Holder asks Senate for more funding in '13

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WASHINGTON, March 8 (UPI) -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday asked a Senate subcommittee for more funding for the Justice Department in President Barack Obama's 2013 budget.

Holder made his request while addressing the Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and related Agencies, the Department of Justice said in a release.

Holder requested "sustained and increased investments included in the President's Budget" for various national security programs -- including the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group, the Joint Terrorism Task Forces and the Render Safe Program -- his prepared remarks indicated.

Holder said continued investments in those programs would "strengthen [the Department of Justice's] critical surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities."

The attorney general said the funding would help the department further its work in combating consumer, financial and healthcare fraud crimes.

"In addition to helping us build on this record of success, the President's budget request also would bolster our fight against drug trafficking, international crime networks, gangs, and cyber criminals; increase efforts to protect the law enforcement officers who keep us safe; and expand upon the work being done by the Civil Rights Division to guarantee that the rights of all Americans are protected -- in border areas, workplaces, housing markets, and voting booths," Holder said.