Fsgg Federal Defenders Funding

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the House passage of full funding for the Federal Defender Services. This is an issue I have worked on for years. It affects the overall operation of the Federal criminal justice system, and it continues to be nonpartisan.

Defendants have a constitutional right to counsel in criminal cases, and for indigent defendants, counsel is appointed from the Federal Defender Service. If there aren't enough Federal defenders, justice could be delayed. Panel attorneys can be hired, but from the panel they could be more expensive.

In fiscal year 2024, there was an inadvertent budgeting error that resulted in initial funding levels that were at least $100 million less than what the program needed. As a result of underfunding, Federal Defender Services began fiscal year 2026 significantly in the red. We just fixed that.

I thank Chair Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, Chair Joyce, and Ranking Member Hoyer for leading this issue in the House. I urge my Senate colleagues to quickly advance this legislation because it is in everyone's interests to have an efficient, reliable, and fair criminal justice system.

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