http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/wa...federal-atf-agency-b99306932z1-266361761.html
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would be eliminated under a bill in the works from U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.).
Citing ATF's recent operational failures and its overlap with other federal law enforcement, Sensenbrenner is preparing a bill to dissolve the agency and have existing agencies in the U.S. Justice Department take on its duties.
"By absorbing the ATF into existing law enforcement entities, we can preserve the areas where the ATF adds value for substantially less taxpayer money," Sensenbrenner said. "While searching for its mission, the ATF has been plagued by decades of high-profile blunders....We cannot afford to ignore clear changes that will greatly enhance the government's efficiency."
A new Government Accountability Office report on the ATF released Wednesday found an agency trying to redefine itself while struggling with high personnel turnover and problems tracking its own criminal investigations.
The GAO report is the latest in a series of documents and studies going back more than two decades that are critical of the agency's overlap with other law enforcement. At least two of those reports have called for the ATF to be dissolved and its responsibility folded into other federal agencies. The ATF received $12 billion from Congress between 2003 and 2013.
ATF spokeswoman Ginger Colbrun declined to comment on Sensenbrenner's proposal, saying she first needed to see a bill.
Abolishing the ATF is being considered on both sides of the political spectrum.
Policy analysts with the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan but left-leaning Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said Tuesday the ATF needed restructuring and it made sense to blend it into the FBI.
"The FBI already has a significant role in violent crimes," said Arkadi Gerney, a senior fellow at the center who specializes in crime and gun policy and has studied the ATF. "Firearms are not a foreign concept to them."
The center recommended a merger between the agencies following the shootings in Newtown, Conn.
A merger could enhance the mission of enforcing federal gun laws and address struggles the ATF has faced in recent years and for decades, Gerney said.
He doesn't see the FBI as being as vulnerable to political influence and added that the agency hadn't been faced with the same kind of congressional micromanaging endured by ATF.
"FBI has a degree of independence from the political process that is notable and appreciated on both sides of the aisle," Gerney said. "It's not viewed as a political agency and is therefore given a lot of leeway to help it achieve its goals toward fighting crime."
And, although certainly not free of problems, the FBI has a more solid management structure, he said.
The agency has "built a culture and management systems to deal with complicated and challenging investigations and to mitigate risks," Gerney said.
The center is continuing to study the logistics of such a merger.
Very interesting. . . Maybe it will fix a few things but I bet if it does happen it will get a lot worse during the transition before it gets better.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would be eliminated under a bill in the works from U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.).
Citing ATF's recent operational failures and its overlap with other federal law enforcement, Sensenbrenner is preparing a bill to dissolve the agency and have existing agencies in the U.S. Justice Department take on its duties.
"By absorbing the ATF into existing law enforcement entities, we can preserve the areas where the ATF adds value for substantially less taxpayer money," Sensenbrenner said. "While searching for its mission, the ATF has been plagued by decades of high-profile blunders....We cannot afford to ignore clear changes that will greatly enhance the government's efficiency."
A new Government Accountability Office report on the ATF released Wednesday found an agency trying to redefine itself while struggling with high personnel turnover and problems tracking its own criminal investigations.
The GAO report is the latest in a series of documents and studies going back more than two decades that are critical of the agency's overlap with other law enforcement. At least two of those reports have called for the ATF to be dissolved and its responsibility folded into other federal agencies. The ATF received $12 billion from Congress between 2003 and 2013.
ATF spokeswoman Ginger Colbrun declined to comment on Sensenbrenner's proposal, saying she first needed to see a bill.
Abolishing the ATF is being considered on both sides of the political spectrum.
Policy analysts with the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan but left-leaning Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said Tuesday the ATF needed restructuring and it made sense to blend it into the FBI.
"The FBI already has a significant role in violent crimes," said Arkadi Gerney, a senior fellow at the center who specializes in crime and gun policy and has studied the ATF. "Firearms are not a foreign concept to them."
The center recommended a merger between the agencies following the shootings in Newtown, Conn.
A merger could enhance the mission of enforcing federal gun laws and address struggles the ATF has faced in recent years and for decades, Gerney said.
He doesn't see the FBI as being as vulnerable to political influence and added that the agency hadn't been faced with the same kind of congressional micromanaging endured by ATF.
"FBI has a degree of independence from the political process that is notable and appreciated on both sides of the aisle," Gerney said. "It's not viewed as a political agency and is therefore given a lot of leeway to help it achieve its goals toward fighting crime."
And, although certainly not free of problems, the FBI has a more solid management structure, he said.
The agency has "built a culture and management systems to deal with complicated and challenging investigations and to mitigate risks," Gerney said.
The center is continuing to study the logistics of such a merger.
Very interesting. . . Maybe it will fix a few things but I bet if it does happen it will get a lot worse during the transition before it gets better.
