Grassley Works To End Turf-Fighting Among Law Enforcement

Press Release

Senator Chuck Grassley today released the following statement after the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said the two agencies had completed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining several outstanding jurisdictional issues.

Grassley has long fought inter-agency turf-battles during his time in the Senate, and began addressing the problems between the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement more than a year ago. He has repeatedly called for all federal law enforcement agencies to update inter-agency agreements between many agencies that are dramatically outdated and do not reflect the reorganization of law enforcement agencies following the Homeland Security Act of 2005.

At oversight hearings over the past year, Grassley called on the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to work together and address these agreements in an administrative manner. He also asked tough questions about the failures of cooperation between the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement at a Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on border security in March. He has pledged to keep both agencies feet to the fire to ensure the law enforcement agencies work effectively and efficiently.

In April, Grassley released a Government Accountability Office report that said infighting among federal agencies tasked with protecting the U.S. borders is compromising the safety of agents. Grassley then wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano asking them to immediately implement the recommendations from the report.

Here is Grassley's statement on the updated Memorandum of Understanding.

"The previous memorandum left agents fending for themselves in the field and led to situations that compromised their safety. Finally, after years of turf battles, it appears the agencies have addressed many of the issues brought to our attention by the GAO. This agreement should allow agents to focus on protecting the American people instead of protecting their turf. I'll be interested to see the how the agencies follow-through on their new found cooperation.

"Despite the positive news that this Memorandum of Understanding was finally completed, I fear we may continue to have problems because they failed to address a major issue with money laundering investigations. While money laundering is covered by another outdated agreement, both agencies should have taken this opportunity to address all outdated agreements. I've been pushing the agencies to address this, but instead they've kicked the can down the road which could lead to more of the same squabbles we're trying to get rid of. If the money laundering issue isn't resolved, I may include a provision in my comprehensive money laundering bill I plan to introduce in the near future."

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