Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Opening Statement Right before the Senate Judiciary Committee | OPA

Remarks as Sent

Great early morning, Chair Durbin, Rating Member Graham, and distinguished members of this Committee.

Every day, the 115,000 personnel of the Justice Division get the job done tirelessly to satisfy our mission: to uphold the rule of law, to retain our state safe and sound, and to safeguard civil rights. 

Every working day, our FBI, ATF, and DEA brokers, and our Deputy U.S. Marshals put their lives on the line to disrupt threats and answer to crises. Each and every working day, Division personnel counter sophisticated threats to our national security. They fiercely shield the civil rights of our citizens. They pursue accountability for environmental harms. They prosecute crimes that victimize staff, people, and taxpayers. And they defend our country’s democratic establishments.

And every single working day, in every little thing they do, the personnel of the Justice Division adhere to and uphold the rule of regulation that is the foundation of our technique of federal government.

Thank you for the opportunity to go over our do the job.  

To start with, Upholding the Rule of Law

When I began my tenure as Legal professional General, I said it would be my mission to reaffirm the norms that have guided the Justice Section for practically 50 decades.

I did so mainly because people norms subject now much more than at any time to our democracy.

The wellness of our democracy calls for that the Justice Division handle like conditions alike, and that we apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution.

It needs that, as a lot as probable, we discuss by way of our do the job and our filings in court docket, so that we do not jeopardize the viability of our investigations and the civil liberties of our citizens.

And the survival of our democracy needs that we stand firmly from makes an attempt to undermine the Rule of Law both at residence and abroad.

I am very pleased of the do the job the Department has finished on just about every of individuals fronts.

We are strengthening the norms that guard the Department’s independence and integrity.

We are securing convictions for a broad selection of felony perform linked to the January 6th attack on the Capitol. 

We are disrupting, investigating, and prosecuting violence and threats of violence focusing on those who serve the public.

And we are doing the job nearer than at any time with our Ukrainian partners in defense of democracy, justice, and the Rule of Legislation. We will carry on to do so for as extensive as it will take.

Next, Trying to keep our Region Safe and sound

The Justice Division is utilizing every source at our disposal to continue to keep our state harmless.

We are doing the job to counter, disrupt, and prosecute threats posed by country-states, terrorist teams, radicalized men and women, and cyber criminals.

And together with our partners across the region, we are continuing to combat the increase in violent criminal offense that started in 2020. 

All 94 of our United States Attorneys’ Workplaces are functioning along with their point out and local companions to go after district-certain violent criminal offense reduction procedures.

The Department’s grantmaking parts are supplying money help to local regulation enforcement agencies. At the similar time, they are supporting community-led violence intervention attempts.

And our regulation enforcement factors are performing with point out, neighborhood, Tribal, and territorial counterparts to apprehend the most unsafe fugitives and seize unlawful medications and illegal guns.

For case in point, final calendar year DEA and its associates seized plenty of fentanyl-laced capsules and powder to eliminate every single American.

We are also aggressively prosecuting the crimes that inflict financial hurt on the American people.

We are prioritizing the prosecution of techniques that effects more mature Us citizens and susceptible populations, as very well as schemes involving pandemic and procurement fraud.

In our corporate prison enforcement, we are prioritizing and securing person accountability.

And we are vigorously enforcing our antitrust laws. Our enforcement actions have previously resulted in the blocking or abandonment of mergers that would have stifled levels of competition and harmed consumers.

Third, Guarding Civil Rights

Guarding civil legal rights was a founding objective of the Justice Office, and it continues to be an urgent priority.

The Department’s storied Civil Legal rights Division has been at the forefront of our attempts to guard the ideal to vote guarantee constitutional policing and enforce federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in all its forms.

But now, safeguarding civil rights is also the accountability of every Justice Office worker, each single day.

We are doing the job throughout factors to overcome loathe crimes and enhance despise crimes reporting.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s selection to overturn Roe and Casey, the Department has pulled with each other to defend reproductive freedom under federal regulation.

And the Division recognizes that communities of colour, indigenous communities, and small-profits communities typically bear the brunt of the hurt induced by environmental criminal offense, air pollution, and local weather modify. 

So, we are prioritizing situations that will have the best impression on the communities most burdened by those people harms.

I am happy of the get the job done of the Department’s workers, the work they have finished to uphold the rule of law, to keep our nation safe and sound, and to safeguard civil rights.

The Department’s vocation workforce has demonstrated amazing resilience after decades of unprecedented problems.

They have done by themselves with the utmost integrity, devoid of regard to any partisan or other inappropriate influences.

And they have completed their function with a singular motivation to the general public we all serve.

The staff members of the Justice Department are focused, competent, and patriotic general public servants.

It is my honor to symbolize them below now.

Thank you for the chance to testify. I search forward to your thoughts.