Fbi Deserves Our Support

Floor Speech

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Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, it is evident to me that 2 weeks into the new administration, we no longer have a Congress and that we no longer take care that laws be faithfully executed.

We passed a law that says TikTok must either be sold or be shut down, but that doesn't matter. It will not be shut down. The Constitution of the United States says that birthright citizenship is a fundamental constitutional right, but that doesn't matter. Apparently, it is not.

We have happily given up the power of the purse. USAID is a legally established organization, whatever you may think of it. We have given up the power of the purse.

Mr. Speaker, what we cannot give up in this institution is our obligation to keep the American people safe, safe from terrorism, safe from gang violence, safe from fentanyl. What concerns me as the ranking member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, much of what I am seeing out there is the attack, the purge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, which Americans know is the premier law enforcement agency on this planet. Thousands of FBI agents go to work every single day, going after fentanyl dealers, going after violent crime, uncovering terrorist plots. I tell you this as a person who represents a district that was badly hurt on 9/11.

It is now part of the catechism of the Republican Party in the House and the Senate that the FBI is a corrupt and evil organization that must be turned on its head and that people who have dedicated their lives to the service of keeping Americans safe must be fired.

Mr. Speaker, the list is unbelievable: Executive Assistant Director Tim Dunham, 22 years of service; EAD Bobby Wells, 21 years of service; EAD Mike Nordwall, 22 years of dedicated service; Jackie Maguire, 24 years of dedicated service; Ryan Young--I could go on for my full 5 minutes of senior people who have been told that they must either resign from the FBI or be fired.

We hear that the FBI is being told that anyone who worked on the January 6 prosecutions, when this building was attacked and 140 police officers were assaulted, that they must be on a list, undoubtedly for retribution.

What does the FBI actually do? In June of 2024, the FBI arrested several people with suspected ISIS ties; October 2024, the FBI arrested an Afghan national for plotting a terrorist attack in the name of ISIS on election day. This goes on and on. The FBI investigated the assassination attempt on President Trump. Every day, all day, FBI agents are out there keeping us safe.

Why this attack on the FBI? I heard my colleague, Jim Jordan, just this weekend on Fox News once again promoting the conspiracy theory that the FBI was somehow involved in the attack on this Capitol on January 6. That is false.

Yes, there were 26 confidential human sources. These are people who know drug dealers and terrorists that the FBI talks to. Not one of them was authorized to break any law or to participate in January 6. There were no undercover FBI agents here in the Capitol on January 6. Yet, this continues because Donald Trump insists that that conspiracy theory animated rage against the FBI.

I am the ranking member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and we can get away with a lot of foolish things in this institution, but keep up the attacks on the FBI, keep it up, because there will be terrorist attacks. There will be an increase in drug deaths. There will be an increase in violent crime, and I promise you, Mr. Speaker, I will stand right here to hold those accountable for the attack on this storied American institution and the carnage it will visit on the American people if this keeps up.

The FBI deserves our support. They are not perfect, but they go to work every single day to keep our people safe. It is time for the majority in this Chamber to stop their attacks on these patriotic Americans.

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