench, and then put them879back in place, retrench again, that what I am hearing, and this880different clearly than what you are hearing because I feel like881we live in maybe an alternative reality, that many people are882not making decisions at all on investment because they don't883know whether the President intends to follow through, even the884most recent announcements that there is another 90-day pause,885during the 90-day period people are saying I don't know what886this means, should I move ahead, should I not move ahead, are887we going to pull back, are we going to advance, what should I888be telling them about predictability, which is so important. I889mean, you are a former CEO, you know this in your business890world, predictability and what you can expect both from your891government and from the markets is so critical in making892decisions about investment policy.893    Secretary Lutnick. We had a bad deal in America that894produced a $1.2 trillion trade deficit. So fixing that will895take some time. It will not take a lot of time, but it will896take time.897    I view letting the greatest dealmaker that the United898States has who is in the oval office, let him make the deals.899He is making the deals. I am working on them all the time. The900deal for America will be opening access to markets that have901been closed for hundreds of billions of dollars, and then902charging and protecting industries which have been attacked by903foreigners, like steel and aluminum, where the foreign904governments, they give--imagine a steel blast furnace, you905think how that melts, they give free or very cheap energy and906they make it unfair.907    So we are just going to get to a better deal for America,908and it won't take that long, but it is a better deal for909America.910    Mr. Morelle. Well, look, I appreciate it. I think many911people would not agree with your assessment that the occupant912of the White House is the greatest dealmaker ever. I am913certainly not the greatest dealmaker ever, and I have never914gone bankrupt in businesses that I have been involved in. So I915am not sure I rely on it. But I also don't want to rely on a916single individual.917    But to my point, the advancing of tariffs and then bringing918them back and causing--that goes to the predictability issue. I919don't know how people can rely on what the tariff situation is920going to be even when the courts in the United States have said921emergency powers expressed by the President are well beyond922what was envisioned by the Congress.923    So on predictability, I will just say because I think we924will probably agree to disagree, I would just leave you with925what I am hearing from people is not making investments, not926being willing to make decisions because they don't know what to927rely on.928    And, frankly, I don't want to get into name calling, I know929what people have said about the President and the whole thing,930that is not important to me. What is important to me is931advancing American interests. And, look, that is what we were932trying to do in the past for all the criticisms of the previous933administration, both Congress and the administration were934interested in investing in core industries that were so vital935to our national and economic security.936    I would love to talk to you further whether in settings937like this or offline because I really do think we all want to938advance American interests. So thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield939back.940    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Gonzales.941    Mr. Gonzales. Thank you, Chairman. And thank you, Mr.942Secretary. It is a breath of fresh air to have a nonbureaucrat943come up here and not give bureaucratic answers on very complex944situations. So thank you for that.945    You have a great team. Harry is doing a great job for you946all. You have built a wonderful organization.947    I applaud the administration, in a very short period of948time President Trump is making America great again, and he is949doing it through executive orders. I look forward to working950with my colleagues here to make sure we codify those long term.951    I will start off with a softball on trade. You know, I952represent nearly, nearly half of the overall southern border. I953appreciate the work the administration is doing to ensure our954foreign partners are aligned in the same direction when it955comes to strengthening our economic and national security956alliances.957    In particular, communities in my district, which spans over958800 miles, are dependent on strong reliable partnerships with959Mexico and our Latin American countries to strengthen national960security, public safety, and promote economic prosperity.961    How can we leverage the relationship between U.S. and962Mexico to strengthen our North American footprint to compete963against our foreign adversaries like China?964    Secretary Lutnick. Mexico is a huge trading partner of965America. What has happened is NAFTA allowed, you know,966corporate chieftains to take their factories out of Michigan967and out of Ohio and move it where there is cheaper labor. So968they attacked American workers for the benefit of corporate969profits.970    Now, Mexico has amazing assets. They have got great energy.971They have got great people. So the idea is let's figure out972together with Mexico the businesses that they should be in.973They should be in the mining business. They should be in the974refining business. There are enormous businesses that would975really sit well in Mexico. And so what we need to do is sort of976rethink the relationship so that we harness their assets.977    But they don't--we don't do it by stealing ours. It is978illogical that we are making cars in Mexico for Americans. That979is just illogical, and the President calls it out. But there980are enormous things that we can leverage and lean on on our981great partner just to our south in Mexico to enhance their982business, and, of course, then enhance the ability for us to983import and to do business together.984    I think the relationship will be great. It just needs to be985reimagined in a way that takes care of American workers and986doesn't just, you know, give them a hard time.987    Mr. Gonzales. Yeah. Part of my conversations with Mexican988leadership is we are always going to be neighbors. Always.989Right. And I want us to be partners, and I want us to be990working together on some of these same issues and find--you991know, when Mexico is strong, we are strong. When we are strong,992Mexico is strong, and vice versa.993    When things are rough--I don't want to have security issues994along the border that spill over because they are in a tough995economic situation.996    I look forward to talking--you know, working together and997finding, you know, how we can find these industries that really998can--they can lean on.999    My next question is on autonomous vehicles. The United1000States pioneered the development of autonomous vehicle1001technology. We are home to Tesla whose leadership in driver1002assistance system position leads us to lead the world in full1003autonomy. As the Chinese Communist Party aggressively ramps up1004its own EV development, we can't afford to fall behind.1005    I understand that on January 16th, 2025, the Department of1006Commerce, BIS, which you spoke about earlier, issued a final1007rule to safeguard our national security by restricting certain1008ICTS transactions involving foreign adversaries, including1009those related to connected vehicle systems and automated1010driving software.1011    What other actions is the Department of Commerce taking to1012ensure the United States maintains the global leadership in1013autonomous vehicle technology?1014    Secretary Lutnick. I would just point out that January 16th1015is a running out the door policy by the Biden administration.1016    So the Department of Commerce is deeply considering working1017closely with industry to make sure we are enhancing both our EV1018industry, and, importantly, that you spoke about the connection1019between AI and really manufacturing, bringing those two1020together, that includes both advanced manufacturing, and, of1021course, like autonomous vehicles, which is another example of1022that.1023    So I think we are very focused on that, and you are going1024to see new rules coming out of the Trump administration that1025would be more along the lines of what you would hope, which is1026industry and government working closely together to make sure1027we are the winner.1028    Mr. Gonzales. Good. Because this is the future. This is--we1029are not--we are not reading it in a book. We are living in it,1030and we need to lead on that. I certainly look forward to1031continuing to working with you. Thank you again for your1032testimony. Chairman, I yield back.1033    Mr. Rogers. Ms. Dean.1034    Ms. Dean. Thank you, Chairman Rogers. Thank you, Ranking1035Member Meng. Thank you, Ranking Member DeLauro. And thank you1036to you, Secretary Lutnick. Thanks for being here today.1037    I want to pick up on what Mr. Morelle was talking about,1038and I will use the word stability. And I think you know this1039from your many years in business, and that is what I thought1040about as I was preparing for today, the importance of1041stability, or as he said, predictability. Stability is the1042foundation of economic growth. I think you have lived it.1043Businesses need clear and predictable rules to plan and to1044invest for the future.1045    Given this administration's claim of being probusiness and1046progrowth, I am so baffled by the discussions around trade1047deficits, and the President's belief around trade deficits, and1048the President's beliefs around tariffs and the chaotic tariff1049policy. They are on. They are off. Many of the tariffs are1050punishing, creating a level of instability and uncertainty in1051our economy that we haven't seen since COVID.1052    I hear the same thing over and over from constituents, from1053small businesses, from bankers in my area, they can't figure1054out how to plan, how to lend. Businesses can't figure out how1055to expand, how to grow, whether to hire, whether to not hire.1056    And I heard just literally this morning from a very large1057American retailer, first word out of the woman's mouth was1058uncertainty, and the last thing she said to me was uncertainty,1059all surrounding tariffs, the lack of predicability.1060    I also serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee, was recently1061in U.K. and Denmark, met with the American Chamber in both1062countries, confused, uncertain, they can't figure it out, what1063in God's name is going on. We cannot plan to grow businesses.1064We cannot plan to grow growth and jobs. So I am baffled,1065absolutely baffled by this administration's talk around trade1066deficits and tariffs.1067    I fear the administration lacks a basic understanding of1068what a trade deficit is. I think many economists take issue1069with equating a country's trade deficit with any one country1070and its economic wellbeing.1071    Some economists actually view a trade deficit as a sign of1072a country's economic health because it means we are purchasing1073more.1074    For me, I have a pretty large trade deficit with my local1075grocer, or my hairdresser. It is a good thing. It means I have1076money enough to get my hair done once in a while, and to keep1077food on the table. It tells nothing about my overall financial1078position.1079    Do you know when this country actually had a trade surplus,1080Secretary?1081    Secretary Lutnick. We have had trade surplus--the President1082likes to speak about before----1083    Ms. Dean. Historically, when did we have a trade surplus? I1084am not talking about the President. Historically.1085    Secretary Lutnick. I think early--about 100 years ago.1086    Ms. Dean. It was the Great Depression. It was a sign of1087what was going on. It was during the Great Depression. That is1088a direction none of us wants to go.1089    Tariffs. It is 90 days. We are going to have 90 deals in 901090days, then there is a 90-day pause. Many of these tariffs, as1091they say, punishing. Tariffs on things that make no sense1092whatsoever. Where are we going to go with the remaining deals?1093    I know of one deal that has been apparently resolved with1094the United Kingdom. We got 89 more deals to do in just a few1095more days? Where are we on those deals?1096    Secretary Lutnick. We are in the midst of negotiations with1097dozens and dozens of countries. We could sign deals, but they1098are only going to get better as we negotiate them.1099    Ms. Dean. That is just simply not true, because as I told1100you, the American----1101    Secretary Lutnick. Actually, I promise you it is true,1102because I am doing it. So I promise you it is true, and I am1103here testifying in front of you, and I promise you it is true.1104    Ms. Dean. And Mr. Trump promised to bring down the cost of1105goods day one. And what he has done through his trade deficit1106fixation and his tariff chaos has nakedly increased the cost of1107goods. The estimates are that for consumers in my area,1108suburban Philadelphia, $2,000 at least a year increases on1109goods.1110    I will give you an example of one. Bananas. What is the1111tariffs on bananas? Americans, by the way, love bananas. We buy1112billions of them a year. I love bananas. What is the tariff on1113bananas?1114    Secretary Lutnick. The tariff on bananas would be1115representative of the countries that produce them.1116    Ms. Dean. And what is that tariff?1117    Secretary Lutnick. Generally, 10 percent.1118    Ms. Dean. Correct. Ten percent. Walmart has already1119increased the cost of bananas by 8 percent, recognizing----1120    Secretary Lutnick. But as countries do deals with us, that1121will go to zero. As countries do deals with us, that will go to1122zero.1123    Ms. Dean. But the cost is on the American consumer now and1124on the businesses with the confusion now. Mr. Secretary, I1125believe you know better. I believe you recognize that a trade1126deficit is not something to fear. I believe you know that1127predictability, stability is essential for businesses. I wish1128you would show that truth to this administration.1129    And I yield back.1130    Mr. Rogers. The time of the gentlelady has expired.1131    Secretary Lutnick. Do you mind, Mr. Chairman, if I make one1132quick comment to the end? Would that be okay?1133    Mr. Rogers. I am sorry?1134    Secretary Lutnick. Would you mind if I make one quick1135comment to the Representative?1136    Mr. Rogers. Sure, please.1137    Secretary Lutnick. There is no uncertainty if you build in1138America and you produce your product in America, there will be1139no tariff.1140    Ms. Dean. We can't produce bananas in America.1141    Secretary Lutnick. So the concept of building in America1142and paying no tariff is very, very clear.1143    Ms. Dean. We cannot build bananas in America.1144    Mr. Rogers. The time of the gentlelady has expired.1145    Mr. Clyde.1146    Mr. Clyde. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.1147    And thank you, Secretary Lutnick, for appearing before the1148subcommittee today. First, I want to mention that, as I read1149your biography, I noticed that you have been awarded the1150Department of the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award.1151And as a 28-year Navy officer myself, I want to congratulate1152you as this public service award is the highest honor granted1153to nonmilitary personnel by the Navy. So congratulations, sir;1154job well done.1155    Secretary Lutnick. Thank you.1156    Mr. Clyde. Last November, the American people decisively1157elected President Trump with a mandate to restore common sense1158in Washington, including the mission of reducing the size,1159scope, and cost of the Federal Government. Thankfully,1160President Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget delivers on that1161promise by charting a course to rein in Federal spending. It1162proposes a 22.6 percent reduction in nondefense discretionary1163spending, $163 billion cut from the fiscal year 2025 levels.1164    As a member of both the House Budget and the Appropriations1165Committee, I strongly support this effort and remain committed1166to restoring fiscal sanity, ensuring that future generations1167are not burdened by Washington's reckless spending addiction.1168And that is right, I say Washington has an addiction problem.1169It is an addiction to OPM. That is other people's money, OPM.1170    Washington needs to go to rehab for this spending1171addiction, and I was encouraged to see that your budget request1172reduces the Department of Commerce's footprint by $1.751173billion, a 17 percent decrease from the fiscal year 20251174enacted level. And your proposal rightly eliminates duplicative1175programs within the Economic Development Administration and the1176Minority Business Development Agency, and curtails over a1177billion in Federal dollars that the Biden-Harris administration1178funneled into radical climate initiatives, research, and grant1179programs. So thank you for that.1180    The Department of Commerce's budget request also includes a1181historic investment in the Bureau of Industry and Security.1182Now, that bureau is also responsible for a rule issued in April1183of 2024, an interim final rule, which makes permanent the pause1184on firearm export licenses, severely restricting U.S.1185manufacturers from exporting firearms, ammunition, and1186components. This rule shortens licensed durations from 4 years1187to 1 and requires case-by-case approval. It also revoked around11882,000 previously approved export licenses, forcing companies to1189reapply.1190    So, Mr. Secretary, does the Department of Commerce have any1191plans to rescind this Biden administration interim final rule?1192How are we going to handle that?1193    Secretary Lutnick. Yes. We are looking into it now, and I1194find that inconsistent with our views, so we are examining it1195now and you should expect us to comment on it shortly.1196    Mr. Clyde. Thank you. Thank you very much. I encourage you1197in every way to rescind that rule. I think it is very, very1198damaging to the firearms industry. And I think that, you know,1199that is a very important industry in this country because it1200has to deal with our constitutional rights.1201    Now, I would also like to address the tariffs and give you1202an opportunity to talk about that. For far too long, the U.S.1203has been disadvantaged by countries across the globe due to1204unfair trade practices. These longstanding trade imbalances1205have led to the off-shoring of manufacturing and have1206undermined critical supply chains, which have resulted in some1207of our defense industrial base becoming dependent on foreign1208adversaries. Ultimately, the status quo trading system that we1209currently have has failed our workforce, threatened our1210national security, and left small town America behind.1211    Thankfully, President Trump is bringing countries across1212the globe to the negotiating table, ensuring that our economic1213policies remain America First and ensuring everyday American1214workers and families do not continue to be disadvantaged.1215    Can you speak to your role and that of the Department in1216the trade negotiation process, and could you highlight the1217successful trade agreement that was previously mentioned with1218the United Kingdom that President Trump recently secured?1219    Secretary Lutnick. My role is to assist in opening markets1220for our ranchers, for our farmers, and for our manufacturers so1221they can sell their goods in markets that were always precluded1222from our manufacturers and our farmers having access. That is1223number one.1224    And number two, to break open the barriers that these1225countries put up to keep us out even without tariffs. So if we1226break them down and we open those markets, America will1227flourish. Remember, $1.2 trillion of us buying from them means12284 percent of annual, our GDP, the largest country in the world,1229we are giving to other countries. If we had that domestically1230produced, our growth rate would be 6 percent, our deficit would1231go away by math, and we would be the winner in the world, and1232that is what the President is all about.1233    Mr. Clyde. Well, thank you. Mr. Secretary, it is nice to1234see a successful businessman in charge of the Department of1235Commerce.1236    And with that, I yield back. Thank you.1237    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Mrvan.1238    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.1239    Mr. Secretary, it is a pleasure. I reside--I represent1240northwest Indiana, the steel--top steel producing capital1241within the Nation. With that, giving credit where credit is1242due, section 232 helped our steel industry, our steelworkers,1243and also our trades in the first administration. Now, as we go1244through this----1245    Secretary Lutnick. So they are happy, right? Your1246constituents are happy.1247    Mr. Mrvan. The market goes up and down, as you well know,1248in the steel industry. No. They are--they were happy with1249section 232. That is why I said I give credit where credit's1250due.1251    Secretary Lutnick. Thank you.1252    Mr. Mrvan. Yes, sir. So my underlying question is,1253ultimately, we want to make sure we have a level playing field1254and capacity in foreign countries such as China. They subsidize1255their steel. They flood the market. Then my steelworkers and1256people within my community lose their jobs.1257    I am going to give you an opportunity to talk about the 501258percent steel tariffs that are in place now, and I also want to1259talk about the concern that I have for downstream industries.1260Specifically, you had talked about in many different areas1261reshoring domestic manufacturing. I am on board and have1262advocated for reshoring domestic manufacturing. The time it1263takes to invest those trillions of dollars and build up for1264capacity to build--as you had mentioned cars are being built in1265Mexico for America.1266    How are we going to invest, or how are you, one, the impact1267of the 50 percent tariffs, if you could discuss that with me,1268and then how is it affecting downstream industries, and what is1269the plan to make sure that those individuals who work in those1270plants that are downstream of the steel industries are going to1271be protected?1272    Secretary Lutnick. So foreign countries subsidize the1273power, which is the biggest cost.1274    Mr. Mrvan. Energy.1275    Secretary Lutnick. And so China can produce steel at $450 a1276metric ton, and our price was generally just below $1,000. So1277they basically put 40 blast furnace companies out of business,1278so they basically were crushing steel in America. And Donald1279Trump came in and said, look, it is a subsidy. So we put on 251280percent and that moved the price up to about $900, and then it1281started to drift down because the Chinese are producing it at1282$450, because they don't pay for power.1283    Mr. Mrvan. Right.1284    Secretary Lutnick. So the President said, I have got to1285protect domestic steel. Because his view is you can't fight a1286war unless you can make steel. You can't fight a war unless you1287can make aluminum. And the steelworkers and aluminum workers of1288America are happy because they are being protected. The1289reasonable price point is where we are right now, which is just1290below $1,000 a metric ton. We are going to build--tens of1291billions of dollars have been committed because of that to1292building plants, mills----1293    Mr. Mrvan. Can you give me examples of the promised1294investments?1295    Secretary Lutnick. Hyundai promised $7.5 billion.1296    Mr. Mrvan. Hyundai.1297    Secretary Lutnick. Hyundai, you know, the Korean----1298    Mr. Mrvan. Hyundai. Sure.1299    Secretary Lutnick. $7.5 billion plant. There were a1300variety--I met with a variety of steel makers who offered us1301about $6 billion of two new plants. Nippon Steel, $14.1 billion1302of new investment.1303    Mr. Mrvan. That is a whole other 5 minutes, but yes.1304    Secretary Lutnick. I believe you. But those are commitments1305that we have. And in auto, we have $250 billion of commitments1306because of the tariffs to build and reshore in South Carolina,1307in Ohio, in Michigan, in Tennessee. These are all coming in1308because of our tariffs.1309    Mr. Mrvan. Okay. So along with tariffs is the enforcement1310that you talked about. So what I--one of the reasons why I1311wanted to be in this committee is to be able to make sure that1312the enforcement side of it, the ITA, has the resources1313necessary.1314    Are you here making a commitment that there won't be cuts1315to the ITA that will reduce the resources that they need to1316make sure that the enforcement of the products that are coming1317in to our country that we can track that?1318    Secretary Lutnick. Importing, exporting are key roles that1319we will never cut; we will only enhance. There are a whole1320variety of areas within these bureaus that you would agree with1321me are just not necessary. So we are reexamining what is1322important and putting the resources on that, which is most1323important.1324    Mr. Mrvan. Okay. I will wait for the second round to talk1325about Nippon, the Nippon deal. And just one very quick1326question. Were you in the room in the CFIUS committee for the1327Nippon deal?1328    Secretary Lutnick. Yes.1329    Mr. Mrvan. What was your recommendation?1330    Secretary Lutnick. My recommendation was it could be1331approved with mitigation, change.1332    Mr. Mrvan. Okay. On my second round--and I am--I would like1333to continue that conversation. Thank you.1334    With that, I yield back.1335    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Strong.1336    Mr. Strong. Thank you, Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member1337Meng, for holding this hearing today. I would also like to1338thank the subcommittee staff for their hard work.1339    Secretary Lutnick, great to be with you again. Thank you1340and your staff for being here today. Each of you have had a1341full 48 hours.1342    I commend you for your efforts to prioritize President1343Trump's America First trade agenda. During your Senate budget1344hearing yesterday, you highlighted Alabama's role in the1345automotive industry and noted your department's $250 billion1346commitment to reshore that sector.1347    In my district in Alabama, we are honored to be home to1348Mazda, Toyota, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, where 66 percent1349of all combustible engines for Toyota North America are made in1350our district, 4,000 every 24 hours.1351    Mr. Secretary, what other sectors are you prioritizing1352investment in beyond the automotive industry to reduce our1353dependence on foreign suppliers for critical goods?1354    Secretary Lutnick. We have examinations in pharmaceuticals,1355right. Too many of our pharmaceuticals are antibiotics. You1356can't fight a war and need to ask your adversary to send you1357the antibiotics. So we need pharmaceuticals to be reshored to1358America. We need semiconductors, which we have already1359discussed, reshored in America. Those are two big items.1360Aircraft parts is another place that we think there is focus,1361right. And, of course, as we have discussed, automotive is1362vital to America. Steel and aluminum, which I just discussed.1363    So those are the kind of topics that we are focused on1364bringing and making sure that we are reshoring for national1365security reasons in America.1366    Mr. Strong. Thank you, Secretary Lutnick. My home,1367Alabama's Fifth Congressional District, has over 400 companies1368developing and deploying technologies with various national1369defense, space exploration, and homeland security applications.1370    Your budget request includes a 60 percent increase in1371funding for the Bureau of Industry and Security. How does your1372department plan to utilize this funding to protect and bolster1373domestic companies, and how would this funding be used to1374improve our economic competitiveness and national security?1375    Secretary Lutnick. Export controls, making sure that our1376adversaries don't get our best equipment, our most cutting-edge1377ideas. So if we don't have enough agents--you know, we have two1378agents in China. That is just--come on. So we just need more1379agents to protect and defend our policies, and that is what the1380request is for. Let's grow our agents in the field to enforce1381the policies that we make at home.1382    Mr. Strong. Totally agree, and that leads to my next1383question. We are seeing increased sophistication from bad1384actors to circumvent U.S. trade laws. China is producing goods1385domestically and routing them through other countries to avoid1386the made-in-China label.1387    Your department has asked for funds to address unbalanced1388trade through increased anti-dumping and countervailing duty1389investigation. How will this funding help combat China's1390circumvention of American tariffs, and what tools or1391technologies are you leveraging?1392    Secretary Lutnick. Unfortunately, it is not just China.1393There are numerous countries whose governments subsidize their1394industries and, therefore, create an uncompetitive environment,1395and then they, basically at below cost, try to export to1396America, which creates our trade deficit. So we have anti-1397dumping, countervailing duties. That is the idea. We need to1398study them and we need to enforce them, and that is a key role1399of the Department of Commerce. And we need to augment that and1400we need to defend it for exactly the point that these--for1401example, steel and aluminum, they are crushing our industry1402trying to put us out of that business.1403    What I loved is that the U.K. had one blast furnace left.1404They sold it to the Chinese, and the Chinese then got all their1405customers and shut it. I mean--and then they have no steel1406industry.1407    Mr. Strong. Secretary Lutnick, in 2024, the Census Bureau1408selected Huntsville, Alabama as one of six cities to1409participate in the 2026 Census test run. The 2026 test is an1410opportunity for the Census to refine its operations in a city1411like Huntsville, which is experiencing fast population growth,1412making it harder to accurately count.1413    Secretary Lutnick, what will you do to commit to advocating1414for full funding this year and next to carry out this 20261415testing program, including the Huntsville site, and will you1416provide a clear timeline to the State so they can begin1417preparation without delay? And also, your thoughts about1418consistency from State to State not allowing non-U.S. citizens1419to be counted in the United States Census.1420    Secretary Lutnick. Consistency makes sense. Commitment to1421doing the absolute best statistical analysis of the Census is1422easy for me to commit to. We will focus on it and we will1423deliver the structure to have the greatest Census with the best1424statistical analysis ever in the United States of America, and1425that is what you are going to get from the Department of1426Commerce.1427    Mr. Strong. Mr. Secretary, thank you for bringing it home1428to America.1429    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.1430    Mr. Rogers. Ms. DeLauro.1431    Ms. DeLauro. Thanks very much, Mr. Chairman. My apologies.1432There are a lot of appropriations markups and hearings today,1433so I apologize for being late. And with that, I would like to1434ask unanimous consent to put my opening remarks in the record,1435if I can. Thank you.1436    [The information follows:]1437    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]14381439    Ms. DeLauro. And good morning to you all. It is good1440afternoon now.1441    Mr. Secretary, let me just follow up on something that my1442colleague, Mr. Mrvan, was asking about, and that was the1443International Trade Administration, which helps to increase our1444exports of American products and services, protects American1445producers against trade cheating by China and others. I think1446it is important to note to my colleague, Mr. Mrvan, that there1447has been almost a 30 percent cut to the ITA, $183 million. That1448is below what was proposed for 2025.1449    So it was going to cost American jobs, decimates ITA's U.S.1450commercial service, operates out of U.S. export assistance1451centers and U.S. embassies abroad, works to maintain and1452increase the exports of U.S. products and services. So the1453agency which is meant to protect, if you will, our exporters,1454et cetera, is now being decimated.1455    I think one has to look at what has been cut. There is the1456MEP program that I believe has been eliminated. One needs to go1457carefully through each of these areas and get a sense of, in1458fact, what is being cut back.1459    And, you know, facts are funny. You have got to deal with1460the details and with the facts. You just can't speak about it1461and make general statements. And when you cut back on agencies1462in the way that you have, and slash and burn, if you will, then1463we are not going to get to where we want to go.1464    I want to focus a second on two quick areas. One is1465transparency in government, because it is critical. Americans1466need to see where their tax dollars are going. And since 2022,1467we have had in place--I say that, it may be self-serving. I1468worked hard on this issue, and we got bipartisan, bicameral1469agreement to make sure that the executive branch, and I made1470sure--that was with the Democratic administration--they are1471legally required to publicly post budget documents. That is how1472and where taxpayers' dollars are being spent. They are called1473apportionments. Put that aside. It is about saying how the1474money is going to be spent, and that is online.1475    Now, this information is legally required. It is binding on1476a Federal agency. The Office of Management and Budget uses the1477information to tell agencies how and when they can spend the1478funds that Congress has appropriated. Beginning in March, OMB1479stopped posting these documents. This is illegal, and it is a1480slap in the face to the principle of transparency,1481accountability, and government spending, which this1482administration claims to champion.1483    Mr. Secretary, I am going to ask for your commitment to1484once again making the amount specific budget documents,1485apportionments, how and where U.S. tax dollars are being spent1486by the Department of Commerce and its bureaus publicly1487accessible. Will you commit to doing that?1488    Secretary Lutnick. It is my understanding that my1489department is following the CR with precision, as is required.1490    Ms. DeLauro. No. You are inaccurate, because I will get to1491spend plans. We do not have details on the spend plans, which1492the CR requires, and it hasn't happened. We have a lack of1493specificity on--this is--it is more than 5 weeks after the1494legal due date. We do not have a detailed spend plan as1495required by the law.1496    Let me go back. Will you commit to getting online how and1497where the American taxpayers' dollars with regard to the1498Department of Commerce are being spent, as is required by the1499law?1500    Secretary Lutnick. I will, of course, follow the law, but1501it is my understanding, as I have been advised, that we have1502filed precisely according to the CR's requirement.1503    Ms. DeLauro. I do not know who you got your advice from,1504but this is the Appropriations Committee. We are looking at1505every spend plan. And let me just tell you, the bare-bones1506spend plan was 3 weeks late. Surely, in that time you must have1507had time to put together a more detailed spend plan.1508    This is false. The law sets out the timeline and the level1509of detail. What is happening is illegal and in contravention of1510what this committee does and it puts together. And if you can't1511make a commitment--I take that as no, you will not commit--so1512that the public has no idea, no idea of what any agency in this1513administration as how they are spending the taxpayers' dollars1514and where those dollars are going.1515    I yield back and wait for a second round. Thank you, Mr.1516Chairman, for your indulgence.1517    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Moore.1518    Mr. Moore. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.1519    Thank you, Secretary Lutnick, for being here. Really1520appreciate it. A lot of your comments are just so spot on. Just1521a little while ago, we heard something pretty interesting: the1522idea that trade deficits are good. We heard an example of, I1523guess, a banana, the price of a banana at a Whole Foods outside1524of suburban Philadelphia going up.1525    I can tell you in West Virginia what the generational price1526has been for the degradation and destruction of our industries1527in the State of West Virginia over the last several decades, 401528years of it, it has destroyed us. It has destroyed us.1529    And you talked about this blast furnace switcheroo that1530they had there in the U.K. That happened to us in West1531Virginia. So Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers Union1532had requested tariffs on template steel from the Biden1533administration. We didn't get it. We didn't get the tariffs on1534the template steel, and we shuttered that steel plant. We have1535lost thousands of jobs since then, and now there is only one1536blast furnace left in the whole United States that makes1537template steel.1538    And I would appreciate it if the Commerce Department would1539take a look at that, because that is a national security issue1540and it is terrible for us. I mean, we used to be known for1541manufacturing steel. It was hugely disappointing by the last1542administration not taking any action on that.1543    But I do want to ask this. Just shifting gears real1544quickly. Is BIS specifically--and you have talked about plusing1545up that budget--have you all looked at--and this is during the1546Obama administration, we went through the Export Control Reform1547Initiative. This is where they created the 600 series and the1548ECCNs, and then expanded EAR99, right. So there is a lot more1549items that can go out without a license under that.1550    Have you all looked at going back and reviewing that? I1551actually worked here when we were going through that process,1552and it seemed, I guess, to make sense at the time, but you do1553see that it has created at times, in my view, some gaps as it1554relates to critical technology. Have you all looked at perhaps1555reviewing that Export Control Reform Initiative that happened1556about a decade ago, and maybe trying to tighten up some of1557those export controls, specifically on critical dual-use1558technology?1559    Secretary Lutnick. Very thoughtful point, right on the1560point, and we are on that topic. We are on it.1561    Mr. Moore. Yeah. It occurs to me, particularly when we1562created the 600 series, which is essentially like a United1563States munitions light series within the Department of Commerce1564under BIS. This is how some of our defense technology gets out1565there, and it is very--it is very disappointing. Obviously,1566this is not the idea is that, you know, we wanted to cruise at1567export capacity for defense manufacturers and others out there,1568but specifically around some of this off-the-shelf technology,1569EAR99, items that are going to be exported, I would really like1570if you all would take a look at this and the way this was set1571up back then and trying to tighten those controls. BIS is, I1572mean, really the last stop in protecting our technology.1573    Could you talk, though, just briefly--you talked about the1574steel industry. Could you talk about, from a national security1575standpoint, why it is so important? You touched on it a little1576bit, but why it is so important to the national security of the1577United States to have a vibrant steel industry.1578    Secretary Lutnick. You cannot fight a war unless you can1579make the munitions, period. You can't make a missile without1580steel and aluminum. You can't produce anything in defense1581without steel and aluminum. You must have a domestic industry.1582    The President has made it crystal clear, and I think it is1583obvious when I say it, and we need to protect it, just like you1584said, in West Virginia. They didn't protect you and you lost1585the business. That cannot continue, and the Trump1586administration will not allow it to continue.1587    Mr. Moore. Yeah. And then they just raised the price of1588template steel right after they acquired it.1589    Secretary Lutnick. Of course.1590    Mr. Moore. After they crushed it. Last real quick question.1591One issue that I am concerned about is transformers in this1592country, which we don't have a great domestic capacity in terms1593of manufacturing. There is actually one manufacturer of1594electrical steel in the United States right now, and one, maybe1595a couple, that can actually manufacture transformers.1596    Myself and others in the Steel Caucus, a few of us sent a1597letter, obviously not your department, but asking for the1598Defense Production Act to be invoked around that. Is this1599something that your department is looking at at all as it1600relates to transformers?1601    Secretary Lutnick. We are now.1602    Mr. Moore. Okay. That is a great answer.1603    And with that, I yield back. Thank you.1604    Mr. Rogers. I thank the gentleman.1605    Mr. Secretary, the results are in. You are a hit. They want1606an encore performance. Are you available for a few minutes more1607for the members that may like to ask another question?1608    Secretary Lutnick. I am at your service, Mr. Chairman.1609    Mr. Rogers. We promise you we will be brief and on time.1610Thank you, sir.1611    I yield myself 5 minutes.1612    Mr. Secretary, rural communities, which are often ignored1613by Washington, face unique challenges, one of which is access1614to reliable broadband. How is the Department planning to1615continue addressing broadband gaps and prioritizing expansion1616into unserved areas?1617    Secretary Lutnick. The Congress has launched the BEAD1618Program for broadband access. Under the Biden administration,1619they gave out no money after 30 months. Our objective is as1620follows. Within the next 90 days--I think we are going to put1621it out on Friday--basically saying, if your State is willing to1622just be technologically agnostic, meaning produce the right1623access at the lowest price or at the--if it is a tie, I don't1624care which one you pick, make that application within 90 days,1625and then this department will put out the money by the end of1626the year.1627    So we will go from not having given any money under the1628Biden administration to having the full program funded and1629distributed. Provided they are technologically agnostic by the1630end of 2025, all the money will be distributed so that1631broadband access can be built by the States. That is my1632promise.1633    Mr. Rogers. Well, broadband is vital, as you well know,1634and, of course, the places where it is not in being really are1635the rural areas, where it is not profitable for a utility to go1636into, which is an age-old problem that we faced before.1637    Let me highlight another important initiative to rural1638America. That is EDA, Economic Development Administration,1639particularly the one to have assistance to coal communities. My1640district, as was West Virginia, had a complete breakdown of the1641industry over the last 10 years. I lost 15,000 jobs in my1642district alone. But EDA has been a crutch for us to use to help1643revitalize and bring back into competitive nature rural areas.1644What do you think about EDA?1645    Secretary Lutnick. So, first, I will address that the1646administration wants to revitalize clean coal. We think it is1647vital to America. And so for both yourself and the1648Representative I just spoke to, you should rely on this1649administration to bring back clean coal, because it is vital.1650The country needs power. We need power. And we will do that.1651    And with respect to EDA, the same thing. There are many1652other ways to do it better than to have a reasonably small1653group inside the Commerce Department. We will stick with1654disaster relief, we will stick with our Tech Hubs, but the1655concept of providing that kind of program I think is better1656served with bigger, more sophisticated programs.1657    Mr. Rogers. Well, there are rural areas that are not coal1658dependents. What about those communities?1659    Secretary Lutnick. I would be happy to meet with you1660offline and go through it together. You know, I am tasked with1661being efficient with taxpayer dollars, and when I get a GAO1662report that has 80 other programs, I just think it is more1663efficient to do it in a more practical way than do it in a1664small way in my department. Not that I don't enjoy doing1665things, but efficiency is my objective. And I think it was1666important that I show a budget that was substantially lower1667that proves that we can do our great job with less taxpayer1668dollars.1669    Mr. Rogers. Well, we want to work with you on this1670subcommittee. We want to see you succeed, because when you1671succeed, the country and the President succeed. But we have our1672priorities as well as it relates to offering jobs back home to1673keep our people from having to move to another locale. So I1674hope we can work with you.1675    Secretary Lutnick. Of course.1676    Mr. Rogers. Ms. Meng.1677    Ms. Meng. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And let me fix my1678microphone.1679    All right. I want to piggyback off a little bit about1680Representative Dean's banana example and how it affects the1681cost of living for our constituents all across America. You1682know, I have heard from many Asian-American business owners.1683They own restaurants. They own supermarkets. They own well-1684known supermarkets like 99 Ranch and H Mart. They are really1685concerned about the rising costs of goods, like anything from1686basmati rice to the burdock root to different sauces that are1687utilized by the Asian-American community, fastest growing1688community in this country.1689    I know that you mentioned, you know, due to the tariffs,1690the price will eventually come back down, but I just wanted to,1691you know, make an observation that the cost of living for1692Americans, as we know, is already high, and it is hard for them1693to be able to afford these goods and these products that they1694are using today. And the restaurant owners, the supermarket1695owners, small business owners are really in a bind, because1696they don't know if they have to raise their prices and pass on1697the higher cost to consumers or to eat the cost themselves. And1698coming out of a pandemic where they barely survived, they are1699now worried that, because of these high costs, that their1700businesses, you know, may not survive.1701    So I just wanted to highlight this issue that is happening1702in my district and I am sure in many other districts across the1703country, about a lot of these products that are largely not1704produced here in the United States.1705    Secretary Lutnick. The inflation under the Biden1706administration was very, very difficult and created a very1707difficult time for Americans across the country.1708    Ms. Meng. The prices have gone up recently, starting this1709year.1710    Secretary Lutnick. Fortunately, inflation, as the last1711numbers were very low, in the low twos and back toward the1712level that the Fed says is their long-term goal, so that is1713very promising. But I will tell you, in our trade deals, our1714expectation is for unavailable natural resources, a banana,1715right, other spices and the roots, the things you have1716suggested, your expectation should be there will not be a1717tariff.1718    But when we give that to a country, right, like coffee,1719right. When we say to Ghana, okay, we will not charge you a1720tariff on coffee or cocoa, but you will open your market to1721allow our farmers to sell soybeans, because you are blocking us1722on soybeans. Why do you expect to sell us coffee and cocoa and1723not let us sell soybeans? It seems unfair. Let's make that1724fair. And that is an example of a trade deal.1725    Granted, these are small countries, but that is the kind of1726model that, when we are done, we will not have tariffs on1727unavailable natural resources, but we will have market access1728for our farmers and our ranchers. You know our chicken and pork1729and beef are treated horribly around the world, horribly. That1730has to end. And if we use that by saying you can export coffee1731to us, but you need to treat us better for our agricultural1732products back to you, I think that is fair trade.1733    Ms. Meng. I appreciate that. Do you have a sense of a1734timeline? I appreciate that the costs will eventually come back1735down, but when my constituents, you know, just average1736individual consumers or small business owners are asking me1737when the prices will come back down, prices that have gone up1738only in recent months after this new Trump administration, what1739can we tell our constituents?1740    Secretary Lutnick. The President has set out July 9 as the1741date by which he expects most transaction deals to have1742occurred. If they don't occur because of back-and-forth, the1743President can just set the agenda and say here is your offer,1744and set that trading deal in place. And your expectation should1745be by July 9.1746    Ms. Meng. I appreciate that. And I just, in my 30 seconds1747left, I want to align myself with the concerns made by the1748Chair about EDA. This is a program that is very important, you1749know, programs from Tech Hubs, the Recompete Program, the Good1750Jobs Challenge. So many programs are important to our rural1751areas, to job creation. We know that in your confirmation1752hearing you pledged to maintain these programs, and we hope1753that that will continue.1754    Thank you. I yield back.1755    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Alford.1756    Mr. Alford. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I apologize for1757missing the first round. I just literally ran back from the1758House floor doing a speech, but that is our job. And I need to1759get in shape.1760    Anyway, thank you for being here. You are doing such a1761great job. And we are proud to have you in that position.1762    I want to--I know all the good questions have already been1763asked and answered, but I want to talk about the tariffs just a1764little bit. You know, the Democrats doubted these. The media1765doubted it. The pundits doubted it. A lot of people made fun of1766the tariffs, didn't like them, but they are working. We have1767already seen the results. In fact, the Congressional Budget1768Office now estimates the proposed tariffs will reduce our1769Federal deficit by $2.8 trillion. That is a success story.1770    Secretary, what is the strategy behind these? Is it simply1771a negotiating tool? Is it the art of the deal? Or does the1772President mean it when he says it about these tariffs, and why1773are they being so successful so far?1774    Secretary Lutnick. Build in America, in the greatest1775economy in the world. Remember, America is the consumer of the1776world. $20 trillion we consume every year. So if you want to1777sell here, build here. And if you don't want to sell here, pay1778to come into our market. We are receiving a run rate of $341779billion a month to the Treasury of the United States of America1780because of tariffs. So anybody who says that tariffs aren't1781working can't count to $34 billion.1782    Mr. Alford. I want to talk about the funding for NOAA and1783the National Weather Service. You know, Missouri has gotten hit1784pretty hard. We have a lot of tornados. We had a bad spring,1785and it is still going on. There was a lot of damage in my1786district just south of Kansas City.1787    We have a regional NOAA center in Pleasant Hill, Missouri.1788It is a smaller center like you were talking about earlier, and1789I heard you talking about what is going to be happening in the1790future to some of these centers. Are centers like Pleasant1791Hill, which they already have some vacancies, are those1792regional centers in danger of closing at any time in the1793future, as far as you know, being replaced by automation and AI1794in a centralized location?1795    Secretary Lutnick. I will give you an example in Missouri,1796which was we have all these research people in NOAA, but they1797were separate from operational. So we started putting them1798together to take that research and start using it. And what it1799did is it produced an analysis that showed that we had horrible1800tornado conditions in Missouri. And so 2 hours earlier than the1801record ever in NOAA, we gave those warnings and saved 1201802people. Got them out 2 hours earlier. So we are totally on it.1803    But the concept of having four people, and one of them has1804a baby and one of them is out sick, and somehow we are not able1805to do it 24 hours a day, it seems silly. We should have--if we1806have 2,100 meteorologists, I promise you, we can cover the1807United States of America 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we1808can have better technology, right.1809    We used to have human beings would launch a weather1810balloon.1811    Mr. Alford. Right.1812    Secretary Lutnick. Like, I could imagine, like, someone1813just going whoop on a--come on. It is called autosonders. We1814now do it in an automated fashion, so I don't need the person1815to launch the balloon because I can automate launch the1816balloon----1817    Mr. Alford. So I have been inside the center; it is pretty1818cool. And I used to be in television news there in Kansas City.1819A lot of my friends are meteorologists at these stations who1820have personal relationships with the people at NOAA and NWS. I1821think they are a little concerned.1822    Will these centers be closing, but the information, which1823is also lifesaving, be coming from a centralized location?1824    Secretary Lutnick. I think it will be both. I think there1825will be many centers that will stay and will augment and be1826bigger and stronger and more powerful, but the concept is we1827have got to be able to automate ourselves and back each other1828up. This concept that the data just stays in Missouri and is1829not available to be analyzed by Nebraska or other1830meteorologists is illogical. That needs to change.1831    If I showed you the technology, you would drop your head1832embarrassed to be an American. When we are done in this1833Commerce Department and I am done with my term, I promise you,1834you will be proud of the technology in the Department of1835Commerce.1836    Mr. Alford. Mr. Chair, if you would indulge me for one more1837question. I want to talk about the BEAD Program, also very1838important to my State, very rural State. Biden administration1839put in $42.5 billion, and not one home hooked up. It is a1840disgrace, I think.1841    You talked about tech-agnostic approach and you talked1842about the three options. It has got to be a fix--what are those1843three options again?1844    Secretary Lutnick. Fixed wireless, which we all know is1845WiFi.1846    Mr. Alford. Right.1847    Secretary Lutnick. Right? Fiber, laying cable, or1848satellite. Any of those three serve broadband, and we should be1849agnostic to which one.1850    Mr. Alford. So some of the folks in my district and State1851are concerned that we want to get everyone hooked up, but it1852has got to be the right system. Satellite is not going to work1853all over Missouri, so we are going to get the system that1854actually works, right, for our money?1855    Secretary Lutnick. Yes.1856    Mr. Alford. All right. I hear the light tap of the1857chairman's gavel. I will yield back.1858    Mr. Rogers. Ms. DeLauro.1859    Ms. DeLauro. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.1860    Just a couple of things. I gather, and I am just going to1861assume that it is a no, that you are not going to post where,1862how, and when American taxpayers' dollars are being used, for1863what programs. That is the issue of the apportionment, which1864is, again, illegal, so it is a legal issue there. You are not1865responsible, but you can get back to your OMB friends and tell1866them that they are liable for penalties when they come contrary1867to the Antideficiency Act.1868    Food for farmers. Let me just--what you said there. U.S.1869food aid programs across USDA purchased roughly $1 billion1870worth of grain from farmers across the country. One farmer from1871Illinois said to kill that program is a disaster, it is morally1872bankrupt, and it hurts the farmers' bottom line. USAID spends1873$2 billion annually on U.S.-grown agriculture for humanitarian1874aid. Losing even a portion of that has already been a disaster1875for farmers.1876    I want to talk about the spend plan, because lest you know,1877this is the public law. This is--which requires you in the CR1878to provide a spend plan to detailing how you will use taxpayer1879dollars at the program, project, and activity level. You1880provided a bare-bones spend plan with only account level1881numbers, no details, no transparency for the American people.1882You are out of compliance with the law.1883    I am asking you, when are you going to come into compliance1884with the law with the spend plan?1885    Secretary Lutnick. As I said, as far as I know, we are in1886compliance with the CR, but I will happily go back and I----1887    Ms. DeLauro. No, no. Right. Please. Please let us know when1888we are going to receive the details that we need for this1889effort in order to be able to do our business. This is the1890Appropriations Committee. We need to know how much, where it is1891going, what are the specific programs. We just can't make a1892decision saying this is the pot of money we need, but we have1893no specificity about where it is going.1894    And I just might add, you are not the only agency that is1895not in compliance. So I am going to ask you, give us a1896timeframe when you can get back to us with the detail.1897    Secretary Lutnick. I will take it under advisement. I will1898talk to my advisers and----1899    Ms. DeLauro. Okay. Well, I would just say, Mr. Chairman, I1900believe we need to have an answer on when that data is coming1901before we decide what it is that we are going to spend and1902appropriate with regard to the Department of Defense.1903    I was listening on trade deals, et cetera, and this is--I1904will just state this. You are looking at doing a trade deal1905with Lesotho. Whoa. I know they have a lot of penguins.1906    Secretary Lutnick. We are not spending time on that. Don't1907worry about it.1908    Ms. DeLauro. Yeah, but I think it is important to note that1909Mr. Musk, who is now gone, I don't know if his contract is gone1910for Starlink in Lesotho. Let's just talk about what these deals1911are beginning to look like.1912    Trade and tariffs. At one point you said about whether or1913not the cost would go up. You said that is, quote, silly. That1914is silly that they will not go up.1915    I think Congresswoman Dean and I were at the same meeting1916this morning where the National Retail Federation is beside1917themselves with the uncertainty and with the struggle of what1918is going on with small businesses. 99.6 percent of businesses1919have fewer than 500 people. 40 percent of the wages are paid by1920small businesses. They will struggle if they are in a higher1921tariff environment, and the question of uncertainty looms1922large.1923    Tariffs, taxes on the American people. Let's face it.1924American people are desperate for help with the cost of living.1925These trade policies are, in fact, causing it further--the Yale1926Budget Lab estimates that tariffs will lower American1927households' purchasing power an average of $2,500 this year.1928$2,500, most households who live paycheck to paycheck do not1929have.1930    Mr. Secretary, $2,500 dollars is not a lot to billionaires,1931but it is a hell of a lot of money for Americans who struggle1932with groceries, with healthcare, and with housing costs.1933    This administration, the President said that costs would1934come down on the first day. What the administration is doing is1935making it worse, and the level of uncertainty is providing1936chaos, it harms our economy, it jeopardizes small business, and1937it stifles the investment that creates jobs. We need to know1938what you are doing, how you are doing it.1939    I thank the chairman again. But it can't be, you know, God1940is in heaven, all is right with the world. You need to face the1941facts and be truthful about what is happening with the trade1942policies and other areas that this administration is engaged1943in.1944    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.1945    Secretary Lutnick. I disagree.1946    Ms. DeLauro. I am sure you do.1947    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Strong.1948    Mr. Strong. Secretary Lutnick, Huntsville, Alabama is home1949to the National Weather Service Forecast Office. Could you1950elaborate on your plans to deploy an experimental AI-based1951forecast system?1952    Secretary Lutnick. Sure. The way we have been doing it is1953we have been taking data in and doing it consistently over the1954last 20 years. AI systems can then take the weather patterns of1955the world, examine how they respond to each other, and do much1956better and be much more efficient, much faster, and much more1957learned. So we are going to take research, technology, and the1958enormous amounts of data that we collect, and we continue to1959collect and we are only going to continue to collect more going1960forward, and we will just become much, much better at1961forecasting dangerous conditions to protect Americans.1962    Mr. Strong. We definitely know about those dangerous1963conditions and we have seen it in the last couple of weeks1964across the Southeast. How can we work with you to ensure that1965my district's existing expertise and capabilities are leveraged1966to support and collaborate with you during this significant1967effort?1968    Secretary Lutnick. I look forward to meeting with you1969offline and be glad to go through that and help you do it1970together. Sounds great to me.1971    Mr. Strong. Thank you. Recent reports by NOAA and other1972Federal agencies have highlighted significant concerns1973regarding China's distant-water fishing fleet. Notably, in1974September of 2024, NOAA denied U.S. port privileges to certain1975Chinese-flagged long-line vessels due to their involvement in1976illegal, unreported, and unregulated IUU fishing activity.1977    Mr. Secretary, given these recent developments, what1978specific measures is the Department of Commerce implementing to1979enforce trade restrictions against Chinese food products linked1980to IUU fishing?1981    Secretary Lutnick. Under the Biden administration, we were1982not even allowed--allowing our fishermen to use our 200 miles1983of exclusive fishing zone for ourselves, and of course, when we1984weren't out there fishing, guess who was out there fishing?1985Right? Our adversaries just go in. If you are not there, well,1986they are going to fish there just the same.1987    So the idea was, first, we allow all of our fishermen the1988maximum usage they possibly can, because we protect and care1989about American fishing. We care about it. And second, we are1990going to hold accountable anybody who poaches, who breaches, or1991is in our space or near our space, we are going to go and make1992sure they cannot have access to our markets if they do so.1993    Mr. Strong. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, the American farmer1994is suffering, commodity prices are low. Many countries have1995taken advantage of the American farmer. It appears that we are1996buying beef from other countries rather than buying from the1997American cattle farmer.1998    What is the number one thing as Secretary that you can do1999to help the American farmer?2000    Secretary Lutnick. We in trade deals can open the market.2001Beef in the U.K.; corn, right, in the U.K.; cereals in the2002U.K., in Europe, in India. India won't buy a bushel of our2003corn. If they buy ethanol, right, then that will help our corn2004farmers. So we have got to open these markets.2005    Beef, poultry, pork. You won't believe how poorly our2006farmers are treated, our ranchers are treated, and our2007fishermen are treated. We weren't allowed to sell lobster in2008the U.K. You say, oh, come on. If you read the way we are2009treated so badly, you would understand why the President is on2010these trade deals. Make it fair for our people.2011    I always lead with agriculture, because we are just treated2012so badly. If you read it, you would just keep shaking your2013head. I can't believe it. I didn't know it when I wasn't here.2014And when I first read it, I said, oh, come on. And it is all2015sort of old rules that are just not true anymore, and we are2016blasting those open. And that is what I am going to do for our2017farmers, our ranchers, and our fishermen.2018    Mr. Strong. I am thankful for what you are doing, and these2019trade agreements have got to stop where America is being taken2020advantage of. And I commend you and your staff for what you are2021doing. I know it is a lot of hours being spent, but we are in a2022process of resetting America, and the American farmer, the2023American automobile industry will be better because of it.2024    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.2025    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Ivey.2026    Mr. Ivey. Thank you, Mr. Chair.2027    I wanted to follow up, Mr. Secretary, with respect to the2028chair's questions about EDA. You mentioned 80 programs with2029respect to what sounded like maybe the same 80 programs you2030were talking about for MBDA.2031    Secretary Lutnick. From the GAO, and I will send you that2032report. You have asked for it. I will find it and I will send2033it to you.2034    Mr. Ivey. Okay. I appreciate that.2035    Real quick point. You know, the prices will come down point2036with respect to the impact on small businesses and retail and2037the like. I just want to say that, you know, I have got a lot2038of small businesses. I am sure there are plenty across the2039country who can't wait. You know, they are really up against2040the wall right now. The wolf is at the door. Their businesses2041are at risk of being shut down. So the faster this resolves,2042the better.2043    I know you mentioned July 9 with respect to the tariffs,2044and that can't come soon enough. And I hope that, whatever2045happens on July 9, there is some effort to pay attention to2046what is happening to these businesses in the country. They are2047multinational, you know, corporations, they will survive. But2048smaller businesses that are really, you know, struggling to2049make ends meet, they don't have that luxury, they don't have2050that kind of margin.2051    Real quick on NIST. And you heard I think from both sides2052of the aisle with respect to the need for a budget that gives2053more detail. And actually, I just saw you testified, I think2054you said you are reviewing all 5,700 contracts that--I don't2055think it was FEMA, but it was NOAA, and you said you are2056reviewing all of them. And so someone who is going to----2057    Secretary Lutnick. All above $100,000.2058    Mr. Ivey. Okay. Someone who pays that level of attention to2059detail, when you were a CEO, I am sure that you demanded2060something better than the skinny budget when you were making2061corporate decisions for your business. You had to. And I know2062that when you go through these contracts in the way that you2063are, that is the attention to detail that we want to actually2064provide in our roles here in Congress and in functioning and2065carrying out our aspect of the appropriations process. So2066please give us that level of information so we can do our job2067carefully and closely too.2068    And then real quick point with respect to NIST. Again in2069the skinny budget, there is a $325 million reduction under that2070category. I don't really know where the money is coming from,2071but NIST is a critical agency, as you know, with respect to2072cyber and quantum and the like. You got a letter from--I guess2073in concern about this--Software and Information Industry2074Association, CCIA, ITIF Center for Data Innovation, a bunch of2075private industry leaders, tech net, raising questions about2076where these cuts are going to come from and what is being done2077with them.2078    The work done at NIST is not just a matter of maintaining2079technical excellence; it is a direct investment in ensuring2080that American industry continues to set the global benchmark2081for innovation. And we emphasize that NIST work represents a2082high-value investment that directly contributes to U.S.2083economic growth, competitiveness, and technological leadership.2084We caution that downsizing NIST or eliminating these2085initiatives will have ramifications for the ability of the2086American AI industry to continue to lead globally.2087    So I share those concerns. I would like to add to the2088record this article, Eric Geller, NIST loses key cyber experts2089in standards and research for the record.2090    NIST is playing a critical role in our competition with2091respect to AI for quantum across the board. I don't know what2092cuts you are talking about making with respect to them, because2093the level of--or lack of detail with respect to the budget, but2094please be careful in the cuts that you make here. I don't know2095that any of them are justified necessarily. I can't really2096tell.2097    But cutting NIST at this time--and that chart I tried to2098show you that you couldn't see, the quantum competition, we2099need all hands on deck. This is a critical time for the United2100States right now. Making cuts to those industries--or to those2101aspects of the government, they are such key players with2102respect to the industries, this couldn't be a worse time to do2103it.2104    So I appreciate your leadership on this and hope that you2105will continue to make sure that the United States can take a2106leadership role in these industries.2107    Secretary Lutnick. We are not cutting in quantum. We are2108not cutting in AI. But there are old programs that need to be2109reexamined, and that money can be used better.2110    And the last thing I would say is we keep talking about2111small businesses. Ninety percent of our businesses are American2112businesses. And we keep talking about 10 percent that import.2113If you build in America, you are being protected by the2114tariffs. It is good for small business in America that build in2115America. Ninety percent of them build in America.2116    Mr. Ivey. Not all businesses build in America, as you just2117heard from----2118    Secretary Lutnick. Ninety percent.2119    Mr. Rogers. The time of the gentleman has expired.2120    Ms. Dean.2121    Ms. Dean. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.2122    And thanks for hanging around for a second round.2123    I wanted to first, Mr. Chairman, just offer for the record2124some articles and documents. The first is a Washington Post2125article of this week, entitled, ``We are Witnessing the Suicide2126of a Superpower.''2127    The second is, as ranking member revealed, the report from2128Yale Budget Lab, titled, ``The State of U.S. Tariffs: June the21291st of this year.'' One of the highlights, American consumers2130face the highest average tariff rate they have endured since21311938, the Great Depression.2132    The next one, U.S. trade document--U.S. Trade2133Representative, titled, ``Reciprocal Tariffs, Calculations, and2134the Flawed Formula.'' I am sure you know this formula very2135well, Mr. Secretary. It is incoherent and flawed. I enter that2136for the record.2137    And a New York Times article, April 7, ``The Trump White2138House Cited My Research to Justify Tariffs. It Got It All2139Wrong.''2140    And the final one, which was revealing of my use of the2141banana here, ``Bananas to Car Seat--to Car Seats, Walmart Warns2142of Price Rise Due to Tariffs.''2143    For the record. Without objection?2144    Mr. Rogers. Without objection.2145    [The information follows:]2146    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]21472148    Ms. Dean. Thanks so much.2149    I want to ask you about--I was interested in what you said2150to Mr. Morelle in terms of the mission, and some of the2151language you used, the mission of your department, to protect,2152defend, and enhance business in America. That was a good2153summary?2154    Secretary Lutnick. Sounds good.2155    Ms. Dean. I think that is what you said. I tried to write2156it down fast.2157    Secretary Lutnick. Still sounds good.2158    Ms. Dean. I just wonder, did your department, did you2159personally, or your department whose mission that is, have any2160problem with the President's recent trips overseas; or the2161development of his business and his family's business around2162bitcoin, meme coin, fundraising, or investor raising dinners;2163any worry with the Department of Commerce with the President2164and his family growing their own business while on the job?2165    Secretary Lutnick. My trip to the Middle East was2166extraordinary in that we came home----2167    Ms. Dean. I am sure. I am asking you about----2168    Secretary Lutnick [continuing]. With $5.1 trillion of2169investment in America. It was amazing.2170    Ms. Dean. Mr. Lutnick, I am asking you, did the question of2171conflict of interest come up for the leader of the free world?2172    Secretary Lutnick. No.2173    Ms. Dean. No? Thank you.2174    I ought to have a team of lawyers take a look at that. It2175is grotesque the way this President is using his office to2176enrich himself, his businesses and his family's. That ought to2177be something you are interested in.2178    I want to tell you something I agree with you on and I2179agree with the President on, the closing of the de minimus2180loophole. You are absolutely right, it hurts retailers when2181stuff comes in here, package after package, order after order,2182under $800, no tax, no tariff, no review. It hurts retailers.2183    But I know the other reason that I believe the President is2184interested in that is in tackling the precursors of fentanyl2185and making sure these packages don't come in unabsorbed,2186unknown, and then off to Mexico to only come back manufactured2187and to kill our children.2188    So I want you to know, I want the President to know, that2189is a good thing. And I hope it brings great revenue to our2190Treasury. It should. We have passed on that, at the expense of2191our children and at the expense of retailers.2192    Secretary Lutnick. Thank you.2193    Ms. Dean. So please take that back.2194    And, finally, I guess I want to tell you, do you know when2195we met? I don't know if you remember. We met once in Davos. We2196had a very interesting conversation, and you told me some of2197your backstory. And this goes back to where I started with2198stability.2199    I think it is very well known that, when you began college,2200your father died. And what a trying time that must have been2201because your mother had predeceased. And you were at Haverford,2202very near my district. And Haverford College said stay, you2203stay, get your education, and you did. And they offered you2204that stability at a time when you must have needed it most.2205    I had a similar experience. My father died when I was in my2206third semester of college, suddenly, of a heart attack.2207Difficult. We were all wobbling for quite a while. But his2208company offered scholarships to kids who lost their parents,2209and I got a scholarship to go to law school, offering me2210stability that I had no idea I would ever lean upon.2211    I take you back to that because what have you done in the2212meantime? You have rewarded Haverford. You are making sure that2213other kids get that stability. Please take that back into your2214work in the Department of Commerce. You know stability is what2215our consumers, our constituents, our businesses, our banks2216need. This is not stability. It is an incoherent tariff policy2217that is costing every single one of us.2218    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Mrvan.2219    Mr. Mrvan. Mr. Secretary, during our first exchange, we2220talked slightly about Nippon. My first question will be, is,2221with that deal you said you agreed, and I don't want to put2222words in your mouth, were you in the room or at the table for2223the CFIUS agreement, and what was your recommendation?2224    Secretary Lutnick. I can't really discuss the particulars,2225but generally, we came to the view that the deal would be good2226for America. The President came to view it, it would be good2227for America, and we are discussing how to make sure that that2228protects the USA and America, and those discussions are ongoing2229right now.2230    Mr. Mrvan. So in the beginning, the administration, when he2231was a candidate, was against the deal.2232    Secretary Lutnick. Well, the terms of the deal did not2233protect America, and he is interested in making sure the terms2234of the deal protect America.2235    Mr. Mrvan. Okay. And I agree. So I represent northwest2236Indiana, Gary, Indiana, one of the top steel producing. One of2237the concerns with it, the USW, the union, is to specifically2238make sure that the investments that have been agreed upon, that2239those----2240    Secretary Lutnick. You can say promised. How about that?2241    Mr. Mrvan. See, that is my concern. You are right,2242promised, based on market conditions. So these are real-life2243individuals. My father came over from--or grandfather came over2244from Czechoslovakia, ended up in northwest Indiana, worked in2245the steel mills. Families, everywhere around my district, it is2246our economic engine.2247    You have passionately talked about how it is a national2248security issue, right. So with that, many promises have been2249made.2250    First and foremost, to my steelworkers, just a2251recommendation, the USW wants a seat at the table because they2252are concerned about disinvestment in their union blast furnaces2253that will go to nonunion shops and other parts of the country.2254    So in my district, which I am here to protect, that--our2255concern level is to make sure that the administration hears the2256voices very loudly and clearly from my district that we want2257assurances, not based on market conditions, that this2258investment, promised investment, will protect steelworkers'2259jobs and tradesmen who provide the back--the maintenance on2260those blast furnaces.2261    So what are you going to do specifically? Not broad strokes2262of what is going to happen. Specifically, what are you going to2263do to protect those jobs in my district?2264    Secretary Lutnick. I agree with you. My understanding is2265the President agrees with you, and I think the end result of2266the transaction with Nippon will agree with you.2267    Mr. Mrvan. What are some of the specifics, or can I get a2268commitment from you that the USW union representation2269leadership will have a seat at the table to protect their2270interests in U.S. steel?2271    Secretary Lutnick. I think the best I can say is that the2272President understands their concerns, I understand their2273concerns. I have met with the steelworkers union, and I2274understand their concerns, and----2275    Mr. Mrvan. Do you understand that this creates uncertainty,2276unpredictability for families who want to make sure that they2277have a secure income, healthcare, secure pension; that that2278uncertainty causes great disbelief in what is going on? And2279specifically, what are you going to do to protect those jobs?2280    I understand you agree with me. We agree that a $14 billion2281investment on top of a regular $14 billion investment, that is2282pretty good. But what are you specifically going to do to2283protect those steelworkers' jobs?2284    Secretary Lutnick. The President of United States flew to2285Pittsburgh----2286    Mr. Mrvan. I saw the press conference. I have got a minute.2287What are you specifically going to do? I saw what--I saw the2288press con--I saw it. I saw the rally. Specifically, what are2289you going to do?2290    Secretary Lutnick. The President of the United States will2291direct what he wants to do, and I will assist him in doing so.2292He knows the steelworkers union concerns, and I think they will2293be very happy with the outcome.2294    Mr. Mrvan. Okay. So time is of the essence, they want a2295seat at the table so that there is not disinvestment in my2296community and investment in other parts of the community which2297would have cheaper labor. I want to make sure that I articulate2298that to you.2299    Then, ultimately, I also want to ask about with the Nippon2300deal. If there is reshoring manufacturing and there is a 502301percent tariff around the world on steel, correct, Nippon now2302is an investor in U.S. steel, please tell me if they are going2303to be able to circumvent that 50 percent tariff and ship steel.2304    Secretary Lutnick. No.2305    Mr. Mrvan. No.2306    Secretary Lutnick. No. If they make it in America, you2307don't pay the tariff. If you make it anywhere else but America,2308anywhere else, you are going to pay.2309    Mr. Mrvan. But the--are you following me? A foreign country2310is investing in an American company to circumvent those trade2311policies--to the tariffs----2312    Secretary Lutnick. If you hire Americans and you build it2313here, you don't pay the tariff.2314    Mr. Mrvan. Okay.2315    Secretary Lutnick. So if a foreigner builds, good for them.2316    Mr. Mrvan. Okay.2317    Secretary Lutnick. But in America, with American----2318    Mr. Mrvan. Know that--I just want to close in saying, know2319that I agree a $14 billion investment in the infrastructure of2320our steel industry is a good thing, but understand how vitally,2321gravely important it is to the steelworkers, to my community,2322to my economic development, or my economic engine----2323    Mr. Rogers. Time of the gentleman has expired.2324    Mr. Mrvan [continuing]. That you stand up for those jobs.2325    Thank you, Chairman.2326    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Secretary, you have been so generous with2327your time. I am sorry that we went over what we had intended2328timewise, but it was worth it from our point of view.2329    We look forward to working with you to be sure that you are2330a success, and we are very impressed with your exuberance in2331the work that you are upon now.2332    So good luck to you. We wish you well, and we want to stay2333in touch with you to try to help to be sure everything works2334out A number one.2335    So that concludes today's hearing. We want to thank our2336witness, Secretary Lutnick, for being here and sharing with us2337his plans for the future.2338    Without objection, members may have 7 days to submit2339additional questions for the record.2340    The subcommittee stands in adjournment.2341    [Whereupon, at 1:14 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]2342    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]23432344                                             Monday, June 23, 2025.23452346                         DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE23472348                                WITNESS23492350HON. PAMELA BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE2351    Mr. Rogers. Good afternoon. The committee will be in order.2352    Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a2353recess at any time.2354    We will begin by myself being recognized for an opening2355statement.2356    I would like to welcome our witness, the Honorable Pam2357Bondi, Attorney General of the United States, to testify on the2358Department of Justice's fiscal year 2026 budget.2359    To begin, I want to thank the Attorney General for speaking2360at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit this past April down in2361Nashville, Tennessee.2362    That is, I think, the third or fourth of those summits that2363you have been there to speak, and we appreciate that2364especially.2365    That summit gathers the best and brightest to discuss ways2366our Nation can tackle the opioid and addiction crisis impacting2367every corner of our country.2368    At this year's summit, we received some encouraging news2369from the CDC: that overdose deaths have decreased by nearly 302370percent.2371    Unfortunately, we still lost over 80,000 loved ones in23722024, and recent provisional data from the CDC suggests that2373the progress that has been made might be coming to an end. And,2374indeed, 70 percent of those deaths were from fentanyl.2375    Significant more work needs to be done to curb opioid2376addiction, including focusing on the precursor chemicals being2377produced in China and the manufacturing labs in Mexico, as well2378as tracking down the cartels and criminals that shop these2379drugs to our Nation's children.2380    The Department of Justice must keep this at the top of2381their priority list.2382    Unfortunately, Madam General, your job at the top will not2383be easy, and the list of issues that the American people are2384counting on you to address is long and dangerous.2385    From fentanyl and immigration to violent crime and2386supporting local law enforcement, the Department of Justice2387needs to uphold the rule of law and equal justice while2388tackling the most dangerous situations confronting Americans.2389    To make matters even more difficult, this all must be2390accomplished within a budget that needs to be rightsized for2391efficiency and effectiveness.2392    The Department of Justice's fiscal year 2026 budget request2393totals just under $34 billion. This represents a reduction of2394close to $3 billion from fiscal year 2025.2395    Specifically, the request includes about $11 billion to2396target violent crime, $10 billion to tackle drug crimes, over2397$3 billion to defend the Nation and our citizens against2398transnational organized crime, and over $3.5 billion to address2399immigration.2400    These are the exact issues that hit home for many families,2401and these are the issues that are being discussed between2402neighbors in all of our States, including mine in Kentucky, and2403across the Nation.2404    After 4 years of politicization at the Biden Department of2405Justice, these are the issues that the American people expect2406you to address. They want a Department of Justice that protects2407American citizens from violent crime, not one that is2408weaponized against them for speaking their minds.2409    Thus far, we have seen much progress on many of these2410fronts, including an administration that is taking the Nation's2411borders seriously.2412    Attorney General Bondi, I stand ready to support you in2413your efforts to ensure that the American public lives in a2414society that is free from crime and abuse. I look forward to2415hearing from you today regarding the fiscal year 2026 budget,2416and then we will go from there.2417    There are critically important funding decisions ahead of2418us, and I hope we can gain a better sense of your priorities2419today so that we can make the best decision on behalf of the2420American public.2421    Let me now recognize the ranking member of this2422subcommittee, Ms. Meng, for any remarks she cares to make.2423    Ms. Meng. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.2424    And welcome, Attorney General Bondi.2425    Tens of thousands of public servants at the Department of2426Justice and its bureaus have historically worked very hard and2427continue to work hard to protect public safety and uphold the2428rule of law in our country.2429    Yet, I must take this opportunity to express my very strong2430concerns about this current administration's lack of respect2431for the rule of law.2432    Over the past 5 months, we have seen numerous examples of2433this administration outright breaking the law.2434    The administration continues to illegally withhold billions2435of dollars in funding that Congress appropriated, including2436hundreds of recently terminated Justice Grants that had been2437previously awarded through open and competitive processes.2438    The administration is violating the Federal law that2439mandates that the Office of Management and Budget publish2440apportionments and show the public how and when Federal2441agencies are spending appropriated funds.2442    The Justice Department has begun illegally restoring the2443gun possession rights of convicted felons and domestic abusers.2444It is allowing the sale of forced reset trigger devices without2445a background check.2446    These are devices that effectively convert regular firearms2447into machine guns, which I fear will only make mass shootings2448in the United States more numerous and deadly.2449    More than 1,500 individuals involved in the January 62450attack on the Capitol were pardoned or granted commutations of2451sentences.2452    The President's new appointee as Pardon Attorney, Ed2453Martin, previously raised money to help defend some of the most2454violent of these individuals, people who assaulted police2455officers. Some of the pardoned January 6 defendants have2456subsequently been arrested, charged, or sentenced for other2457crimes.2458    Under this President, the U.S. has accepted a luxury2459jetliner from Qatar, very likely in violation of the Emoluments2460Clause of the Constitution.2461    This President has also issued a series of illegal and2462unconstitutional executive orders, several of which are being2463challenged in courts right now.2464    Presidential actions in recent months have also directed2465highly political and targeted investigations against law firms2466and individuals, including Miles Taylor, a former staffer for2467the House Appropriations Committee's Republican majority.2468    Meanwhile, the administration has weakened law enforcement2469against political corruption by gutting the Department's Public2470Integrity Section, which fairly investigates and prosecutes2471corruption by government officials.2472    It has dismantled Task Force KleptoCapture, which was2473started after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine to enforce2474sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin. It has2475also ended the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, which was2476created to defend against foreign influence operations2477targeting U.S. institutions.2478    Furthermore, dozens of experienced career Federal2479prosecutors, litigators, and FBI leaders have been fired or2480forced out since the start of this administration, including2481James Dennehy, the highly respected leader of the FBI's New2482York Field Office.2483    I am really concerned about what is happening in the2484Department of Justice, especially based on the Department's2485fiscal year 2026 budget request. The proposed budget weakens2486the country's efforts to fight crime and keep Americans safe.2487    The proposal reduces funding for the FBI, despite the2488heroism of agents like those in Minnesota who aided in the2489recent capture of the deranged man accused of killing a State2490representative and nearly killing another.2491    It slashes funding to fight the trafficking of fentanyl and2492other dangerous illegal drugs by reducing the budget of the2493DEA, cutting the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program2494by more than a third, and by completely eliminating the2495dedicated funding for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task2496Force program.2497    The administration also proposes a cut of more than 252498percent to the ATF, which will further weaken the government's2499ability to fight illegal gun trafficking.2500    This budget proposal also puts further pressure on State2501and local budgets at a time of great economic uncertainty.2502    The proposal cuts by more than $800 million funding to2503grants to local and State law enforcement for fighting and2504reducing crime, including a cut of more than $37 million to2505Byrne Justice Assistance formula grants that help our local law2506enforcement in every single State.2507    I am also concerned about the huge cuts to grants aimed at2508preventing and prosecuting violence against women, such as STOP2509grants and Sexual Assault Services grants.2510    The administration also proposes eliminating three valuable2511programs aimed at fighting and preventing hate crimes at the2512same time that the FBI is reporting that hate crimes are at2513historic highs.2514    The administration's budget would completely eliminate the2515Community Relations Service, which was created by the Civil2516Rights Act of 1964 to prevent and resolve conflicts in American2517communities.2518    These actions and this budget proposal simply don't2519demonstrate a commitment to the rule of law and equal rights2520for all Americans.2521    I look forward to discussing these important issues at2522today's hearing.2523    Thank you for being here.2524    And thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I yield back.2525    Mr. Rogers. We have in attendance the ranking member of the2526full committee, Ms. DeLauro, whom I now recognize.2527    Ms. DeLauro. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank2528you and Ranking Member Meng for holding this budget hearing.2529    And I also want to say a thank you to our witness, Attorney2530General Bondi, for appearing before the subcommittee today.2531    Welcome to the House of Representatives.2532    A well-functioning, well-funded, well-led Department of2533Justice is critical to the safety and the security of the2534American people. And the Department of Justice's employees are2535dedicated public servants who work diligently and often in2536dangerous settings to keep criminals off the streets.2537    But, unfortunately, the Department of Justice under your2538leadership has become a tool of political retaliation and the2539front door for criminals seeking to curry favors and pardons.2540    As I told Director Patel last month, pressure from the2541White House to investigate the President's opponents or to2542quash investigations of his allies threatens the Department's2543credibility and the very foundation--and the foundation on2544which this Nation stands, and that is the rule of law.2545    The Attorney General must shield the rule of law from2546political pressure, not act as an instrument for implementing2547the President's political hit list.2548    Attorney General Bondi, the Department of Justice is not2549the President's personal law firm. Loyalty or disloyalty toward2550the President, or even the President's agenda, is not a valid2551measure of the performance of your employees nor of the2552appropriateness of a particular criminal investigation.2553    President Trump is more focused on revenge, retaliation,2554and retribution rather than lowering the high price for2555everyday essentials, and the American people are bearing those2556costs.2557    The American people expected President Trump to address the2558high cost of living, but the President is not laser-focused on2559the cost-of-living crisis. He is actually making it worse.2560    Instead, he put billionaires like Elon Musk in charge of2561our government, and they are attacking civil servants who are2562not loyal to him but to the Constitution and to the rule of2563law. And they are stealing programs, the funding for the2564programs that keep America's communities safe.2565    This administration is deliberately undermining agencies2566that protect the American people. Over $4.5 billion in the2567Department of Justice grants, those funds, including COPS2568grants, the Office on Violence Against Women grants, have been2569unlawfully frozen, stolen from the communities that are2570counting on this funding to improve their own law enforcement2571capabilities.2572    This funding supports reentry initiatives, violence2573prevention. It helps prevent hate crimes, provides services for2574crime victims, and supports underserved communities. Stealing2575this funding makes the American people less safe, more likely2576to become victims of crime.2577    Freezing this money is an illegal impoundment. There is no2578lawful authority to unilaterally impound or, in my words,2579steal. You can continue to say there is inherent authority. You2580can say it over and over and over again. But it is not true and2581we are going to correct it over and over and over again. And2582how many times can the courts and the Government Accountability2583Office tell you so?2584    Your Department is responsible for upholding the law. You2585must unfreeze grant money appropriated by the Congress or be in2586violation of the law.2587    Moving to the next fiscal year, I am eager to learn about2588how the Department of Justice will continue to fulfill its2589mission with a proposed budget that significantly cuts our2590Nation's law enforcement agencies, key offices, and grant2591programs.2592    The President's proposed budget would impair and defund the2593core law enforcement agencies that keep our communities safe.2594In essence, you are defunding law enforcement.2595    It slashes funding for the FBI, the Drug Enforcement2596Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and2597Explosives, limiting Federal efforts to help our State and2598local enforcement combat gun violence, drug trafficking, and2599organized crime.2600    The budget also targets DOJ's foundational legal divisions,2601cutting funding for civil rights enforcement, environmental2602protection, and even, yes, national security. It takes an axe2603to grant programs and other programs that support domestic2604violence survivors and local police departments.2605    It dismantles DOJ's Tax Division, which will only make it2606easier for prominent tax cheats to avoid prosecution, further2607increasing the burden on honest taxpayers who pay what they2608owe.2609    They pay what they owe. Our largest corporations do not.2610    And why on Earth does your budget slash the Department of2611Justice's Office of the Inspector General by 30 percent? Does2612this administration want to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse2613or not?2614    Our government's Inspectors General are absolutely critical2615nonpartisan offices that help Congress and the American people2616eliminate and prevent fraud and corruption. This administration2617has directly undermined and even removed over a dozen of these2618offices across our government.2619    Waste, fraud, and abuse are not the targets of President2620Trump's White House. They are the primary objectives. This2621budget does not put the safety and security of the American2622people first. It puts white collar criminals, drug traffickers,2623and violent offenders first, while eviscerating your2624Department's ability to stop them.2625    The Department of Justice exists to uphold the rule of law.2626The American people deserve assurance that everyone will be2627treated equally under the law. Instead, this administration2628breaks the law with reckless abandon.2629    President Trump, like every other American, must follow the2630law. Russ Vought must follow the law. Secretaries Noem and2631Kennedy and McMahon must follow the law. And we must understand2632why your Department is complicit in lawbreaking from the2633highest office.2634    I yield back.2635    Mr. Rogers. We want to say congratulations to the Attorney2636General on her selection to this very important post. But she2637brings a great record from her home State of Florida in her2638earlier part of her life.2639    So we are proud of you, and we welcome you to the2640subcommittee. And you are now recognized for an opening2641statement, which will be entered into the record.26422643                 STATEMENT OF HON. PAMELA BONDI26442645    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you, Chairman.2646    Good afternoon, Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member DeLauro,2647Ranking Member Meng, and distinguished members of the2648subcommittee. I am honored to appear before you today to2649present the President's fiscal year 2026 budget for the2650Department of Justice. I look forward to working with all of2651you to ensure continued support for the Department and our many2652critical missions.2653    President Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget proposal totals2654$34 billion for the Department of Justice. That money will2655support Federal law enforcement as well as our State, local,2656and Tribal law enforcement partners.2657    My primary objective as Attorney General is to return the2658Department to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and2659vigorously enforcing the law. This budget will allow us to2660continue doing just that.2661    Since January 20, we have dismantled deadly fentanyl2662networks across our country. We have prosecuted MS-13 and TdA2663members using terrorism and RICO charges. We have seized2664thousands of illegal guns from cartels and extradited key2665cartel leaders into U.S. prisons.2666    Last month, the FBI arrested 205 child predators in a2667single operation, and the DEA executed the largest fentanyl2668bust in history across four States.2669    We have also surged FBI resources to investigate thousands2670of violent crimes committed against American Indian and Alaska2671Native people.2672    These are just a few examples of what we have achieved thus2673far. The budget will allow us to continue doing our crucial2674work.2675    We have also led the charge to enforce our immigration2676laws, rebuild our immigration system after 4 years of chaos,2677and help secure our Nation's borders. Moreover, we must2678guarantee that our laws allow us to process, hold, and remove2679those who enter our country illegally.2680    Our U.S. Attorneys continue to effectively work with law2681enforcement at all levels to investigate and prosecute the2682increasing volume of immigration-related criminal offenses.2683    Additionally, the President and I have established and2684reinvigorated three task forces to enforce the administration's2685priorities.2686    The Homeland Security Task Force is enhancing Federal and2687State law enforcement cooperation to destroy criminal cartels,2688foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations2689throughout our country.2690    Joint Task Force Alpha will continue to specifically target2691the human trafficking and human smuggling networks that took2692root while our border was wide open.2693    And Joint Task Force Vulcan will continue successful2694efforts to arrest and prosecute members of TdA and MS-13.2695    We are also committed to making America safe again by2696reducing recidivism. The Bureau of Prisons has suffered2697mismanagement, lack of funding, and low morale. Throughout my2698confirmation process, BOP came up in every single meeting2699regardless of the Senator's party.2700    The President's budget proposal will address critical2701staffing shortages, enhance staff retention, and deliver2702positive changes to a system that has long needed improvements.2703    The resources made available through President Trump's2704proposal will also empower the Department to continue fighting2705our war on fentanyl.2706    Since January 2025, the DEA has already seized 41.5 million2707fentanyl pills and 4,470 kilos of fentanyl powder.2708    It is a historic rate, but it is not enough. We won't rest2709until this poison is off our streets.2710    And finally, the 2026 budget continues my commitment to2711find savings in the Department, reduce inefficiencies, and2712deliver value to the American taxpayer.2713    In fiscal year 2026, the Department will merge components2714that will work in overlapping areas and make our law2715enforcement and grant-making efforts more effective. We will2716emerge from this work as a leaner organization, better equipped2717to keep the American people safe.2718    Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member DeLauro, Ranking Member2719Meng, it is my pleasure to highlight our efforts to be good2720stewards of these resources. I am working diligently to restore2721confidence and integrity to the Department and each of those2722components. Thank you for your continued support of the2723Department's financial needs and for the opportunity to present2724our budget request.2725    I also would ask all of us now to pray for our troops in2726Qatar.2727    Mr. Rogers. Amen.2728    Attorney General Bondi. I look forward to working with you.2729And I am now happy to take any questions you might have.2730    [The information follows:]2731    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]27322733    Mr. Rogers. We will proceed under the 5-minute rule, and I2734will yield myself the first 5 minutes.2735    As you know, Madam Attorney General, rural America, many2736parts of the country, including my district, continue to suffer2737from the lethal effects of illicit drug use and overdose2738deaths.2739    How does your 2026 budget propose to address drug crimes,2740such as trafficking and the influx? What are you doing2741differently than in the past?2742    Attorney General Bondi. Chairman, what we are doing, we are2743focusing all of our law enforcement agencies on getting these2744drugs off of our streets.2745    Since I was a State AG, I focused on the opioid crisis. I2746focused with all of our agencies--all of our agencies--working2747hand in hand on the drug crisis.2748    Securing our borders, I believe, was the first step. We2749will continue to do that.2750    On May 22, I believe, Chairman, we announced the success of2751Operation RapTor, the FBI-led DOJ operation that targeted2752fentanyl trafficking on the dark web. That has become a huge2753problem with added technology now.2754    We have seen drug trafficking increased not only across our2755boarders, not only through the mail, but also on the web. And2756that is something I believe that we can all work together on. I2757believe that crosses party lines. That is something that we all2758need to work together on.2759    We have seized 144 kilos of fentanyl, 180 firearms, and2760over $200 million in currency and digital assets, working with2761nine international partners and arresting 270 drug traffickers2762across four continents. And that was all because of Operation2763RapTor.2764    On May 6, we executed the biggest fentanyl bust in DEA's2765history. We dismantled a Sinaloa Cartel that trafficked across2766five States: New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, and Nevada. We2767seized 412 kilos of fentanyl pills, 11.5 kilos of fentanyl2768powder, and 49 illegal firearms. We arrested 16 accused drug2769traffickers.2770    These cartels, these gangs, are so organized that they2771insulate their leaders. The leader of this particular cartel2772was living in Oregon. Yet none of the drugs were with him.2773    This was incredible police work by all of our agencies,2774Federal agencies, working hand in hand to track them down. I2775met in conference rooms. We had charts.2776    And I would invite any of you Members, on both sides of the2777aisle, to come in and see these investigations of what we are2778trying to do to get these drugs off our streets. They are so2779complex. They are so complicated.2780    What our law enforcement have been doing is really second2781to none and I am so proud. They are some of the bravest in the2782world. And I am so proud at what they have been doing, working2783with all of our State and local partners to eradicate these2784drugs.2785    My point of that was in Oregon was the leader of this2786particular Sinaloa gang. And, again, he insulated himself. But2787we were able to catch him thanks to great police work, and we2788will continue to do that.2789    Mr. Rogers. Well, congratulations.2790    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.2791    Mr. Rogers. And thanks for the invitation. I hope we can2792take you up on that.2793    During his hearing before us, FBI Director Patel indicated2794a lot of precursor chemicals that originate in China are now2795going to terrorist organizations that reroute the precursors2796into our country through the northern border.2797    What can you say about that?2798    Attorney General Bondi. Yes, Chairman, that is accurate. I2799have been fighting this fentanyl epidemic since I was a State2800AG when it really first came on the market.2801    Ironically, I was recently in Poland at a security2802conference with all of my counterparts around the world, and I2803will never forget something they said to me. My counterpart in2804Poland said, ``Fentanyl isn't here yet.'' Yet. Because they2805protect their borders.2806    And, yes, the northern border is now a great concern to all2807of us, I would think to everyone on this committee. And, yeah,2808that is a great concern. But we will continue to do that.2809    We are fighting to protect those precursors from coming in,2810as we know. And what they keep doing is they are changing the2811precursors. And they continue to change them, and they continue2812to send them through Mexico, through Canada, on ships through2813our ports of entry into our country. But that is something we2814have to all work together on to stop.2815    I went to our DEA lab. I met with our DEA. It only takes--2816it looks like almost two grains of salt. I had them put sodium2817chloride in a little bottle so I could show people.2818    That is what it takes to kill you. And that is what our2819kids are taking. They don't realize that it is mixed. They2820think they are buying a Xanax, an Adderall--I can't say this2821enough--an oxycodone pill. They think they are buying something2822else.2823    And this junk is being laced--this poison--into these pills2824throughout our country. And that is something I feel like we2825can all work together on to try to stop.2826    But, yes. That was--sorry--a very long answer to, yes, it2827is coming in through our northern border, but we are doing2828everything we can to secure that. We are working with Homeland2829Security very closely, and they are doing an incredible job on2830that as well, Chairman.2831    Mr. Rogers. Ms. Meng.2832    Ms. Meng. Madam Attorney General, I wanted to ask about a2833topic that is of great importance to many Americans, and2834especially my constituents, which is about hate crimes.2835    I am really troubled that your budget proposes to end the2836grant programs that may help prevent some of these hate crimes.2837    As you may know, I was the author of one of these programs,2838the Community-Based Approaches to Advancing Justice program,2839which was created in fiscal year 2022.2840    This program supported local groups working to increase2841hate crimes reporting, give community members resources in2842languages other than English, and to improve relationships2843between local law enforcement and the community.2844    It was a direct response to the rise in hate crimes2845targeting Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. You may2846recall in March 2021, six women of Asian descent were2847tragically murdered in Atlanta, Georgia.2848    My Hate Crimes Act passed through Congress in May of that2849year with bipartisan support, including from several of my2850colleagues on the other side of the dais.2851    For years, I have been hearing from constituents about how2852scared they felt and have been hearing from members of these2853communities as well as experts who have told me that one of the2854best ways to combat hate in this country is to fund prevention2855programs. So not just prosecution but also prevention.2856    I have a letter here that hate crime survivors and family2857members wrote to you in May expressing their strongest concerns2858about the termination of these grants, signed by people like2859family members of Emmett Till, James Byrd Jr., Matthew Shepard,2860and survivors of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.2861    I ask unanimous consent to enter into the hearing record2862this letter from these survivors and family members to Attorney2863General Bondi regarding the termination of hate crimes-related2864grant programs.2865    Mr. Rogers. Without objection.2866    [The information follows:]2867    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]28682869    Ms. Meng. Thank you, Chairman.2870    Attorney General Bondi, I absolutely share your support for2871law enforcement and for the prosecution of hate crimes in a2872just way. But we must combat all forms of hate on all fronts,2873bringing together law enforcement and community leaders and2874members of the public, and these grant programs have helped2875many communities do exactly this.2876    So I just wanted to ask and hear from you why there is a2877proposal to eliminate the three largest sources of DOJ funding2878for hate crime prevention programs.2879    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. And, Ranking Member, can you2880list those three for me again? And I am sorry, I have not2881received your letter yet. But I would welcome working with you2882on any issue regarding hate crimes in the Asian-American2883community and any community. I welcome working with you on2884that.2885    Ms. Meng. Okay. Yeah. I would love to.2886    And this letter was sent May 15, and we will make sure that2887you and your team have received it.2888    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.2889    Ms. Meng. So the programs. One of them, for example, is2890named the Community-Based Approaches to Advancing Justice.2891Three programs have been cut. One of these programs literally2892helped support our law enforcement departments locally, like2893our NYPD, to train and respond to hate crimes.2894    Attorney General Bondi. Let me see.2895    So we have 5,800 grants, Chairman, that come--Ranking2896Member, excuse me--that come through my office; 365 have been2897cut so far. That is approximately 6 percent.2898    What I will tell you is we have turned back on 13 of those2899so far because people have reached out to me. If you want to2900reach out and talk to me directly, I will give you my cell2901phone. I would love to sit down with you and see if we can work2902that out. I am sorry. I am not familiar with those three2903directly.2904    But, again, we will, if you have, on either side of the2905aisle, any grants that you believe should be back on, I would2906love to meet with you and work with you on that.2907    We are doing that on a case-by-case basis. And law2908enforcement is my top priority, especially hate crimes,2909violence against women, everything I have done my entire career2910as a prosecutor. I think we have a former prosecutor in the2911room too.2912    And I look forward to working with you on those and seeing2913what we can do to help you.2914    Ms. Meng. Great. We would love to work together, and we2915will flag all the programs that have been impacted, including2916those that directly support our local law enforcement, like2917NYPD.2918    And just to be more specific, the three programs mentioned2919are Community-Based Approaches, Jabara-Heyer NO HATE, and2920Shepard-Byrd. NO HATE, Shepard-Byrd.2921    Thank you so much.2922    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.2923    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Gonzales.2924    Mr. Gonzales. Thank you, Chairman.2925    And thank you, Attorney General, for being here today.2926    When the DOJ submitted their budget, the United States was2927a Nation at peace, and now we are a Nation at war. So my2928questions are going to be focused on national security.2929    How many Iranian sleeper cells do we suspect are in the2930United States?2931    Attorney General Bondi. Congressman, I can't talk about2932that in this setting. But what I can tell you is I know2933Homeland Security, I know the FBI. They are focusing on doing2934everything we can to keep our Nation safe and they will2935continue to do that.2936    Yeah, it is a frightening time in which we live right now.2937But President Trump is committed to keeping all Americans safe.2938And we look forward to working with you on that.2939    Mr. Gonzales. Great. Thank you.2940    How many active cases of threats to the homeland does DOJ2941currently have open as of today?2942    Attorney General Bondi. Countless. Countless. I can't talk2943about those in this setting either, obviously, anything pending2944regarding national security issues.2945    But there is not a day that goes by that we don't discuss2946the issues that you just brought up with me at the Department2947of Justice. But I also know that our counterparts at DOD, HSI,2948the State Department, and all of our agencies are working2949together to make America safe and, in turn, keep our world2950safe.2951    Mr. Gonzales. This is very much on my mind. I spent 202952years in the military. I spent 5 years in Iraq and Afghanistan.2953These aren't----2954    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.2955    Mr. Gonzales. Of course. These aren't dots on a board. And2956not only American lives abroad, what we saw today, are at risk,2957but it is also American lives here at home.2958    And I don't want us looking back and going: What if? I want2959us to, as much as we can, get ahead of it, to give you the2960resources, the instruments that you need to go out and make2961sure that we are preventing things from happening, not waiting2962until after the fact.2963    There was a report of over 1,500 Iranian nationals that2964have entered the country illegally over the last several years.2965Do we know, out of those over 1,500, how many of those have2966been convicted of a crime?2967    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah, I don't have the number of2968the convictions. It is well over a thousand have entered, yes.2969I don't know if it is quite up to 1,500. But, yes, it is well2970over a thousand have entered our country. And I can tell you,2971we are on high alert, and everyone is looking at that very2972closely.2973    Mr. Gonzales. Some things just don't line up as far as us--2974I see the world as on fire now more than ever before. Once2975again, when this budget was submitted we were a Nation at2976peace, and now things have changed.2977    I look at this. I see law enforcement and national security2978has a reduction of $645 million, over 1,500 positions. The2979notes I have: The FBI will implement cost-saving measures. The2980largest decreases will be in criminal, cyber, response, and2981service branches and national security branches.2982    FBI's criminal investigation, cyber, and international2983operations will reduce resources and support various2984investigations and partnership. Additionally, the2985counterintelligence, counterterrorism, threat screening, and2986weapons of mass destruction programs experience reductions.2987    I mention those things because those, in my eyes, those are2988the programs that we need more resources to, more manpower to.2989    And not everything is about money. I mean, you have alluded2990to this. A lot of times it is about being more efficient with2991the things that you are doing.2992    I would love to hear your thoughts on some of the ways you2993are looking to get ahead of any problem sets.2994    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.2995    And we can do more with less. Of course, you can always do2996more with more. But we are doing more with less. We are2997prioritizing. We are refocusing. And the budget request2998supports $7.5 billion for national security.2999    Also, that is why it is very important, I believe, for all3000of you to support the Big Beautiful Bill. The One Big Beautiful3001Bill gives us a lot of additional funding at the Department of3002Justice to carry out our mission.3003    The Senate version gives us $11.82 billion. Currently, the3004House version gives us $3.3 billion. Hopefully, they will come3005to a compromise in there.3006    But that is where it will truly help Department of Justice3007combat all of the issues that you brought up and many others.3008    And thank you for your service to our country, especially3009now. I didn't realize that you had served in Iraq. Thank you.3010    Mr. Gonzales. Yeah. No. Of course. And thank you for saying3011that. I mean, resources matter. And the Big Beautiful Bill, we3012look forward to getting that to the President's desk as soon as3013possible, once again, to give you the resources and the tools3014you need to get ahead of these problems that we see so clearly3015coming through.3016    I represent nearly half of the southern border. The border3017is on my mind quite a bit.3018    One of the questions I have--I focus a lot on convicted3019criminal illegal aliens. Do we know how many illegal aliens3020have been convicted of a crime in the United States?3021    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. I can get you those specific3022numbers.3023    Mr. Gonzales. Great.3024    Attorney General Bondi. I don't know. But many, I can tell3025you. Our prosecutors are indicting and charging illegal aliens3026constantly--violent crimes, rapes, thefts, many crimes3027throughout this country.3028    And, yes, our borders were wide open. And, Congressman,3029back in September, I went to our border at Yuma, Arizona. Not3030in Texas, but in Yuma. And at our border, what I saw firsthand,3031we saw IDs just dropped from every country you can imagine. El3032Salvador. Venezuela. China. Every country you can imagine.3033    And of course I didn't see Iranian driver's licenses, but3034they are coming into our country. Yes, we know. That is3035documented. But just walking into our country.3036    And that is why Homeland Security, that is why ICE, that is3037why the FBI, that is why all of our agencies, DEA, ATF, are all3038working hand in hand to combat that and to keep Americans safe.3039And that is what President Trump is committed to doing.3040    Mr. Gonzales. Thank you.3041    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.3042    Mr. Gonzales. Chairman, I yield back.3043    Mr. Rogers. Ms. DeLauro.3044    Ms. DeLauro. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.3045    Just a quick note before I get to my questions.3046    Fentanyl seizures are down 30 percent compared to last3047year. And that data is coming from the Customs and Border3048Patrol, CBP. I don't make it up. But fentanyl seizures are3049down.3050    At your confirmation hearing you asserted that you will do3051everything in your power to prevent illegal gunrunners in our3052country. Your budget request for the Bureau of Alcohol,3053Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF, proposes a cut of 263054percent below the current level.3055    How can you justify such a massive cut without inevitably3056weakening ATF's ability to help our State and local law3057enforcement fight illegal gun trafficking?3058    How many ATF law enforcement officers and industry3059operations investigators do you anticipate will be lost to3060attrition as a result of this funding reduction you are3061proposing?3062    Attorney General Bondi. So I am a career prosecutor, and I3063believe in keeping America safe, making America safe.3064    First, what we are doing is ATF is going to be brought over3065with DEA. Everyone knows, everyone sitting up here, guns and3066drugs go together. They go together. We are going to make it3067more efficient.3068    What I will tell you will not be happening is ATF agents3069will not be knocking on the doors of legal gun owners in the3070middle of the night asking them about their guns. They are3071going to be out on the street--if I can finish--they are going3072to be out on the street----3073    Ms. DeLauro. Well, I have 3 minutes.3074    Attorney General Bondi. No, no, no. You asked me a3075question.3076    Ms. DeLauro. I did, and you haven't answered my question.3077    Attorney General Bondi. Yoo asked me a question. Let me3078answer it.3079    So they are going to be out on the streets working hand in3080hand with DEA----3081    Ms. DeLauro. You haven't answered my question. You haven't3082answered.3083    Mr. Chairman, I would like an answer to my question. And3084the question is not being answered.3085    How many ATF law enforcement officers and industry3086operations investigators do you anticipate will be lost to3087attrition as a result of the funding reduction you are3088proposing? You are proposing a 26 percent cut to ATF for fiscal3089year 2026 as well as a 4.4 percent cut to DEA.3090    So you are going to merge the two agencies together, and3091then you are going to shortchange their resources so neither3092one of them will be able to do the job that they have been3093designed to do.3094    You have got a 34 percent cut to the High Intensity Drug3095Trafficking Areas program, no dedicated money at all for the3096Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.3097    So my view, it is fair to say that the Trump administration3098proposal shortchanges Federal efforts to stop illegal gun3099trafficking and Federal efforts to stop the flow of dangerous3100illegal drugs like fentanyl.3101    Attorney General Bondi. As I was attempting to answer your3102question very calmly, unlike you, what--what the--what I was3103saying----3104    Ms. DeLauro. Excuse me. Excuse me, Madam Attorney General.3105Answer yes or no. Tell me what the numbers are. I don't want to3106hear all of your filibustering about this. Go ahead. Please,3107tell us the numbers.3108    Attorney General Bondi. So we are reorganizing. ATF agents3109want to be out on the street working with DEA agents.3110    Ms. DeLauro. Okay. Let me answer the question for you. I am3111going to answer it for you. Page----3112    Mr. Rogers. Let the witness answer the question.3113    Ms. DeLauro. Mr. Chairman, you give me a certain amount of3114time, and I have a high respect for you, but I don't have to3115listen, nor do my colleagues have to listen to a filibuster3116when it is a simple question.3117    But I have an answer to your question. It is page 146 of3118the Department's fiscal year 2026 budget. And the performance3119summary explicitly says, and let me quote, ``ATF will eliminate3120541 Industry Operations Investigators, reducing ATF's capacity3121to regulate the firearms and explosives industries by3122approximately 40 percent in fiscal year 2026. ATF will perform3123fewer regulatory inspections.''3124    And the Department summary goes on to say, and let me3125quote, ``ATF anticipates a reduction of approximately 2843126support personnel and 186 agents, based on historical attrition3127patterns, and these personnel cuts will impact ATF across3128various functions,'' unquote.3129    If the capacity to regulate the firearms industry is3130reduced by 40 percent, if you are losing 186 ATF law3131enforcement agents on top of that, it is clear the direction3132you are headed with this budget. That is what it is, isn't it?3133The proposal will weaken our ability to stop gun trafficking,3134and it will greatly reduce ATF support for State and local law3135enforcement that helps them prevent and solve violent crimes.3136    It is a bad proposal.3137    Attorney General Bondi. Do you want to hear my answer in 33138seconds?3139    You mentioned regulatory functions. We will not be having3140ATF agents go to the doors of gun owners in the middle of the3141night, asking them about their guns. Period. They will be out3142on the street with DEA, guns and----3143    Ms. DeLauro. How many are gone?3144    Attorney General Bondi. They will--we are--it will be3145attrition. We are not firing agents who will be working----3146    Ms. DeLauro. How many have taken attrition?3147    Attorney General Bondi. Can I tell you that they all want3148to be on the street? They want to be doing their jobs. They3149want to be seizing guns.3150    Ms. DeLauro. But you are getting them off the street.3151    Attorney General Bondi. They want----3152    Ms. DeLauro. You are getting them off the street.3153    Attorney General Bondi. We are putting them on the street.3154They want to be working with DEA.3155    Ms. DeLauro. You are getting them off the street. There is3156no clear----3157    Attorney General Bondi. We will be efficient----3158    Ms. DeLauro. And, Mr. Chairman, I yield back my time.3159    Mr. Rogers. Time of the gentlelady has expired.3160    Ms. DeLauro. I yield back my time. Let's get some answers3161here.3162    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Clyde.3163    Mr. Clyde. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.3164    And thank you, Attorney General Bondi, for being here3165today. You are, in my mind, a breath of fresh air to our3166Department of Justice.3167    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.3168    Mr. Clyde. Thank you.3169    So thank you for your dedication to the Constitution and3170for equal justice under the law. I am thoroughly impressed with3171your experience and how you have handled the Department of3172Justice so far.3173    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.3174    Mr. Clyde. As we all know, under the Biden-Harris3175administration the Department of Justice, FBI, and ATF were3176dangerously weaponized to target President Trump and everyday3177Americans, tactics more fitting of an authoritarian regime than3178a constitutional republic.3179    From politically persecuting President Trump, then-3180President Biden's chief political rival, to going after pro-3181life advocates, like Mark Houck, the actions of Attorney3182General Garland, Director Wray, and the DOJ leadership were3183unacceptable and unconstitutional, in my opinion.3184    That is why I was very encouraged to see the President's3185fiscal year 2026 budget commit to ending the weaponization3186within the Department of Justice and the FBI.3187    And so can you elaborate for me how has the Trump3188administration's DOJ shifted away from politically motivated3189investigations and refocused on its core mission, prosecuting3190the most dangerous criminals?3191    And you mentioned that a little bit in your opening3192remarks. So if you can focus on the moving away part, I would3193appreciate it.3194    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. Thank you, Congressman Clyde,3195and thank you for that.3196    And also our budget includes $1.2 billion and 2,444 agents3197for ATF, and those agents will be on the street with DEA. And3198thank you for letting me answer that question.3199    Mr. Clyde. Yes, ma'am.3200    Attorney General Bondi. And we are prioritizing resources3201addressing illegal firearms and traffickers, and we will reduce3202unnecessary regulatory efforts, including what I just said3203about the weaponization. That is how ATF, I believe, was3204weaponized in the prior administration.3205    Also, they were arresting peaceful protesters, the Biden3206administration, at abortion facilities. No longer. They3207targeted Catholics at church services. No longer. No longer3208will parents be arrested at school board meetings because they3209care about their children.3210    That has ended under this Department. That is why Donald3211Trump won the popular vote and the electoral college by3212overwhelming margins. He made that crystal clear, and that is3213what is happening now in our country.3214    That weaponization has ended. These ATF agents will be on3215the street fighting drugs. I have been a career prosecutor. ATF3216has taken thousands of guns off the streets since January 20,3217working hand in hand with DEA. Drugs and guns go together.3218    Core function. No more targeting and weaponizing our3219citizens by any of the agencies, Congressman.3220    Mr. Clyde. Thank you. Thank you for that commitment.3221    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.3222    Mr. Clyde. I was delighted to see that the Department of3223Justice's fiscal year 2026 budget also included a dedicated3224fund for a firearm rights restoration initiative.3225    Can you describe this initiative a little bit and any other3226steps that your Department is taking to restore the Second3227Amendment rights to Americans who were unlawfully or unjustly3228stripped of them by prior administrations? Can you talk about3229that a little bit, please?3230    Attorney General Bondi. Yes, Congressman. And that is a--3231the pardon power, of course, falls with the President. And he3232has been doing many pardons on that topic, and he will continue3233to do that, I am certain.3234    Also, one other thing about ATF is our seizure of firearms3235is up 33 percent from this time last year.3236    Mr. Clyde. Thank you.3237    Attorney General Bondi. I wanted to add that. Thank you.3238    Mr. Clyde. Thank you.3239    I was going to ask you about the merger of DEA and the ATF3240and kind of if you would elaborate on that. You have talked a3241little bit about it already.3242    One thing that I think is very important is that the ATF3243and Federal firearms licensees work together, because truly3244FFLs are the front line when it comes to illegal purchases and3245just the information that is out there.3246    And we can help each other as long as we have a good3247relationship with each other. And during the last3248administration, it was a terrifying relationship. I mean, you3249had the zero tolerance against Federal firearms licensees.3250    I am sorry, we are all human. Everybody makes mistakes. And3251they are not intentional. They are just mistakes.3252    And when you can lose your livelihood and you can lose your3253business and your employees can lose their jobs over simple3254mistakes, that is a real problem, especially when, if you think3255about Federal firearms licensees, they are the pathway to the3256Second Amendment of the Constitution. They enable individual3257participation in the protection of liberty. I mean, that is3258what Federal firearms licensees do.3259    So I think it is really important to have that critical3260relationship between ATF and the Federal firearms licensees.3261    When the inspectors, when the ATF went from the Treasury to3262the Department of Justice and the inspection side of it, when3263the IOIs, when they were--industry operations inspectors--when3264they became industry operations investigators, when you3265investigate crime, you really inspect records. That was3266concerning to me.3267    So my thought was maybe we could move the IOIs to the3268Department of Commerce. But just would get your thought on3269that.3270    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. And, Congressman, that is the3271first time I have heard about that. I would love to meet with3272you and learn more about that.3273    Mr. Clyde. Great. I look forward to it.3274    Attorney General Bondi. And thank you for asking about the3275ATF-DEA merger.3276    In the world in which we live, bureaucracy has been around3277for a very long time, and just because things have been done3278one way for decades and decades doesn't mean that is the most3279efficient way to do them in the future.3280    And I am a career prosecutor. I care about ATF. I went to3281ATF's memorial service. We are doing everything we can to put3282those ATF agents on the street where they want to be.3283    Anyone in modern day history--the years of Prohibition are3284over. ATF, they want to be on the street. They want to be3285working hand in hand with DEA. That is what they do. No3286redundancy, no repeat of investigations. They are going to be3287working together. And that is what this reorganization does.3288    They are all going to be--it is going to be a great3289marriage between those two agencies. They are working hand in3290hand on task forces already. Now they will be working under one3291umbrella and it is going to be great for our country.3292    Mr. Rogers. Time of the gentleman has expired.3293    Mr. Clyde. Thank you very much.3294    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.3295    Mr. Clyde. I yield back.3296    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Ivey.3297    Mr. Ivey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.3298    I wanted to follow up on what Congressman Gonzales raised3299with you with respect to the new environment that we are in now3300with the--essentially at war with Iran.3301    A few weeks ago, your FBI Director sat in the same chair3302and said that he thought in the budget that has been proposed3303they are about $11.2 billion short. He wanted an additional33041,100 positions that were lost to attrition and 1,300 he wanted3305to have filled. That is before the scenario with Iran.3306    Now, I know you submitted the budget already and you want3307to stick with it. But please take another look. This is a new3308environment. I think the points that the Congressman raised are3309very valid with respect to the issue of sleeper cells and3310threats domestically here.3311    Taking FBI agents off the street now is a bad--there isn't3312a worse possible time you could do it. So please reconsider3313that and move in a different direction on that, because we need3314more of them on the street, not fewer.3315    Ms. DeLauro was raising issues with respect to your budget,3316the IOI cuts and the 86 agents that are going to be cut, too.3317And the concern I have on that front, I know you are saying we3318need--they want to be on the street--but there are ATF agents3319that do things that aren't on the street.3320    So, like, for example, the NIBIN work where they match the3321cartridges to the guns is critical. And I am very concerned3322that some of the cuts you are going to make are going to impact3323that.3324    And the NIBIN pieces are critical for State and local law3325enforcement, like you used to be, because a lot of them don't3326have the resources to track it down. And the information that3327they can get, you can turn it around in 48 hours.3328    So the man who attempted to assassinate now-President3329Trump, the connection that was made was through this apparatus,3330this approach. Same thing with the Minnesota assassin.3331    So that is an area where we can't afford to have those kind3332of cuts, I don't think, at this time.3333    And the performance of fewer regulatory inspections. I had3334gun dealers in my district who needed those inspections to take3335place, and important findings have been made, certainly with3336respect to tracking crime guns and cracking down on gun dealers3337who are working illicitly.3338    I am not saying they all do. I mean, many of them operate3339in the right way. But the only way to track it down is through3340inspections that have to be aggressive.3341    And by the way, even under the current regime--or the3342previous regime--I think some of them didn't get inspections3343for maybe every 10 years or so. So it wasn't like it is a3344constant harassment piece.3345    But I have got some folks here in the corner of the hearing3346room who are from my district, Moms Demand Action, DMV Mothers3347Like Me, Women's Missionary Society. I met with them a few3348weeks ago, and the concern was the issue of gun violence on our3349streets and the desire to make sure that the Federal presence3350continues to push hard to make sure we close those cases.3351    You are reducing resources. You are taking--reducing the3352number of agents, as Mr. Patel said. That is moving in the3353opposite direction.3354    What response would you give to them with respect to the3355steps that you are taking to make sure not only that we stay3356safe, but we get even safer and do even more to get violent3357offenders off the street and get the guns off the street before3358the violent offenders get them?3359    Attorney General Bondi. So, first, Congressman Ivey, you3360are a former prosecutor, and I am smiling because I could see3361that in some of your questions. Thank you for those questions.3362I am going to try to answer them all in order of how you asked3363them.3364    You asked about the FBI. Our budget--and Director Patel3365clarified that in front of the Senate, I think, and our budget3366includes $10.1 billion, 12,926 agents for the FBI.3367    Mr. Ivey. I think ``clarification'' would be gentle. It was3368a complete flip-flop on what he said when he was here.3369    Attorney General Bondi. So they prioritize----3370    Mr. Ivey. And he was asked three times by Ms. DeLauro, just3371to make sure that he was right about what he had said when he3372was testifying.3373    Attorney General Bondi. They prioritize realignment of3374personnel to the field to carry out national security, which3375you just talked about, intelligence, criminal law enforcement,3376and criminal justice missions.3377    The budget----3378    Mr. Ivey. Can I do this?3379    Attorney General Bondi. Can I just keep--I only have 343380seconds to answer you, and I really want to answer.3381    Mr. Ivey. I have got three quick questions for you, and I3382would love to get your answers----3383    Attorney General Bondi. You are asking three questions, and3384you haven't let me answer one.3385    Mr. Ivey. I would love to get your answers in writing.3386    Attorney General Bondi. I want to talk about NIBIN.3387    Mr. Ivey. Quick question.3388    Attorney General Bondi. NIBIN.3389    Mr. Ivey. When you were the attorney general in Florida----3390    Attorney General Bondi. Chairman, can I answer the3391question?3392    Mr. Ivey [continuing]. You offered after the Parkland3393shooting----3394    Mr. Rogers. If the gentleman will suspend.3395    Mr. Ivey. I believe this is my time under the rules and I3396had----3397    Mr. Rogers. If the gentleman will suspend momentarily.3398    Ms. DeLauro. Stop the clock.3399    Mr. Ivey. Can we stop the clock?3400    Ms. DeLauro. Stop the clock at a different----3401    Mr. Rogers. Let's be respectful of each other.3402    Mr. Ivey. Mr. Chairman, what I just said was, if you could3403submit your answers in writing, that would be great. I don't3404think I have made any kind of statement that has been3405accusatory with respect to her or her professional reputation.3406There has been no attack on her. These were just questions that3407were asked. I am seeking the answers in writing, which would be3408great. But I have a couple others I would like to ask, too, and3409we will do them on----3410    Mr. Rogers. The gentleman's time has expired.3411    Mr. Ivey. No, it hasn't. You cut me off when there were 303412seconds left. Yeah. So----3413    Well, that is true, too. A couple of you all went over,3414like, a minute and a half.3415    Ms. DeLauro. Congressman Clyde went over almost 2 minutes.3416    Mr. Ivey. I just would like my 30 seconds back. And then if3417she can submit answers in writing, that will be fine, but, you3418know--but I want to get these questions in while she is here.3419    Mr. Rogers. Submit your questions.3420    Ms. DeLauro. Go ahead. No, no, no.3421    Chairman----3422    Mr. Ivey. I want to ask the questions, and she can submit3423the answers.3424    This is my 5 minutes. I get to do it the way I want to do3425it under the committee rules and under the House rules. These3426are my 5 minutes. And as I said, I have not been disrespectful3427to this witness. I have not.3428    Ms. DeLauro. Go ahead.3429    Mr. Ivey. Okay. When you were the attorney general in3430Florida, after the Parkland shooting, my understanding is that3431you moved to ban guns--gun sales to people under 21. Is that a3432position that you would take now as the Attorney General? I3433have a bill, H.R. 2368, which does something like that. I would3434be interested if you would be willing to cosponsor--or support3435that bill.3436    You also moved to enact red flag laws, allowing a judge3437temporarily to confiscate weapons when he or she viewed that3438the person was at risk of hurting himself or someone else. Is3439that a position you would continue to support now?3440    And the last one is ghost guns. Ghost guns--I don't think3441you took a position on it back when you were the AG in Florida.3442But we have had two bills come through here in the Congress,3443all Democratic cosponsors. I think there is no argument that3444ghost guns have any, you know, appropriate use on the street.3445They only help criminals avoid prosecution. Would you support a3446legislative ban on ghost guns?3447    And, with that, I yield back.3448    Mr. Rogers. The gentleman yields back.3449    Mr. Strong.3450    Mr. Strong. Thank you, Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member3451Meng, for having this hearing today. I would also like to thank3452the subcommittee staff for their hard work.3453    Attorney General Bondi, thank you for being here today. I3454commend you for your efforts to prioritize President Trump's3455America First agenda and commitment to making America safe3456again.3457    As you know, I represent Alabama's Fifth Congressional3458District, which includes Huntsville and Redstone Arsenal. I am3459especially supportive of the FBI Director Patel's plan for the3460continued movement of FBI personnel to north Alabama. My3461district has repeatedly answered the call to support our law3462enforcement agencies with a second-to-none workforce, cutting-3463edge facilities, and room for growth.3464    Attorney General Bondi, do you support the FBI's plan to3465move additional personnel and programs to Redstone Arsenal and3466out of the Beltway?3467    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you, Congressman, for your3468question.3469    And, yes, we are moving 500 additional personnel from D.C.3470to Alabama to Redstone. Redstone is a state-of-the-art3471facility. It will enhance everything we do, training for FBI,3472training for other employees. And Huntsville provides the most3473cost-effective location with a distinct partnership3474opportunity, and we support all of that that is happening, and3475I look forward to visiting it one day.3476    Could I have a couple minutes to answer a couple of your3477fellow Congressman's questions?3478    Mr. Strong. Please do. I will yield.3479    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you. He asked me about--he3480asked me about NIBIN, and yet he didn't want to hear my answer.3481NIBIN means National Integrated Ballistics Enforcement Network.3482I am very aware of that. We are not cutting that. ATF is3483receiving $66 million. It is an important program. And I know3484he would not intentionally attempt to mislead anyone by saying3485that I am trying to cut that, but that is not being cut.3486    I am a career prosecutor. I have used that, and I am sure3487he has used it as a prosecutor. It is an important program that3488provides critical support to 7,200 State and local partners we3489work with. It is a key element to combat violent crime and3490firearms. So I am a huge supporter of NIBIN, and we will3491continue to do that.3492    You asked me to talk to moms. I will always speak to moms3493in my office and any environment. Yes. And I lived the Parkland3494shooting. I still talk to and meet with all of those families,3495both Democrat and Republican alike. I will continue to do that3496as a career prosecutor.3497    Speaking of moms, I am sure you met with--I am sure you met3498with Patty Morin. She is the mom of a murdered woman in your3499district. I am sure you met with her. I am sure he met with3500Tammy Nobles. Kayla Hamilton--that was her daughter who got3501murdered. So yes, I am willing to meet with any mom from any3502side of the aisle.3503    And thank you, Congressman, for letting me correct that.3504    Mr. Strong. Absolutely.3505    Mr. Ivey. Will the gentleman yield?3506    Mr. Strong. I have got--I want to move to my questions.3507    In my district, we have the FBI, the ATF, and DHS working3508together to address bombing incidents and use of explosives.3509The FBI's Hazardous Devices School and Terrorist Explosive3510Device Analytical Center, effectually known as TEDAC, the ATF's3511National Center for Explosives Training and Research, and the3512U.S. Bomb Data Center are all located at Redstone Arsenal.3513    As mentioned, ATF's National Center for Explosives and3514Training Research is a world-class facility located at3515Redstone. The center provides remarkable training facilities3516and specializes in lifesaving explosives and arsons training.3517Can you discuss how merging the ATF with the DEA will3518streamline their activities while ensuring their critical and3519unique capabilities are maintained?3520    Attorney General Bondi. Yes, absolutely. And, yes, the3521National Center for Explosives Training and Research at3522Redstone--it is pretty remarkable what they do. They oversee3523the canine operations, I believe, as well as the criminal3524profiling, the explosives, the arson investigations, and I look3525forward to working with you. I look forward to visiting that. I3526really want to go to that facility.3527    Yeah. There are no cuts planned for that. And that is where3528ATF and DEA, again, can partner together. The drugs and the3529guns go together. Those agents will be working hand in hand.3530The bureaucracy at the top will be gone. There will be no3531redundancy. They will be working hand in hand at that facility3532and many others throughout our country. Thank you.3533    Mr. Strong. Ms. Attorney General, I just want to thank you3534for how you represent yourself and you represent this country.3535It is a hard task, what you have to do. You represent3536Democrats, Republicans. But what you have done in these first 53537months, have reestablished the American people's belief in what3538the DOJ is to do for the American people.3539    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.3540    Mr. Rogers. The gentleman yields back.3541    Mr. Morelle.3542    Mr. Morelle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member3543Meng, for holding this important hearing, and thank you,3544Attorney General Bondi, for appearing before us today.3545    Madam Attorney General, I serve, in addition to the3546Appropriations Committee, as the ranking member of the3547Committee on House Administration. I sent you a letter last3548week along with my Republican counterpart, Chairman Brian3549Steil, requesting an increase in Federal prosecutorial3550resources to address threats against Members of Congress,3551particularly in light of what happened last week in Minnesota--3552that tragedy.3553    In 2024, the U.S. Capitol Police identified and received3554nearly 9,500 concerning statements or threats against Members.3555Federal prosecutors have only secured eight convictions so far,3556and the heightened threat environment demands an all-hands-on-3557deck approach.3558    Will you commit to assigning an assistant U.S. attorney or3559special assistant U.S. attorney to each of the 94 Federal3560districts to, at least on a part-time basis, investigate and3561prosecute threats against Members of Congress?3562    Attorney General Bondi. So thank you for bringing that up,3563and I take that very seriously. Not only what happened in3564Minnesota was horrible; I have spoken to Keith Ellison. I have3565spoken to Amy Klobuchar about that. It is horrible. We are3566involved in that. The FBI was involved. Our U.S. attorneys are3567involved.3568    Many of these are district-to-district. So the way we are3569doing that is--I will tell you my national security division is3570involved in all of those and assisting in those. We meet every3571single morning and we discuss that. But many of those--3572Minnesota--will be handled in the State in which it happened.3573    Another one is----3574    Mr. Morelle. So, ma'am----3575    Attorney General Bondi. I am sorry. If I could keep going.3576I am sorry. I don't mean to----3577    Mr. Morelle. Quickly, though.3578    Attorney General Bondi [continuing]. Filibuster.3579    Governor Shapiro and what happened in Pennsylvania with3580Governor Shapiro. I have spoken to Governor Shapiro. We are3581working hand in hand--our U.S. attorney with the district3582attorney there--hand in hand just like in Minnesota. I made3583sure our U.S. attorney and our district attorneys there were3584working hand in hand. Political party doesn't matter when3585something like this happens, and I also want to make sure all3586Members of Congress are safe as well.3587    Mr. Morelle. Okay. And I would reiterate Chairman Steil and3588I--I think Chairman Steil and I agree that at least a part-time3589in each of the 94 districts would be appropriate.3590    Let me change topics for just a moment. As I said--I am3591sorry.3592    Attorney General Bondi. And just really quick on that. Yes.3593We are doing that through our national security division, so I3594think that is already in the works. And I would be glad to meet3595with you in a secure facility to talk about that.3596    Mr. Morelle. Very good. Thank you.3597    Continuing, in addition to my role here, the committee that3598I serve on as an authorizer oversees Capitol security as well3599as Federal elections, so I am closely following the aftermath3600of January 6. Recently, several defendants who received3601Presidential pardons related to that day are now arguing in3602court that the pardon covers crimes like, for instance, illegal3603firearm possession discovered in a search of an individual's3604home in California months after January 6.3605    What is your position on whether the pardons cover these3606separate offenses?3607    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. The pardon power rests with3608the President, not the Department of Justice. And some of that3609is pending litigation, and I cannot discuss pending litigation.3610    Mr. Morelle. Well, I am not asking you about who has the3611right to a pardon. I think as the Department of Justice, in3612February, wrote, ``The pardon is an act of grace which removes3613the punishment from a crime a person has committed.''3614    It further said, ``In its effect, the granting of a pardon3615is, in no sense, the overturning of a judgment of a conviction.3616It is an executive action that mitigates or sets aside3617punishment.''3618    So, as the chief law enforcement officer, what is your3619opinion? Not the President's power of whether he can offer a3620pardon. That is pretty clear in the Constitution. But, for3621crimes committed unrelated to January 6, would you suggest that3622the pardons would cover activities or crimes potentially3623committed outside of that by the same person?3624    Attorney General Bondi. Well, I don't know if you are3625referring to Joe Biden pardoning his son after he said he would3626not pardon Hunter Biden or the communization of all the----3627    Mr. Morelle. No, I am actually referring to January 6. I am3628sorry.3629    Attorney General Bondi [continuing]. All the sentences3630that--the people that were on death row. I have met with those3631families. All of those sentences were commuted. I am not going3632to comment on pardons on either side of the aisle.3633    Mr. Morelle. So, well, I am not asking about either side. I3634am asking--you are the chief law enforcement officer in the3635United States. You have a responsibility directly. You swore an3636oath to the Constitution, not the President. I want to know3637what your views are on the extent to which pardons cover3638potential are crimes committed by individuals who have been3639pardoned but unrelated to January 6.3640    Attorney General Bondi. Do you mean the ones that were done3641by the autopen? I am not going to discuss anything that could3642be or not be pending litigation.3643    Mr. Morelle. All right. Mr. Chairman, I respectfully--you3644know, Ms. DeLauro accused you of filibuster, and I think that3645is the height of filibuster.3646    This is a serious, serious topic, and for you to suggest3647that you don't have an opinion or to divert to other things3648that had nothing to do with January 6 pardons, I think it is3649frankly demeaning to your responsibilities and your job.3650    With that, I will yield back.3651    Mr. Rogers. The gentleman's time has expired.3652    Mr. Cline.3653    Mr. Cline. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.3654    Attorney General, thank you for being here today.3655    You know, when I am home in my district talking to my3656constituents, they are concerned about their safety. They are3657concerned about the safety of their communities, the safety of3658their neighborhoods. And, as we have spoken many times, under3659your leadership, the DOJ has taken decisive steps to restore3660the rule of law, to tackle violent crime, and to hold both3661foreign and domestic bad actors accountable.3662    I read your opening statement, and I just wanted to give3663you an opportunity to go back again and talk about--in light of36644 years of open borders, the drugs that are coming in, the sex3665trafficking, the human trafficking, the gangs that have moved3666in, the terrorism that has infiltrated the United States, the3667sleeper cells that may or may not be present in this country,3668the political prosecutions that we saw over the 4 years of the3669Biden Administration, the fact that we are restoring integrity3670to the office and the rule of law--can you restate for my3671constituents how the actions of the Department of Justice and3672your agencies are keeping them safe?3673    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you, Congressman. And we have3674also been working hand in hand on a task force with your3675governor, with Governor Youngkin, and we really--we started a3676task force with Governor Youngkin, and that is something that3677we would like to take to every single State, both Democrat and3678Republican. And that is how we have been able to fight these3679gangs, these transnational cartels, these organizations--these3680criminal organizations, and it was really remarkable. One of3681the top members of TDA was living 20 minutes from where we are3682sitting right now in Virginia.3683    And working hand in hand regardless of political party with3684State and local law enforcement officers throughout the State3685of Virginia, we were able to dismantle a major, major gang. And3686there are so many gang members, and he was another one who was3687living there. I think when he was arrested, he had multiple--3688and ATF was involved in that--multiple guns when he was3689arrested, but he did not have any of the drugs on him. He had3690insulated himself because he was one of the leaders of the3691criminal organization.3692    And so these task forces working together with the State of3693Virginia have been remarkable. So that is one way to break it3694down--what we have done, and we are just so proud of the3695partnership that we have had with your State dismantling the3696gangs, the guns, the drugs, and we will continue to do that.3697    Mr. Cline. And, when you have that partnership, you can get3698a lot done.3699    Attorney General Bondi. You can get so much done.3700    Mr. Cline. You can secure a safer community for the people3701living here. When you have sanctuary States like California who3702are preventing you from actually getting in there and actually3703getting the gangs off the streets, getting the drugs and the3704human trafficking off the streets, that hurts the people of3705those States.3706    You know, when the streets of Los Angeles descended into3707scenes more fitting of a failed State than a major American3708city--mobs setting fire to police cruisers and looting entire3709city blocks, videos online showing American flags being burned3710and the flags of foreign nations being flown, some carried by3711riders proudly waving them through smoke-filled streets.3712    The Department of Homeland Security has revealed new data3713saying that ICE law enforcement is now facing a 500 percent3714increase in assaults while carrying out enforcement operations.3715    Can you describe what actions you have taken to hold these3716sanctuary jurisdictions accountable? And I have a couple3717questions after that.3718    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. Thank you.3719    To California specifically--and we have made it very clear.3720If you spit--I believe it was an ICE officer. Someone spit on3721him. We charged them federally. We will charge you if you spit3722on a law enforcement officer. If you loot, under the Hobbs Act,3723that is a robbery, and we will charge you with robbery. We are3724going after the maximum penalty federally for anyone who3725touches a Federal agent, and we are also going to protect our3726State and local law enforcement agencies and officers.3727    The men and women every day around this country, whether it3728is a blue or red or purple State, are out there fighting crime.3729That is what they care about. They care about keeping every3730single one of us safe. That is what they are doing. They care3731about preventing drug abuse and drug overdoses throughout this3732country, and they jeopardize their lives every single day to3733keep us safe, and we are going to do everything in our power to3734fight for them.3735    Mr. Cline. Do you think that these sanctuary3736jurisdictions--these cities or States should be receiving law3737enforcement grants if they refuse to uphold the law?3738    Attorney General Bondi. That is pending litigation,3739Congressman, and I can't discuss that right now.3740    Mr. Cline. I think the answer should be no, but I will3741leave that to the judges and to this committee to decide. Thank3742you.3743    Mr. Rogers. The time of the gentleman has expired.3744    Ms. Dean.3745    Ms. Dean. Thank you, Chairman.3746    Thank you, Ranking Member.3747    Thank you and welcome, Attorney General Bondi. I just3748wonder--sincerely wonder--do you hear how hollow your last3749words sound in light of the pardon of all of the January 63750people day one of this administration? I believe you are3751sincere. You want to protect law enforcement. But your3752principal, the President, pardoned every single one on January37536.3754    It rings hollow when you say these words that if you spit3755on a police officer, we are going to go after you. Talk to my3756friends who are Capitol Police officers who were here, five of3757whom are no longer here. They are dead. And this3758administration--and I guess I want to ask you. Did you have any3759advice for the President when he came forward with the blanket3760pardon on January 20? What advice did you offer the President?3761    Attorney General Bondi. I am never going to talk about3762conversations, advice in any way----3763    Ms. Dean. Were you asked for advice?3764    Attorney General Bondi. I am never going to talk about3765discussions I have had or have not had----3766    Ms. Dean. Because you will remember----3767    Attorney General Bondi [continuing]. If I can answer--with3768the President of the United States.3769    Ms. Dean. Yes or no. Did you give him any advice? Yes or3770no.3771    Attorney General Bondi. I am not going to discuss any3772conversations----3773    Ms. Dean. That is a no.3774    Attorney General Bondi [continuing]. That I have had with--3775you just put words in my mouth. I am not going to discuss----3776    Ms. Dean. No, I am going to reveal your own words.3777    Attorney General Bondi. I am not going to discuss3778conversations----3779    Ms. Dean. Please stop. Please stop. This is my time.3780    Attorney General Bondi [continuing]. That I have had with3781the President of the United States. You asked me a question----3782    Ms. Dean. Attorney General.3783    I would like to reclaim the last 20 seconds.3784    Attorney General Bondi [continuing]. And you have asked me3785to answer.3786    Ms. Dean. I have asked to reclaim my time. Please put 203787seconds back on the clock.3788    Mr. Clyde. You can have an extra 30.3789    Mr. Rogers. If the gentle----3790    Ms. Dean. She answered and then answered it again and3791answered it again with a nonanswer.3792    Ms. DeLauro. It is a filibuster.3793    Ms. Dean. I ask for your consideration of putting time on.3794    Mr. Rogers. If the gentlelady will let the witness answer3795the question, we will resume.3796    Ms. Dean. She answered it by saying no. Okay.3797    The three hallmarks of this administration are3798incompetence, corruption, and cruelty. I am going to focus3799today on corruption. And, in my mind, there are two types of3800corruption: personal, and then the other I am going to call3801public, governmental.3802    Attorney General, have you ever been registered as an agent3803of a foreign principal under the Foreign Agents Registration3804Act?3805    Attorney General Bondi. I assume you are talking about when3806I represented the country of Qatar for a very short time----3807    Ms. Dean. The answer is yes.3808    Attorney General Bondi [continuing]. Hold on. Hold on. No.3809For anti-human trafficking for the World Cup. Anti-human3810trafficking for the World Cup.3811    Ms. Dean. Yes or no. Attorney General----3812    Attorney General Bondi. You can't put words in my mouth. If3813you want to talk about incompetence, you are the one that said3814Joe Biden on PBS was competent. You had to retract those words.3815So don't talk to me--don't insult me publicly.3816    Ms. Dean. This is so discourteous. This is so outside the3817committee's guidelines. Taking a personal shot at me while3818swiping at Biden? Very strange and very unprofessional of you.3819    The answer is yes or no, and the answer is yes. You were3820registered as a lobbyist for Qatar. Is that correct? Yes. Never3821mind. Don't answer.3822    Did you disclose that when you went before the Senate for3823confirmation? Yes or no? No, it was not in your documents. The3824answer is no.3825    President Trump----3826    Attorney General Bondi. This was discussed at my3827confirmation hearings in detail.3828    Ms. Dean. Well, it was discussed, but you failed to bring3829up the conflicts that you had.3830    President Trump recently announced he would accept that3831$400-million Qatar airplane because it was just prettier than3832the one he was flying around in. Is it true that you gave3833advice that this was legally permissible? Yes or no?3834    Attorney General Bondi. I will not discuss any advice that3835my Office of Legal Counsel gives to the President of the United3836States on any matter.3837    Ms. Dean. When you spoke before the Senate, you said you3838would ask for ethical advice. Did you recuse yourself from that3839issue?3840    Attorney General Bondi. And talking about unprofessional,3841you say the President wanted a jet because it is pretty? Come3842on. This is a Senate--this is a congressional hearing.3843    Ms. Dean. He said it himself. He said it himself.3844    Let me go to April the 2nd. You are a part of this--you3845know, the President has dabbled in memecoin. He had you, the3846DOJ, disband the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. His3847son recently launched the Executive Branch Club, a private club3848with $500,000 memberships here in D.C.3849    Any of this seem like it might be a problem--might be3850profiteering from the office and maybe you and your ethics team3851might be concerned about these conflicts of interest, your own3852and the President and his family? Yes or no? Any concerns?3853    Attorney General Bondi. What I would be concerned about in3854Pennsylvania are all the child sex cases that we have3855prosecuted, and all the CSAM cases that we have prosecuted in3856Pennsylvania.3857    Ms. Dean. Did you hear my question?3858    Attorney General Bondi. That is what I would be concerned3859about.3860    Ms. Dean. I ask the witness to actually answer questions3861that are asked----3862    Attorney General Bondi. Congresswoman Dean----3863    Ms. Dean [continuing]. Chairman.3864    Mr. Rogers. Please let the witness answer the question.3865    Ms. Dean. She didn't.3866    And I would like to ask you one more question. You are not3867just complicit in this. You are actively helping and profiting.3868    Isn't it true that on April the 2nd, the same day that3869Trump announced his chaotic tariff regime that plummeted the3870stock market, you sold more than $1 million worth of your3871shares in Trump Media stock? Trump Media stock fell 13 percent3872in the following days. It seems you avoided that loss. Well3873done.3874    I yield back.3875    Attorney General Bondi. May I answer that, Chairman?3876    I complied with my ethics. And yeah, I would take a class3877in financial literacy if you think I profited from that because3878I lost a tremendous amount of money, Congresswoman.3879    And, also, on page 25 of my S.J. 2, it lists my involvement3880with Qatar for anti-human trafficking for the World Cup. Thank3881you.3882    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Moore.3883    Mr. Moore. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for3884holding the hearing.3885    Thank you, Attorney General Bondi, for being here.3886    You just mentioned this previously and--obviously, as you3887are aware about the recently uncovered information about the3888FBI's egregious, politically motivated, anti-Catholic field3889memo which was disseminated to more than 1,000 employees. The3890Biden Administration claimed that this memo only was circulated3891at the Richmond Field Office. It is now clear that this memo3892went much beyond just that one field office.3893    This was a memo that suggested that Catholics, based on3894their theological beliefs and practices, were radical and that3895their traditional parishes were vectors for extremism. The FBI3896went so far as to infiltrate and spy on Sunday masses.3897    So Attorney General Bondi, I am grateful for your efforts3898to combat anti-Christian bias, including the task force you3899recently stood up. It is clear from both the original leaked3900memo and the additional documentation that has been released3901that extremist Southern Poverty Law Center was the basis for3902this anti-Catholic bigotry coming from the FBI.3903    Will you commit to not use the Southern Poverty Law Center3904to determine who is a hate group?3905    Attorney General Bondi. Committed to working with you on3906that, Congressman. And thank you for bringing that up about--3907yeah, that was--that was horrible, what happened to Catholics,3908in that memo. It didn't just happen to Catholics, of course. It3909happened to parents at school boards. It happened to people who3910were peacefully protesting at abortion clinics. That is the end3911of weaponization under the Trump administration.3912    Mr. Moore. Thank you for that, Attorney General Bondi.3913    What additional resources can this committee provide to3914further execute your efforts to eradicate anti-Christian bias3915in the Federal Government?3916    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. We are committed to working3917with you. Our Civil Rights Division led by Harmeet Dhillon is3918doing an incredible job working on those issues and many more.3919Our Civil Rights Division--I met with her this morning. I talk3920to them almost daily. And they are working to protect people of3921all religions.3922    And, you know, especially now--I am actually surprised that3923hasn't come up yet this morning--but in light of everything3924happening with Israel, all of the anti-Semitic things that have3925been happening around our country. I went to the crime scene3926here in D.C. of two young people who were leaving a Jewish3927museum and were gunned down simply because of their religion.3928It was horrific. It was horrific. And then in Boulder,3929Colorado, when a Holocaust survivor was firebombed--lit on fire3930because she was Jewish.3931    And so, it is not only Catholics. It is every religion and3932even mosques that were slow-walked under the Biden3933Administration and not allowed to open. We will protect every3934religion in this country.3935    Mr. Moore. Thank you for your commitment to that, and I3936truly appreciate, and I think everybody of faith in the United3937States appreciates that.3938    And I just want to switch gears real quick to just another3939topic. In 2022, the D.C. Metropolitan Police recovered the3940remains of five unborn children apparently from a D.C. abortion3941mill which appeared to be the victims--these five remains that3942were found--victims of a brutal partial-birth abortion. As you3943know, Congress passed a bipartisan law outlawing this gruesome3944practice in the early 2000s.3945    Public reporting suggests that the President--President3946Biden's DOJ directed the D.C. chief medical examiner to destroy3947the remains of the children without performing an autopsy,3948which the CME appears not to have done yet.3949    General Bondi, will you commit to working with me and this3950committee to conduct a full and fair investigation into the3951deaths of these children to ensure justice is served for the3952D.C. Five?3953    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. And, Congressman, that is an3954ongoing investigation and pending; so I cannot discuss that in3955this forum.3956    But, on a collateral matter, the woman who retrieved those3957five fetuses was convicted and she was pardoned by President3958Trump. And they were--basically, unborn babies is what is3959alleged in the--but I can't discuss it any further.3960    Mr. Moore. All right. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank3961you, Attorney General Bondi. I yield back.3962    Mr. Rogers. Mr. Mrvan.3963    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you, Chairman.3964    Thank you, Ranking Member.3965    Attorney General, thank you for joining us today.3966    Our law enforcement officers, first responders, and local3967safety agencies are the backbone of our communities. In3968northwest Indiana, I have worked hard to bring critical Federal3969grant dollars home, funds that directly support the brave men3970and women who protect us every day. Unfortunately, funding for39712025 has been rescinded, weakening our public safety framework3972and making our neighborhoods less safe.3973    I firsthand have a positive impact in securing dollars and3974investments for Gary, Indiana, East Chicago, Lake County, and3975Michigan City that were force multipliers that were technology3976such as license plate readers and COPS grant. I am asking you3977today, what can we do to ensure that those funds are going to3978continue to flow to my district and in light of the HIDTA?3979    I am in northwest Indiana. Gary, Indiana. We are a HIDTA3980district. We have the Chicago traffic. That is vitally3981important to my district. I just need commitments that that3982funding will continue to be going forward and that our agencies3983will have that support.3984    Attorney General Bondi. Congressman, thank you for bringing3985that up. I am well aware of the HIDTA. I believe that is in3986Merrillville. Is that correct?3987    Mr. Mrvan. You are correct.3988    Attorney General Bondi. And, yes, that funding will remain3989where it is. We do not intend on touching that funding. We want3990to protect HIDTA.3991    Mr. Mrvan. Very good.3992    So, in light of the escalation with Iran, part of our3993cybersecurity and our infrastructure when it comes to our3994electric grid, our banking systems--that is a new threat. Does3995this budget reflect increasing our cybersecurity protections,3996and how is the Department of Justice going to protect our3997infrastructure when it comes to bad actors such as Iran coming3998directly at our infrastructure in a cyber attack?3999    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. We have $50 million for4000cybersecurity. And also, in the One Big Beautiful----4001    Mr. Mrvan. With an M? 50 million?4002    Attorney General Bondi. Fifty million. Yeah.4003    Mr. Mrvan. Okay.4004    Attorney General Bondi. But, also, in the One Big Beautiful4005Bill, it is also addressed to give us more resources. And, you4006know, it is not only Iran. As you well know, it is China as4007well.4008    Mr. Mrvan. Right.4009    Attorney General Bondi. But yes, I wholeheartedly agree4010with you, Congressman.4011    Mr. Mrvan. In the reconciliation--tomato, tomato.4012    In the reconciliation bill, can you tell me what more4013resources are going to go towards cybersecurity? Because I was4014under the impression that was decreased.4015    Attorney General Bondi. Can I get you--I will get you those4016numbers.4017    Mr. Mrvan. Okay. Yes.4018    Attorney General Bondi. And I want to do everything I can4019to help you protect cybersecurity--all of us in this country--4020not only, again, with Iran but also with China and all of our4021foreign adversaries around the world.4022    Mr. Mrvan. Okay. And then just a question of curiosity that4023I have. Director Patel was here a couple weeks ago, and we4024talked about the emails that went to the FBI agents, meaning4025please tell us what you did at the end of the week. Give us4026five reasons why you did.4027    At first, Director Patel said that that didn't exist. Then4028he specifically said, Well, that came from the Department of4029Justice to the FBI agents and I--his words--I told them not to4030fulfill that obligation.4031    How do you manage that if you give a directive to your4032director of FBI and he chooses not to fulfill that, and where4033did that information go? So, when someone from the FBI--an4034agent fulfilled that obligation of giving you the information4035of what they were working on, where did that data go and how is4036it secured?4037    Attorney General Bondi. Yeah. And, Congressman, I would be4038happy to see who answered that, but I have asked--I asked--when4039I learned about it, I asked that it be withdrawn, and it was--4040that email.4041    Mr. Mrvan. When you learned about the email going to the4042FBI agents, you asked them to withdraw it. Who did you ask to4043have it withdrawn?4044    Attorney General Bondi. My entire office, and it was.4045    Mr. Mrvan. So it is unknown who sent that email?4046    Attorney General Bondi. Well, the office--it came from my4047office. But, when I learned it went to the FBI, we asked that4048it be withdrawn.4049    Mr. Mrvan. Where is the gap of my understanding if it came4050from your office? You are telling me you didn't send it?4051    Attorney General Bondi. I didn't realize it went to the4052FBI. That email went out. And the purpose of that email was to4053make sure--just so you know, it wasn't--it was to make sure4054that these people were sitting at their desk and working and4055alive, that there were people actually responding.4056    Mr. Mrvan. Okay. And I agree.4057    Attorney General Bondi. It could have been I got up and got4058a cup of coffee. That was the purpose.4059    Mr. Mrvan. Sure. So, without going into that, the people4060that did answer it, where did that data go?4061    Attorney General Bondi. I will find out, and I will get you4062that information.4063    Mr. Mrvan. And I only ask as a national security issue----4064    Attorney General Bondi. Absolutely.4065    Mr. Mrvan [continuing]. As they are working on sensitive4066issues.4067    And I thank you for joining us, and I yield back my time.4068    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.4069    Mr. Rogers. The gentleman yields back.4070    That concludes today's hearing. I want to thank our4071witness, Attorney General Bondi, for being here today. We would4072normally like to do another round of questions, but we don't4073have time.4074    Ms. DeLauro. Yes, we do.4075    Mr. Rogers. The gentlelady, the Attorney General, has a4076meeting scheduled, I think, at 4:00.4077    Attorney General Bondi. Thank you.4078    Mr. Rogers. So we will not be able to do a second round4079because of that.4080    Ms. DeLauro. Great to answer the question.4081    Mr. Rogers. So, without objection, members may have 7 days4082to submit additional questions for the record. The subcommittee4083stands adjourned.4084     [Whereupon, at 3:40 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]4085    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]40864087                           W I T N E S S E S40884089                              ----------4090                                                                   Page4091Lutnick, Hon. Howard.............................................     44092    Prepared statement...........................................     64093Bondi, Hon. Pamela...............................................   1004094    Prepared statement...........................................   10240954096                                  [all]