Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   June 15, 2011

CONTACT: Hannah Loy 202-225-2315

Congressman Paul Gosar

Opening Statement June 15, 2011

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

“Operation Fast and Furious: Reckless Decisions, Tragic Outcomes”

               Chairman Issa and Ranking Member Cummings, I would like to thank you for taking the time to hold this hearing on a matter as important as this.  While the Oversight and Government Reform Committee does important work every day, it is no stretch to say that today we are investigating a life and death matter. We have before us the distinguished senator from Iowa, who was approached by law enforcement officers concerned enough to come forward and tell a story of severe misjudgment at the highest levels of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). We have additional law enforcement officers before us, who will testify that they were compelled to participate in an operation which they knew in their hearts was likely to result in the unnecessary loss of life and public endangerment.  Today before us, we have a grieving family, who lost one of their own in the prime of his life, in the defense of his country which he loved. And most critical of all, we have a representative from the Department of Justice, and it is their testimony to which we need to pay the most attention. The top officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and ATF must come forward and answer to Congress, and the American people, about the ill fated history and terrible misjudgment of Operation Fast and Furious.

               This Committee must continue to investigate the decisions and conversations made by senior level officials at both DOJ and ATF with respect to ATF activity in the state of Arizona. The American people want, and have a right to be told here today, who knew what and when they knew it. It is clear that Operation Fast and Furious was a case of serious misjudgment, which repeatedly and consistently violated a basic law enforcement principle that is simply common sense. Namely: when law enforcement is aware of a suspicious firearm purchase, law enforcement has probable cause to investigate and possibly detain the person in question.

               And yet, multiple accounts confirm for us that beginning in the fall of 2009, ATF agents at the Phoenix field office were instructed not to arrest individuals that they knew for a fact were making bulk purchases of assault weapons such as AK-47s, Colt .38’s, and .50 caliber Barrett rifles. While I am second to no one in my support of Second Amendment rights, it is simply bad law enforcement and playing with fire for federal agents to be aware of these repeated purchases and do nothing.   The Second Amendment allows for responsible gun ownership.  What we see here is not a Second Amendment issue so much as negligent, perhaps even cavalier, law enforcement.

               Agents who expressed concerns about this policy were ignored and made to feel marginalized by their supervisors. Law abiding gun dealers who expressed concerns about this policy were led to believe by ATF that surveillance was being done, when in fact up to 2,000 guns were shuttled across the border, into the hands of cold blooded murderers, drug cartels, gun runners and others.  Stop and think for just a moment: we STILL do not know where all these illegally purchased guns are. I think it’s safe to say, however, that they are in the hands of bad guys.    To think our federal government put them there is beyond disturbing. 

Regretfully, it took the senseless murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry on December 14, 2010 to finally stop the madness. However, this story is not over. This Committee would be neglecting its own duty if we failed to investigate what clearly seems to be grave wrongdoing at senior levels of both ATF and DOJ. We need to know: how high in the chain of command did this poor decision making go? We know that the acting ATF Director was fully briefed on the ongoing progress of Operation Fast and Furious. But even Acting Director Melson could not have acted alone, without the advice and consent of someone at the Department of Justice. And so I am asking Attorney General Holder, Deputy Attorney General Weich, and all DOJ officials involved to stop burying their head in the sand, comply with Congressional subpoena, and work with us to craft a better policy for the future. With the volatile situation on the southern border, we can’t afford the continued path of avoidance, denial, and non compliance with the law.

In the southern part of my home state of Arizona, drug cartels and violent criminals are terrorizing innocent citizens, ruining precious federal land, and moving millions of dollars worth of contraband into the United States. I have long believed that the federal government has neglected its duty to secure our southern border, not only to prevent illegal immigration but to protect our citizens from those seeking to commit crimes or do us harm. Don’t take my word for it – ask the cotton farmer from Casa Grande who can no longer go out to dinner or church with his family without leaving a family member behind to protect the family property from looters. Ask the woman from Douglas whose husband was murdered on his own ranch for the offense of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ask the sheriffs of border counties who are working diligently, fighting a multi front war trying to keep their communities safe.

It is of the utmost importance that we receive answers to these questions today. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing witness testimony.

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