JUNE 3, 2015
The House got its revenge late Tuesday night against the
Drug Enforcement Administration by cutting millions of dollars in funding for
the agency, after it was revealed in March that DEA officials participated in
"sex parties" in Colombia with prostitutes.
The Office of Inspector General for the Justice Department
released a report in March that said these sex parties were attended by
prostitutes that were "funded by the local drug cartels." In a
hearing held later, officials later admitted that the cartels providing the
prostitutes were the same cartels the DEA officials were supposed to be
investigating.
The scandal forced then-DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart
to resign about a month later.
Tuesday night, the House punished the DEA even more by
piling on cuts to administrative salaries. Members were considering legislation
to fund the Department of Justice and other related agencies, a bill that
already withholds $20 million from DEA until the agency implements
recommendations aimed at addressing "employee misconduct."
In a series of quick amendment votes Tuesday night, the
House added another $23 million in cuts to DEA salaries and administrative
expenses. One of these came in the form of an amendment from Steve Cohen,
D-Tenn., who wanted to cut $4 million from DEA and use the money fund efforts
to investigate sexual assault against children.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., proposed another $9 million in cuts
to DEA salaries to boost funding to help children and victims of abuse, and
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, proposed a $10 million cut to DEA salaries to
fund police body cameras.
Each of these proposals was approved by voice vote, showing
that both parties were fine with cuts to DEA.
The House turned away just one other proposal, also from
Cohen, to cut DEA salaries by $12 million to boost funding for the Legal
Services Corporation.
Source: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com