Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012
Floor Speech
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Mr. CORNYN. Yesterday, I introduced my amendment to the pending Commerce-Justice appropriations bill, and I would like to briefly explain this amendment for my colleagues.
This amendment is designed to basically cut off any future funds that might be made available under this appropriations bill to fund the Department of Justice's program now notoriously known as Fast and Furious. This would prohibit the taxpayer funding of operations where Federal law enforcement personnel knowingly cause the transfer of firearms to drug cartel agents and intentionally fail to monitor those weapons.
On December 14, 2010, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was gunned down on the southern border while attempting to apprehend members of a predatory criminal gang that operated in Arizona's Peck Canyon. A congressional investigation and several news reports have confirmed that some of the guns used in that attack actually came from gun dealers in the United States, and the guns were actually put in the hands of the agents of the cartels and allowed to cross the border with the full knowledge of officials associated with the U.S. Government, most notably the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona, although it is unknown at this point how far up in the chain of command knowledge of this program went. But that is another story for another time.
The American people and their representatives in Congress have begun asking, after the death of Brian Terry, what happened under this Fast and Furious Program and who will be held accountable. Answers to those questions have been very slow in coming, and some have been contradictory. But the more questions that were raised, the more questions came up.
One question is, of course, who authorized Fast and Furious and why? According to congressional investigations led on this side of the Capitol by Senator Grassley and on the other side of the Capitol by Congressman Darrell Issa, this Fast and Furious Program began in 2009 in the Phoenix field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, under the direct supervision of the U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona, and instructed Phoenix-area firearms dealers to go through with sales of nearly 2,000 weapons to persons suspected of working as straw purchasers on behalf of Mexican drug cartels. The logical question is, Why in the world would such a misguided program be initiated and who would be held accountable?
Another question is, Who objected to Fast and Furious, and why were those objections not taken seriously? Congressional investigations have found that many firearms dealers actually contacted the ATF and expressed their concerns about who was buying these guns and in whose hands they might end up. Multiple ATF agents have testified that they openly protested their orders to actually let these guns walk across the border into the hands of the cartels when they were told to break off surveillance of those illegally purchased weapons, because they suspected what eventually did happen: that no good would come of Fast and Furious.
Brian Terry lost his life as a result of this misguided program.
Weapons from the Fast and Furious Program have shown up at about 11 different crime scenes in the United States. So the questions I have relate to why weren't the voices of the people in the field who first raised objections or concerns about this program heard?
Another question my constituents in Texas have been asking is: Have similar gun-walking practices occurred in our State?
According to published reports, Houston-based firearms dealer Carter's Country revealed that its store clerks had been ordered to go through with a sale of weapons to suspicious persons who may have been working as ``straw purchasers'' from Mexican drug cartels. Some of the weapons purchased from Carter's Country have been recovered at the scene of violent crimes in Mexico.
Senator Grassley's investigations have also revealed a possible Texas connection to the February murder of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jaime Zapata in Mexico. One of the weapons used to murder Officer Zapata was purchased in Texas in October 2010 and subsequently trafficked to Mexico through Loredo, TX. While the suspected weapons traffickers have been arrested, there are reports that ATF was aware of these activities and allowed them to continue for far too long.
Another question is being asked by our friends across the border, the Government of Mexico, those who are fighting these cartels and many of whom over the years have lost their lives. Our friends in Mexico are asking: Why is the administration allowing guns to come into Mexico as part of U.S. Government policy? Why is the U.S. Government arming drug cartels?
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, one of the victims of Fast and Furious was a brother of Patricia Gonzalez, who at the time was a top State prosecutor in Chihuahua.
The Los Angeles Times also reports that Mexico's Attorney General, Marisela Morales, who has been a good partner to the United States, first learned about Fast and Furious from news reports. As of last month, she said U.S. officials have not briefed her on the operation, nor had there been any apologies for this misguided program.
Questions are being asked on both sides of the border, and they deserve answers. Back in August, I wrote to Attorney General Holder and asked him to promptly disclose the details of any past or present Texas-based gun-walking programs similar to operation Fast and Furious.
Much to my disappointment, I have not received any official response from the Department of Justice, nor Attorney General Holder. While disappointing, this administration's stonewalling is not surprising, considering the difficulty Senator Grassley and Representative Issa have had in their investigation of the Operation Fast and Furious scandal.
In May of 2011, Attorney General Holder told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that he had only learned of Operation Fast and Furious ``in the past few weeks.''
The evidence now shows that Attorney General Holder had received multiple briefing memos regarding the operation that date back to as early as July 2010--much earlier than the few weeks ago he claimed in May of 2011.
It is time for Attorney General Holder to tell Congress precisely what he knew, when he knew it, and to be honest with Congress and the American people about how this happened and who will be held accountable for it. So far, I think the Attorney General's earnest hope is that this will all go away. But it will not go away.
My amendment would help ensure that we no longer have to worry about Operation Fast and Furious or similar ill-advised gun-walking operations.
This amendment will mandate that no taxpayer money will be spent on programs where law enforcement personnel knowingly cause the transfer of weapons to suspected drug cartel associates with the intent that those law enforcement officials break off the surveillance of those weapons prior to interdicting them.
In other words, this amendment is narrowly tailored to prevent future programs such as Operation Fast and Furious, while allowing law enforcement the freedom to operate gun-trafficking investigations, where they are in continuous surveillance of the weapons.
This will also allow law enforcement officials to use weapons transfers to low-level straw purchasers as a tool to investigate the chain of command in a gun-trafficking ring, while simultaneously requiring them to keep their eyes on the weapons at all times so they can step in and prevent unnecessary and tragic violence.
Just over 10 months ago, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered by criminal gang members with weapons ``walked'' into their hands by ATF and the Department of Justice.
It is my hope this body has learned from this tragedy and that we will affirmatively act to ensure that nothing such as this happens again.
My amendment does just that, and I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting it.
I yield the floor.
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