Cebu_4_2
17th September 2014, 04:42 PM
Bill eliminating ATF introduced in wake of botched operations
http://media.jrn.com/images/660*439/b99352690z.1_20140917155244_000_gru7tnr8.1-0.jpg
U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), shown here questioning an ATF official in February, introduced legislation Wednesday that would eventually eliminate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in the wake of a series of botched operations.
A Journal Sentinel investigation uncovered mistakes and failures in an undercover sting in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – stolen guns, sensitive documents lost, wrong people charged and a burglary of the sting storefront.
A bill that would eliminate the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (https://www.atf.gov/) and fold its duties into the FBI (http://www.fbi.gov/) and other agencies was introduced in Congress Wednesday.
The bill, by U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/) (R-Wis.), would impose an immediate hiring freeze at the ATF and require a plan be submitted within six months on how to move its activities to other agencies.
The bill calls for eliminating the agency a year after the bill's final passage, moving its functions into the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (http://www.justice.gov/dea/index.shtml) and Treasury Department (http://www.treasury.gov/Pages/default.aspx).
In a statement, Sensenbrenner called ATF "a duplicative, scandal ridden agency that lacks a clear mission."
"We can do the same job more efficiently for less," he said. "At a time when we are approaching $18 trillion in debt, we need to demand accountability within our federal agencies and to take a closer look at cutting waste and redundancy."
The ATF is the the nation's lead agency for enforcing gun laws, but it also has investigated cases involving drugs and violent crime, which overlap with the FBI, DEA and other agencies. The ATF also has civil enforcement functions, such as inspecting gun dealers and collecting certain taxes and fees.
The ATF has come under fire in recent years for ill-fated operations, including Operation Fast and Furious in Arizona and Operation Fearless (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/backfire-190528221.html) in Milwaukee.
In Fast and Furious, agents in Arizona watched as thousands of guns passed into the hands of criminals, ending up at shooting scenes, including one where a U.S. border guard was killed.
Operation Fearless (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/atfs-milwaukee-sting-operation-marred-by-mistakes-failures-mu8akpj-188952581.html) was a botched undercover sting in Milwaukee, where an agent's guns were stolen, the storefront was burglarized and agents used a man with mental disabilities to promote the operation (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/botched-atf-sting-in-milwaukee-ensnares-braindamaged-man-pk9d6or-201794871.html). A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation uncovered the Milwaukee problems as well as similar problems in storefronts nationwide (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/atf-uses-rogue-tactics-in-storefront-stings-across-the-nation-b99146765z1-234916641.html).
A Government Accountability Office report (http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-553) this year on the ATF found an agency trying to redefine itself while struggling with high personnel turnover and problems tracking its own criminal investigations.
The idea of eliminating the ATF is not new (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/bill-by-jim-sensenbrenner-would-dissolve-federal-atf-agency-b99306932z1-266361761.html). It was last introduced by U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) in 1993.
Sensenbrenner currently has one co-sponsor on his bill, U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman (http://stockman.house.gov/) (R-Texas). Other Republicans and some Democrats are indicating a willingness to at least discuss the idea.
As part of the plan, ATF field offices and other buildings including a new headquarters building in Washington would be transferred to the FBI, which would have one year to report excess property to the General Services Administration.
The concept of eliminating the ATF received a cool reception among some gun rights groups, as well as gun control groups, earlier this year. The groups have noted the agency was without a permanent director for seven years and want to give B. Todd Jones (https://www.atf.gov/content/About/ATF-executive-staff) a chance to turn around the ATF.
ATF has more than 4,700 employees and a budget of just over $1 billion. A spokeswoman for the agency declined to comment Wednesday.
In a statement, National Sports Shooting Foundation (http://www.nssf.org/) spokesman Michael Bazinet said reassigning agency duties of will not make the government more efficient.
"The opposite would more likely occur," the statement said. "NSSF does not favor abolishing ATF and would much prefer the agency be funded at the level required to best carry out its appropriate responsibilities."
The six-month transition plan called for in Sensenbrenner's bill would look to save money, according to the bill's language.
"The plan shall, to the maximum extent practicable, without compromising core functions, eliminate and reduce duplicative, unnecessary functions or waste," the bill says.
The idea (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/bill-by-jim-sensenbrenner-would-dissolve-federal-atf-agency-b99306932z1-266361761.html) of folding the ATF into other agencies has been endorsed by the left-leaning think tank, Center for American Progress (http://www.americanprogress.org/).
Arkadi Gerney, senior fellow at the center, called Sensenbrenner's bill "a welcome step toward a debate" on the best way to keep guns from dangerous people.
"We applaud Congressman Sensenbrenner for introducing legislation that kicks off an important debate about whether ATF's mission would be better served by transferring agents and responsibilities to FBI," he said.
Gerney said the center opposes one element of Sensenbrenner's bill, a provision that would retain the prohibition in current law on publicly sharing data about how many crime guns are sold by a gun dealer. The center refers to the provision as "dangerous and unnecessary restrictions on federal law enforcement's ability to fully enforce gun laws."
The provision limiting release of such information was inserted into an ATF spending bill nearly 10 years ago, after such information became public and was used in lawsuits.
Around that time, a Milwaukee store, Badger Outdoors, ranked at or near the top of sellers of crime guns. In 2005 alone, the store sold 537 crime guns — most in the nation. Milwaukee's police chief and district attorney have also opposed that provision (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/84873522.html).
To read the Journal Sentinel's investigation into the ATF's flawed operations in Milwaukee and elsewhere, go to jsonline.com./backfire.
http://media.jrn.com/images/660*439/b99352690z.1_20140917155244_000_gru7tnr8.1-0.jpg
U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), shown here questioning an ATF official in February, introduced legislation Wednesday that would eventually eliminate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in the wake of a series of botched operations.
A Journal Sentinel investigation uncovered mistakes and failures in an undercover sting in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – stolen guns, sensitive documents lost, wrong people charged and a burglary of the sting storefront.
A bill that would eliminate the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (https://www.atf.gov/) and fold its duties into the FBI (http://www.fbi.gov/) and other agencies was introduced in Congress Wednesday.
The bill, by U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/) (R-Wis.), would impose an immediate hiring freeze at the ATF and require a plan be submitted within six months on how to move its activities to other agencies.
The bill calls for eliminating the agency a year after the bill's final passage, moving its functions into the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (http://www.justice.gov/dea/index.shtml) and Treasury Department (http://www.treasury.gov/Pages/default.aspx).
In a statement, Sensenbrenner called ATF "a duplicative, scandal ridden agency that lacks a clear mission."
"We can do the same job more efficiently for less," he said. "At a time when we are approaching $18 trillion in debt, we need to demand accountability within our federal agencies and to take a closer look at cutting waste and redundancy."
The ATF is the the nation's lead agency for enforcing gun laws, but it also has investigated cases involving drugs and violent crime, which overlap with the FBI, DEA and other agencies. The ATF also has civil enforcement functions, such as inspecting gun dealers and collecting certain taxes and fees.
The ATF has come under fire in recent years for ill-fated operations, including Operation Fast and Furious in Arizona and Operation Fearless (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/backfire-190528221.html) in Milwaukee.
In Fast and Furious, agents in Arizona watched as thousands of guns passed into the hands of criminals, ending up at shooting scenes, including one where a U.S. border guard was killed.
Operation Fearless (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/atfs-milwaukee-sting-operation-marred-by-mistakes-failures-mu8akpj-188952581.html) was a botched undercover sting in Milwaukee, where an agent's guns were stolen, the storefront was burglarized and agents used a man with mental disabilities to promote the operation (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/botched-atf-sting-in-milwaukee-ensnares-braindamaged-man-pk9d6or-201794871.html). A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation uncovered the Milwaukee problems as well as similar problems in storefronts nationwide (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/atf-uses-rogue-tactics-in-storefront-stings-across-the-nation-b99146765z1-234916641.html).
A Government Accountability Office report (http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-553) this year on the ATF found an agency trying to redefine itself while struggling with high personnel turnover and problems tracking its own criminal investigations.
The idea of eliminating the ATF is not new (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/bill-by-jim-sensenbrenner-would-dissolve-federal-atf-agency-b99306932z1-266361761.html). It was last introduced by U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) in 1993.
Sensenbrenner currently has one co-sponsor on his bill, U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman (http://stockman.house.gov/) (R-Texas). Other Republicans and some Democrats are indicating a willingness to at least discuss the idea.
As part of the plan, ATF field offices and other buildings including a new headquarters building in Washington would be transferred to the FBI, which would have one year to report excess property to the General Services Administration.
The concept of eliminating the ATF received a cool reception among some gun rights groups, as well as gun control groups, earlier this year. The groups have noted the agency was without a permanent director for seven years and want to give B. Todd Jones (https://www.atf.gov/content/About/ATF-executive-staff) a chance to turn around the ATF.
ATF has more than 4,700 employees and a budget of just over $1 billion. A spokeswoman for the agency declined to comment Wednesday.
In a statement, National Sports Shooting Foundation (http://www.nssf.org/) spokesman Michael Bazinet said reassigning agency duties of will not make the government more efficient.
"The opposite would more likely occur," the statement said. "NSSF does not favor abolishing ATF and would much prefer the agency be funded at the level required to best carry out its appropriate responsibilities."
The six-month transition plan called for in Sensenbrenner's bill would look to save money, according to the bill's language.
"The plan shall, to the maximum extent practicable, without compromising core functions, eliminate and reduce duplicative, unnecessary functions or waste," the bill says.
The idea (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/bill-by-jim-sensenbrenner-would-dissolve-federal-atf-agency-b99306932z1-266361761.html) of folding the ATF into other agencies has been endorsed by the left-leaning think tank, Center for American Progress (http://www.americanprogress.org/).
Arkadi Gerney, senior fellow at the center, called Sensenbrenner's bill "a welcome step toward a debate" on the best way to keep guns from dangerous people.
"We applaud Congressman Sensenbrenner for introducing legislation that kicks off an important debate about whether ATF's mission would be better served by transferring agents and responsibilities to FBI," he said.
Gerney said the center opposes one element of Sensenbrenner's bill, a provision that would retain the prohibition in current law on publicly sharing data about how many crime guns are sold by a gun dealer. The center refers to the provision as "dangerous and unnecessary restrictions on federal law enforcement's ability to fully enforce gun laws."
The provision limiting release of such information was inserted into an ATF spending bill nearly 10 years ago, after such information became public and was used in lawsuits.
Around that time, a Milwaukee store, Badger Outdoors, ranked at or near the top of sellers of crime guns. In 2005 alone, the store sold 537 crime guns — most in the nation. Milwaukee's police chief and district attorney have also opposed that provision (http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/84873522.html).
To read the Journal Sentinel's investigation into the ATF's flawed operations in Milwaukee and elsewhere, go to jsonline.com./backfire.