WATCH KLOBUCHAR’S FULL REMARKS HERE
WASHINGTON - At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) questioned Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray on the Bureau’s efforts to combat hate crimes, how the bipartisan Cooper Davis Act would improve federal law enforcement’s ability to stop fentanyl trafficking on social media, and outline how the Klobuchar-led SHIELD Act would better protect children from online predators.
“[Hate crimes are] concerning for everyone … Democrat, Republican, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, anyone in this country,” said Klobuchar. “I know that you care about this very much because I saw the work that your agents did in Minnesota. And I want to get more details on what the FBI is doing and what the Justice Department is doing to detect, deter, and investigate these crimes…”
In January 2020, Senators Klobuchar and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced legislation to combat the rise of hate crimes. The Justice for Victims of Hate Crimes Act ensures that federal prosecutors can effectively enforce the federal hate crimes law.
Klobuchar is also a cosponsor of the Cooper Davis Act, bipartisan legislation to hold social media companies accountable by requiring them to report to law enforcement illicit drug activity occurring on their platforms. The bill would require social media companies and other communication service providers to turn over information relating to illicit online drug activity to federal agencies to combat the illegal sale of fentanyl laced products and the distribution of counterfeit and controlled substances occurring on their platforms.
In April, Klobuchar and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced bipartisan legislation to tackle the rise in illegal opioids entering the U.S. The STOP 2.0 Act builds on Klobuchar’s Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, which was signed into law in 2018. That legislation prevents fentanyl and synthetic drug shipments from being smuggled into the U.S. through the mail by requiring advance electronic data (AED) to be included on all inbound international packages shipped through the U.S. Postal Service.
In February 2023, Klobuchar and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced bipartisan legislation to address the online exploitation of explicit, private images. The Stopping Harmful Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution (SHIELD) Act would provide federal law enforcement with the tools they need to crack down on serious privacy violations. The bill establishes narrow federal criminal liability for people who distribute others’ private or explicit images online without consent. The bill also fills in existing gaps in federal law so that prosecutors can hold all those who exploit children accountable.
A transcript of Klobuchar’s questions is available below. Video is available HERE.
Senator Amy Klobuchar: Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you so much, Director Wray, for being here.
I want to start out with hate crimes. You and I have talked about them before. I want to thank you and your agents in Minnesota for their work in solving what was a clear hate crime, with a prison sentence of [the perpetrator of] a bombing of the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in my home state back in 2017. And we know that since that time, we've seen increases in hate crimes. Reports show a 216% increase since October 7 in requests for help and reported bias incidents against Muslims. Another report showed a 388% rise in antisemitic incidents since this time last year.
We know the facts. We know what happened in front of that restaurant in Philadelphia. We know that in Illinois, a six-year-old Muslim boy was targeted and fatally stabbed for being Palestinian American. In Los Angeles, a criminal broke into the home of a Jewish family, threatened them, and screamed about killing Jews. In Vermont, a Palestinian student from Brown University, whose parents had him stay in the US rather than returning home for safety reasons, was shot along with two of his friends. In New York, a woman was assaulted at Grand Central Terminal, and when confronted, the assailant said it was because [she was] Jewish. In Brooklyn, a father and his 18-year-old son were allegedly assaulted by another parent for being Palestinian. And last week, three suspects were arrested for a 40-minute spree of attacks on Jewish New Yorkers. This is concerning for everyone … everyone Democrat, Republican, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, anyone in this country.
I know that you care about this very much because I saw the work that your agents did in Minnesota. And I want to get more details on what the FBI is doing and what the Justice Department is doing to detect, deter, and investigate these crimes and then also the effect of social media. And I know there are limitations on what we can do. I have some strong views on this. But could you also talk about that?
FBI Director Christopher Wray: Well, I appreciate your longstanding interest in this topic. And I know how important it is to you. Not the least of which [is] because of the attacks that have occurred in your home state. Certainly, we have seen an increase in hate crimes. There are lots of different numbers out there, but I'll just give two for this purpose. You know, one is, in 2022, we saw the highest increase, I think, in hate crimes reported that we'd seen since maybe 2008. And we don't have full data for 2023 yet, but we expect it to keep going up.
Second data point, post October 7, just since October 7, we have [opened,] I think, 60% more hate crimes investigations post-October 7 than compared to the comparable period pre-October 7, and that's on top of that already escalating increase that I mentioned. As I testified in my opening statement, the biggest chunk of those are threats against the Jewish community. But there are, of course, attacks, and you've mentioned several of them against others as well.
What are we doing about it? A few different things. We've elevated civil rights, especially hate crimes, to national threat priority, and that's been true for the last couple of years, and so that brings with it more investigative resources of all shapes and sizes.
Second, we're trying to do a lot to engage in outreach both to law enforcement and the communities. Because one thing we know about hate crimes is that they're chronically underreported, and there are lots of reasons for that. But, so trying to get better data, better fidelity of the data allows us to track the trend better, but also to ensure that we're finding the cases that need to be pursued. Even when a hate crime charge, a federal hate crime charge, is not available, the FBI doesn't just walk away from the case, we provide forensic support, in some cases, even testimony and other things in state prosecutions, if state charges are being used. So those are a few of the things in our outreach efforts. I would say we also have tried to do things that are targeted at specific communities. So for example, in New York, we tried to reach out to parts of the Jewish community in New York with outreach both in Yiddish and Hebrew and not just in English, for example. So that's just a flavor.
Klobuchar: Thank you. I wanted to turn to fentanyl, we all know that there's so much work that has to be done on the border and so much work that has to be done, and the ports of entry, mail a bill that Senator Portman and I passed a while back. But we also know that 1/3 of drug cases have direct ties to social media. And we had a kid in Minnesota who died after taking a fentanyl-laced pill that he thought was Percocet to help his migraines [that was] purchased on Snapchat. And the Judiciary Committee actually voted with the Chairman's leadership to advance a bipartisan bill with Senator Shaheen and Marshall to require social media companies to report fentanyl and other dangerous drug sales on their platforms. It's called the Cooper Davis Act. And could you talk about how this could be helpful in taking on these cases?
Wray: Well, I think what you've put your finger on is the degree to which online activity is inextricably intertwined with the fentanyl epidemic. And that's in a variety of ways, and I know Administrator Milgram at DEA, for example, has a number of initiatives focused on this as well. Certainly, we, on the FBI’s end, are focused on, for example, darknet marketplaces, and we have a whole something called J-CODE which is focused on dismantling darknet marketplaces of fentanyl and other dangerous narcotics.
Klobuchar: Okay, thank you, and one other kid's issue. You noted the importance of protecting kids. You noted in your written testimony that the FBI has recently reported a massive increase in sextortion cases where kids and teens are being coerced into sending explicit photos and videos only to be blackmailed or threatened for financial gain. In 2022 alone, these scams resulted in at least 20 victims committing suicide. And my bill was Senator Cornyn, The SHIELD Act, includes a threat provision and other things that would update and modernize our laws when it comes to revenge porn and sextortion cases involving kids.
While we are advancing this bill, sadly, we have been opposed by some members of this committee, and I found it incredibly frustrating because they won't meet with me to try to make any changes to it. And I'm trying to change that. What threats do young people receive? How do you think we could make the tools that you have to take on this crime better because I'm gonna just start going to the floor and taking this on, our colleagues can object if they would like, and I know Senator Cornyn has been very helpful, but I think it's just absolutely ridiculous when you look at these numbers. Please answer, thank you.
Wray: Well, I can't speak to specific legislative proposals, but what I can tell you is that sextortion is a rapidly escalating threat. And as you say, there have been way too many teenagers victimized, and they don't know where to turn. And so having this discussion in a forum like this, people like you and Senator Cornyn, raising awareness about it, that by itself is hugely valuable. As to what we need, I will tell you, I come back to the answer I gave earlier to Chairman Durbin about the threat, if you will, of the proliferation of warrant-proof encryption. If companies are going to take responsibility for what happens on their platforms, and part of taking responsibility includes the ability to, when presented with a warrant, following all the due process that that entails, they will provide the information so that law enforcement, not just FBI, but other agencies can take action to rescue the kids and take down the predators.
Klobuchar: Thank you very much. I'll ask my remaining questions on carjacking and 702- which I thank you for your work on that - we can't let it lapse, in writing. Thank you.
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