Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control

"Drug Trafficking Across the Southwest Border and Oversight of U.S Counterdrug Assistance to Mexico"

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Prepared Statement of Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa

 

Just over eight years ago, the United States and Mexico announced the creation of the Merida Initiative, a bilateral partnership between our governments intended to reduce the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, combat corruption, and strengthen the rule of law in Mexico.  Yet the border isn't secure, and in some ways the problem seems worse than ever.

The purpose of our hearing today is to examine the assistance that the United States has provided to Mexico under this program, help evaluate its effectiveness, and to discuss ways to help bring about better results. American taxpayers deserve to know if their money is being spent wisely.  And if it isn't, changes need to be made.

In addition, the recent attacks in Paris remind us that our interest in a secure border isn't just about stemming the flow of illegal drugs.  Secure borders are essential to guarding against a range of threats to our economic and national security, including terrorism.

The Merida strategy has four pillars: (1) disrupting the operational capacity of organized crime; (2) institutionalizing the capacity to sustain the rule of law; (3) creating a 21^st century border structure; and (4) building strong and resilient communities.  Congress has appropriated about $2.5 billion worth of training, equipment and technical assistance to Mexico through it, and over $1.3 billion of that has been delivered.

However, despite all that money spent, our border security hasn't improved by many measures.  Mexico remains a major transit and source country for illicit narcotics destined for the United States, and a hub for money laundering.

For example, Mexico remains the primary supplier of heroin to the United States.  And according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Mexican drug trafficking organizations are making a concerted effort to increase heroin availability here.  They appear to be succeeding.  Heroin seizures at the southwest border have more than doubled over the last five years, from 2010 to 2014.

Heroin trafficked from Mexico has fueled an epidemic of opioid abuse in many parts of the country.  One of the states that's been hit hard by this crisis is New Hampshire, and Senator Ayotte has been a leader in the Senate in finding ways to address it.  I'm glad she is able to participate here today.

In addition, Mexican drug trafficking organizations are filling the void created by declining domestic production of methamphetamine.  About ten years ago, Congress passed a series of laws that made it much more difficult to produce meth here.  For example, these laws required pharmacies to sell medicines containing common meth ingredients from behind the counter.  Domestic production of meth decreased significantly.

Yet meth continues to plague my home state of Iowa. Meth-related treatment admissions are at an all-time high there.  And last year, nearly half of all drug-related prison admissions in my state resulted from the trafficking or abuse of meth.

I held a Judiciary Committee field hearing in Des Moines last month to learn more about the problem.  Law enforcement there identified Mexican drug trafficking organizations as the source of the increasingly pure meth that's starting to show up across Iowa.  Sure enough, meth seizures along the southwest border were up dramatically over the past five years, and up 20 percent from 2013 to 2014 alone.

So it's important for me to hear what is being done to address the trafficking of both heroin and meth across the border, both of which seem to be getting worse, not better.

These can't be the result the United States had hoped for on this side of the border when the Merida Initiative began.  In addition, there are troubling signs about the situation on the Mexican side as well.

While the Mexican government estimates that violence is down in some respects, kidnappings and extortions are up.  And in one instance in May, a drug trafficking organization may have effectively adopted paramilitary tactics when it used a rocket-propelled grenade to shoot down a Mexican military helicopter.

In addition, the number of extraditions to the United States authorized by Mexico fell sharply in recent years, from 115 in 2012 to only 54 in 2013 and 66 in 2014.  And Mexico reportedly refused to extradite "El Chapo" Guzman, the notorious leader of the Sinaloa cartel who was captured in 2014, before his escape from a Mexican prison in July.

Finally, public corruption and human rights violations in Mexico remain significant problems.  Prison officials, for example, appear to have played a role in "El Chapo's" escape.  Mexico's National Human Rights Commission has alleged that soldiers have engaged in execution-style killings.  And local police and public officials were reportedly involved with the kidnapping and disappearance of 43 student protesters in September 2014.  As a result, just last month, the State Department declined to certify that Mexico was making adequate progress on human rights, triggering a cutoff of about $5 million in aid for Mexican security forces.

Now, there are some signs of hope, including Mexico's adoption of a new code of criminal procedure, and its ongoing transition to a transparent, adversarial criminal justice system with public trials.  These changes won't happen overnight, but they may help Mexico address organized crime more effectively going forward.  This is an area where training and other assistance from the United States may be beneficial.  But as in all areas, metrics need to be developed that will allow us to measure whether this assistance has been effective, as this Caucus recommended in 2011.

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Thursday, November 12, 2015

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley issued the following statement regarding President Barack Obama's possible attempt to move enemy combatants housed at Guantanamo Bay to U.S. soil.  Congress has passed and the President has signed into law several bills that restrict any move to transfer these detainees to the United States.  Most recently, on Tuesday, the Senate passed and sent to the president the National Defense Authorization Act for 2016, which maintains those restrictions, on a 91-3 vote.  Grassley has also pressed for the Obama administration to release the legal analysis done by the Justice Department that authorized the release of five senior Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay in June 2014 in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl without the legally required 30-day notice to Congress.  Grassley's June 5, 2014, letter is here.  The Obama administration's response is here.  After an unresponsive reply, Grassley is renewing and expanding his request for information about the Department's role in facilitating the release of those terrorists.   That letter can be found here.

"President Obama's pledge to shutter the detention facility at Guantanamo was always based on the notion that softening America's image abroad would somehow soften our enemies' resolve. The headlines every day remind us that's not the way it is.  If anything, as a direct result of the president's national security policies, our homeland is in more danger now than when he took office.

"There are a number of serious concerns with moving hardened terrorists to U.S. soil.  These include questions surrounding any additional legal, immigration and constitutional rights that terrorists will be afforded by such a move, as well as the obvious public safety threat that would come from permanently housing them in U.S. communities.  Those who remain at Guantanamo include the worst of the worst  -- for example, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.  President Obama has admitted that many of them are too dangerous to be transferred or released.  Officials in New York refused to house some of them even temporarily for a trial.  And many of their home countries won't even take them back.

"Reports have suggested that President Obama may try to go around Congress if he can't secure a change in the law that would permit these terrorists to be brought to the United States.  If so, the President's effort to close the Guantanamo Bay facility will combine two of the worst aspects of his presidency -- his naiveté in dealing with our enemies and his lawlessness when dealing with Congress.  This is reminiscent of when he swapped five senior Taliban commanders from Guantanamo for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl without notifying Congress in advance, which the non-partisan Government Accountability Office later determined was unlawful.  I've been asking to see the flawed advice that the Department of Justice provided in connection with the Bergdahl swap for over a year now, and after receiving another inadequate response, I've renewed and expanded my request for information.

"In the days following one of our most sacred days of honoring millions of U.S. veterans, including thousands from Iraq and Afghanistan, the President should reconsider placing the fulfillment of a mistaken campaign promise over the safety of the American people and respect for the rule of law."

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State Department holds; Grassley addresses criticism from Senate minority leader

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following statement in reaction to criticism from the Senate minority leader over Grassley's hold on 22 State Department nominees over the State Department's failure to respond thoroughly or at all to numerous inquiries beginning in 2013.

"My hold is on 22 nominees, not 600.  I disclosed the reasons for my holds, as I always do, and in keeping with the disclosure policy on holds that I helped to enact.  My staff has been working with the State Department to try to get the information I requested, including complete answers to inquiries from June 2013.  Ironically, if the State Department had answered my questions then, we probably wouldn't be here today.  The purpose of my questions then and now is the same:  Is the State Department using personnel rules appropriately, is it appropriately policing potential conflicts of interest among special government employees, and are taxpayers well-served by how the State Department operates?  Looking out for the public interest isn't a waste of time, and I'll keep at it regardless of misguided attacks on my motivations or mischaracterizations of my work."

The Senate Executive Calendar with details of Grassley's 22 State Department holds is available here.  The holds are on p. 18.

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Fifth Circuit Temporarily Halts Obama's Deferred Action Plan

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley made the following statement regarding the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision to uphold an injunction that temporarily stops the Obama administration's implementation of its deferred action plan.

"Thanks to the Fifth Circuit, the injunction on the President's unlawful maneuvering to implement his own policies, without regard for Congress, the law or American workers remains in place.  The Obama administration does not have unfettered authority to execute whatever it wants.  The President simply can't singly rewrite the country's immigration laws.  This is a win for the checks and balances established by the Constitution."

Grassley Seeks Records on Task Force Overseeing $43 Million Gas Station in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is drilling down on the Defense Department task force that led to the construction of an excessively expensive $43 million natural gas filling station in Afghanistan.  The now-defunct Task Force for Stability and Business Operations (TFBSO) cost $800 million in its mission to facilitate economic development in Afghanistan.  The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) faced impeded access to task force documents in reviewing the gas station cost over-run.

"I believe that, given DoD's decision to impede SIGAR's access to Task Force documents, a full review of all TFBSO activities in Afghanistan is necessary," Grassley wrote to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.  "State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development officials said they wouldn't consider continuing TFBSO programs because they were 'liabilities due to safety concerns, lack of sustainability, and other problems.'  This raises serious questions about TFBSO's use of taxpayer dollars."

Grassley asked the Defense Department to give him all records related to task force activities pertaining to Afghanistan, from January 1, 2009, through March 31, 2015; and all records concerning the task force from April 1, 2015, to the date of his request, including all records pertaining to SIGAR's requests for information regarding the task force, and all records discussing SIGAR reports, letters, or statements about the task force.

Grassley plans to seek a Department of Defense inspector general audit of the $800 million task force expenditures and will ask fellow senators to join the request.

Grassley's latest letter to the defense secretary is available here.

Last week, Grassley pressed the Defense Department to cooperate with SIGAR by releasing all documents, names of staff involved and reasons for placing severe restrictions on information behind the construction of the natural gas filling station.

Grassley's letter last week to the defense secretary is available here.  Grassley's comment on the SIGAR report is available here.  The SIGAR report is available here.

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Protecting America's High-Skilled Workers, H-1B reform bill introduced

Grassley, Durbin Push for H-1B and L-1 Visa Reforms

WASHINGTON - Senators Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Dick Durbin, Assistant Democratic Leader, today are introducing bipartisan legislation that would reform the H-1B visa program, consistent with Congress's original intent, by ensuring that qualified American workers are given the first opportunity at high-skilled job opportunities.  The legislation makes reforms to increase enforcement, modify wage requirements and ensure protection for American workers as well as visa holders.  Grassley and Durbin first introduced this legislation in 2007 and have been long-time proponents of H-1B reform.

"The H-1B visa program was never meant to replace qualified American workers, but it was instead intended as a means to fill gaps in highly specialized areas of employment that cannot be filled by Americans.  The abuse of the system is real, and media reports are validating what we have argued against for years, including the fact that Americans are training their replacements," Grassley said.  "There's a sense of urgency here for Americans who are losing their jobs to lesser skilled workers who are coming in at lower wages on a visa program that has gotten away from its original intent.  Reform of the H-1B visa program must be a priority."

"Reforming the H-1B and L-1 visa programs is a critical component of fixing our broken immigration system and must be included in comprehensive immigration reform legislation," said Durbin. "For years, foreign outsourcing companies have used loopholes in the laws to displace qualified American workers and facilitate the outsourcing of American jobs.  The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act would end these abuses and protect American and foreign workers from exploitation.  I thank Senator Grassley for partnering with me on this important bipartisan legislation."

Grassley and Durbin's efforts have long focused on making qualified American workers the first priority for employers.  The bill, as in previous years, requires all employers who seek to hire H-1B visa holders to first make a good faith effort to recruit American workers.

The bill would also prohibit companies from hiring H-1B employees if they employ more than 50 people and more than 50 percent of their employees are H-1B and L-1 visa holders.  This provision would crack down on outsourcing companies that import large numbers of H-1B and L-1 workers for short training periods and then send these workers back to their home country to do the work of Americans.

The bill also gives the Department of Labor enhanced authority to review, investigate, and audit employer compliance with program requirements, as well as to penalize fraudulent or abusive conduct.  It requires the production of extensive statistical data about the H-1B and L-1 programs, including wage data, worker education levels, place of employment and gender.

The bill clarifies that working conditions of similarly employed American workers may not be adversely affected by the hiring of the H-1B worker, including H-1B workers who have been placed by another employer at the American worker's worksite.  In addition, it explicitly prohibits the replacement of American workers by H-1B or L-1 visa holders.  These provisions address the types of abuses that have been well-documented in recent press reports.

The Grassley-Durbin reform bill will for the first time prioritize the annual allocation of H-1B visas.  The new system would ensure that the best and brightest students being educated in the United States receive preference for an H-1B visa.  The preference system also gives a leg up to advanced degree holders, those being paid a high wage, and those with valuable skills.

In addition, the bill includes several reforms of the L-1 visa program.  These include establishment of a wage floor for L-1 workers; authority for the Department of Homeland Security to investigate, audit and enforce compliance with L-1 program requirements; assurance that intra-company transfers occur between legitimate branches of a company and don't involve "shell" facilities; and a change to the definition of "specialized knowledge" to ensure that L-1 visas are reserved only for truly key personnel.

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Q: What is your message to Iowans this Veterans Day?

A: The nation's 21 million veterans have served America with sacrifice and service. And Iowa is home to more than 226,000 of these patriots who answered the call to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. Called to duty in times of war, natural catastrophe or humanitarian crisis, these men and women in uniform maintained the nation's military readiness 24/7, 365 days a year. As a nation, we owe America's veterans a debt of gratitude. Whether working behind the scenes or fighting on the front lines, our veterans have served around the clock and around the world during our nation's hour of need.  Now it's America's duty to uphold the nation's promises to our veterans during their hour of need. Time spent in the military, away from families and careers, can create considerable hardship and heartache that is difficult to overcome. And the transition from military service to non-military life isn't always a simple integration, especially for wounded warriors who return battle-scarred with bone and brain injuries. Many war veterans need specialized care and rehabilitation for service-related injuries or treatment for mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. For all of our veterans who have worn the uniform with dignity and distinction, it is the least we can do as a nation to welcome their safe return into our hometown communities and productive transition into workplaces across the United States. On this Veterans Day, let's renew our commitment to America's veterans. Let's remember we are fortunate to enjoy the blessings of a free society. And let's honor those who have returned to home base, especially those who return broken in mind, body or spirit. By every measure of their service and sacrifice, they helped secure the land of the free and home of the brave for generations yet to come.

Q: What has Congress done this year to help veterans?

A: Working to fix the scandal-ridden Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) remains a top priority in Congress. I am keeping close tabs on beefed up accountability measures enacted last year to help root out employee misconduct and a culture of corruption within the VA so that veterans receive the benefits and services they deserve. But, the new VA Secretary has made it clear he still needs more tools to remove the bad eggs not focused on veterans' needs and who continue to poison the culture. The House of Representatives has answered that call and the Senate should follow suit. Recognizing the urgent need for additional resources to address mental health care for veterans, Congress this year also passed a bill I cosponsored, The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act and other provisions to prioritize VA programs for caregivers, homelessness, adaptive sports and vocational benefits for veterans with severe injuries. Lawmakers also approved reforms to the Veterans Choice Program that allow more veterans to qualify to receive health care from non-VA health care providers in their local communities. For example, the reforms expand eligibility for those whose wait time for a VA appointment would exceed 30 days or if their driving distance exceeds 40 miles. I'm glad the VA revised its 40-mile rule from the "as-the-crow-flies" to a more realistic driving distance calculation to reflect the reality of veterans living in rural areas who may live a half-day's drive away from the nearest VA health care facility. However, the VA continues to maintain that veterans are not eligible if they live near a VA outpatient clinic even if the care they need is offered 100 miles away at a VA hospital. I am supporting legislation to make the VA implement the Veterans Choice Program as Congress intended -- for the benefit and best interest of veterans and taxpayers - not the federal bureaucracy.

Q: Why did you create a veterans fellowship program?

A: Listening to Iowans and learning about their lives helps me do a better job representing real life concerns at the policymaking tables in Washington. With 35 consecutive years of face-to-face conversations with Iowans in each of Iowa's 99 counties ever year, I very much appreciate that having direct dialogue is an invaluable benefit that helps identify and solve problems. Reaching out to veterans is an important part of that process. This year I created a new veterans fellowship program in my Senate office to draw from the experiences and expertise of Iowa veterans. I am glad to have Don Bailey, a Vietnam era veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force, to christen this fellowship program in my Des Moines office. He has pursued outreach and engagement with veterans and service providers in local communities. Iowans who would like to share ideas with the veterans fellow currently serving in my Senate office are welcome to send an email to VeteransFellow_Grassley@grassley.senate.gov.  Representing the people of Iowa is a responsibility I take very seriously, particularly when it comes to upholding the public trust and restoring credibility in government "of, by and for the people." That includes upholding the nation's promise to our veterans. As I say to Iowa veterans I am privileged to meet during my county meetings and those from the Honor Flights who come to the war memorials in Washington, D.C.: You shall not be forsaken, nor forgotten.

Iowa veterans experiencing red tape at the Department of Veterans Affairs for health care benefits or other services may contact one of Sen. Grassley's six state offices in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City or Waterloo for assistance.