A recent FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) report details first-hand accounts of a number of FBI Agents who said that budget cuts and funding shortages have severely impacted the daily operations and investigations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The report, entitled Voices from the Field, describes accounts of budget cuts and furloughs and how they have impeded national security and criminal investigations. The FBIAA report was released in an effort to ensure that Congress, the Administration, and the general public are aware that the resources of the FBI have been “stretched to the breaking point,” said FBIAA President, Rey Tariche.
The report details first-hand accounts of how budget cuts of the FBI have resulted in:
- The deterioration of counterintelligence and counterterrorism investigations
- The termination of white collar investigations
- The decline of local law enforcement collaborations
- The loss of key informants
- The loss of basic transportation due to a lack of funding for gas
Because the FBI relies on defense and non-defense capital, cuts are often more devastating to the agency than other federal agencies. The report estimates that the FBI will need to cut another $800 million from its budget next year, thereby further hampering the agency’s efforts.
Tariche said that any attempts to save money by cutting the Bureau’s budget will only hurt the country and cost it more in the long run. To support this statement, Tariche noted that the work of FBI agents in the last three years alone have resulted in the recovery of more than $23 billion to the federal government.
The FBIAA is imploring Congress and the White House to negotiate an agreement that will eliminate cuts to the FBI and therefore protect the country’s national security and public safety.
The FBIAA is a professional association of more than 12,000 active and retired FBI agents. It was created in an effort to join together agents in an effort to protect the interest of agents within the Bureau.