The Judiciary Committee has one of the broadest jurisdictions in the Senate, ranging from criminal justice and immigration issues to antitrust and intellectual property law.

As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Feinstein is working to make our communities safer by advocating for a comprehensive and balanced approach to stop gang violence, banning the manufacture or sale of military-style assault weapons, tackling the methamphetamine epidemic, prohibiting audio and video piracy, and expand the rights of crime victims.

Senator Feinstein has worked on legislation to create a meaningful AgJOBS program and will continue to work to reform our immigration policy. At the same time, she is interested in preserving the balance of power between the branches of government. And she has been very involved in efforts to protect consumers’ personal information.

It’s hard to believe, but these varying issues all fall under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee.

Finally, a major responsibility of mine as a member of this Committee is ensuring that our federal judiciary has highly-qualified and objective judges, as well as the resources it needs to administer justice fairly.

Priorities

• Providing a federal hand of assistance in the fight to curb gang violence.
   
• Protecting individuals from identity theft by requiring businesses to notify consumers in the event of a security breach and prohibiting the sale or display of an individual’s Social Security number without his or her consent.
   
• Establishing the AgJOBS program to ease the severe worker shortage being experienced by frustrated farmers across the country.
   
• Restoring the Assault Weapons Ban.
   
• Stopping audio and video piracy.
   
• Supporting the DREAM Act to permit undocumented youth raised in the United States to apply for legal permanent residence if they attend college or serve in the U.S. military. Senator Feinstein on June 28, 2011, spoke at a Judiciary Committee hearing on DREAM Act.

Accomplishments

• Enacted the Combat Methamphetamine Act of 2006, which places restrictions on the sale of ingredients needed in the production of methamphetamine.
   
• Garnered passage of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
   
• Enacted legislation to establish a nationwide AMBER Alert network.
   
• Co-sponsored legislation creating the COPS program that put 100,000 new cops on the streets, including more than 14,000 additional officers in California.
   
• Hate Crimes Sentencing Act: toughened penalties against offenders who commit hate crimes.
   
• Gained approval of legislation to aggressively target drug traffickers.
   
• Passed the ART Act to strengthen the rights of all copyright owners who deserve control over their work.