US Attorney General Requests Budget Increase To Combat Domestic Terrorism, Gun Violence

US Attorney General Requests Budget Increase to Combat Domestic Terrorism, Gun Violence

US Attorney General Merrick Garland in congressional testimony on Tuesday urged lawmakers to increase of the Department of Justice budget to $35.2 billion in 2022 to combat domestic terrorism and gun violence, among other goals

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th May, 2021) US Attorney General Merrick Garland in congressional testimony on Tuesday urged lawmakers to increase of the Department of Justice budget to $35.2 billion in 2022 to combat domestic terrorism and gun violence, among other goals.

"It [the proposed budget] includes increases of $45 billion for the FBI domestic terrorism investigations and $40 million for the US Attorneys to manage increasing domestic terrorism cases," Garland said. "We are seeking to increase our support to combat gun violence by $232 million for FY [financial year] 2022 supporting both DoJ Federal law enforcement resources as well as grant funding for community violence intervention programs including background checks."

The budget increase will also support hiring 100 new immigration judges to reduce the backlog of nearly 1.3 million immigration cases pending in courts, the attorney general added.

The DoJ also seeks to increase the Department's Civil Rights funding by $33 million, in order to provide a total of $209 million for the Civil Rights Division, Community Relation Service and related civil right work for protecting voting rights to prosecuting hate crimes, Garland noted.

The department's budget for the 2021 fiscal year was $31.7 billion and $32.4. billion in 2020.