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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Statement of Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. in Support of Congressman Pierluisi’s Legislation, H.R. 1550, the Federal Law Enforcement Recruitment and Retention Act of 2011

H.R. 1550, “the Federal Law Enforcement Recruitment and Retention Act of 2011," is an important piece of legislation that is critically needed.

I am pleased to say that I am an original cosponsor of this bill and I urge my colleagues to support it for the following reasons.

To begin with, the bill directly addresses the dual problem of retention and recruitment of law enforcement officers in jurisdictions with high levels of violent crime.

Not surprisingly, federal law enforcement officers and agents are deterred from seeking assignment to such jurisdictions. In addition, these areas also experience high turnover and transfers.

H.R. 1550 directly addresses both of these problems by requiring the Justice Department to establish a program that will recruit and assign individuals to serve in law enforcement roles in these jurisdictions, and to encourage them to remain there.

Another reason to support this bill is that it will not only provide immediate relief that is urgently needed in certain jurisdictions, but save taxpayer dollars as well.

For example, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration offices in Puerto Rico have long been experiencing major challenges in retaining and recruiting agents.

In particular, the San Juan Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration has had significant problems in retaining agents beyond their standard three-year commitment.

This failure to retain a law enforcement officer is estimated to result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional costs for an agency.

We simply cannot afford to continue to incur such costs.

When the Las Vegas Police Department was experiencing similar retention and recruitment problems, it established an office that was specifically charged with recruitment and retention, which was very successful.

Finally, H.R. 1550 will ensure the Department’s compliance and the success of the program.

It does that by requiring the Department to report annually to Congress on its efforts to implement this recruitment and retention program.

Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1550.