Thursday, August 22, 2019

BACKGROUND PRESS CALL BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S EFFORTS TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING OF FENTANYL AND SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS

Office of the Press Secretary

BACKGROUND PRESS CALL
BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S EFFORTS
TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING OF FENTANYL
AND SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS

Via Telephone

 

10:05 A.M. EDT
   
     SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Good morning everyone, and thank you for joining today’s background briefing on the Trump administration’s actions to combat the trafficking of fentanyl and synthetic opioids.  Today’s briefing will be conducted by Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway, Director Carroll of the U.S. Office of Drug Control Policy, and Director Blanco of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.  Opening statements will be on the record.  The Q&A section to follow will be on background, attributable to senior administration officials.  All information is embargoed until the conclusion of the call.

     With that, I’ll turn it over to Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway.

     MS. CONWAY:  Thank you very much.  Good morning everyone, and thank you for joining us and for your interest in this topic.

     We all know the harrowing statistics that attend to the crisis next door -- the opioid and drug crisis that’s roiling every community in this country.  However, recently, we came upon some very positive news.  For the first time since 1970 [1990], drug overdose deaths fell by 5 percent overall.  And in some of the key states that have been particularly hard hit, drug overdose deaths have fallen much more precipitously.

     At the same time, the number of fentanyl-related deaths continue to rise, with nearly 32,000 Americans dying from fentanyl and other synthetic opioids just last year.

     As part of the President’s effort to stop opioid abuse and reduce drug supply and drug demand, the President and the First Lady and other principals have tried to interject into the everyday lexicon the word “fentanyl,” because fentanyl is incredibly lethal in tiny doses.  When it can kill by just a grain, it poses a threat to any handler and intended recipient of a package containing concealed fentanyl, or anyone who may buy a street drug that is laced with fentanyl.

     So for this reason and many others, we’ve made central to our effort to stop the flood of fentanyl unprecedented support for law enforcement and their interdiction efforts.  It’s crucial at our border states, but it’s actually everybody’s business because securing the southern border means we’re stopping the flow of illicit drugs like fentanyl into our kid’s systems and into our communities.

     I’d like to review a couple of the progress points with respect to interdicting the flow of fentanyl into our country ahead of the big announcement we have today.  The Department of Homeland Security seized almost 5,000 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2018.  That’s approximately 1.2 billion -- billion, with a “B” -- lethal doses.  That’s enough to have killed every American four times, in just one year.

     Between the ports of entry, Customs and Border Protection, last year, seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly 90 million Americans.

     In March of last year, the Interior Department created a Tribal Task Force specifically to combat the opioid crisis on tribal lands.  That has been incredibly successful, in that it’s led to over 422 arrests, 175 indictments, and seizure of 4,000-plus pounds of illegal drugs worth $12 million on the street.  That includes over 35,000 fentanyl pills taken out of our tribal land.

     We have brought targeted sanctions against fentanyl traffickers who operate in China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, and throughout Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore.  These targeted sanctions are the product of interdepartmental work combining DOJ, DHS, U.S. Attorneys, intelligence community, and of course our U.S. Treasury efforts to stop the handiwork of drug traffickers.

     By targeting these traffickers with these sanctions, we’re ending their access to U.S.-based financial assets that help them flood communities with fentanyl.

     Last fall, the President signed into law H.R. 6, which was the most comprehensive single piece of legislation on any one drug crisis in our nation’s history.  I’m happy to report and re-report that it was passed with every single Democratic vote, including all the Democrats in the House and Senate at the time who are now running for President.

     And part of H.R. 6 included the STOP Act -- that’s an acronym: S-T-O-P.  The STOP Act empowers our CBP agents with electronic data to track fentanyl packages.  Using this new data, CBP agents increase seizures of fentanyl in our own U.S. mail by over six-fold.

     To build on these efforts, today the Trump administration has a new announcement.  We’re releasing four advisories aimed to help the private sector prevent their supply chains from being hijacked by fentanyl traffickers.  We need private sector partners to work with us to strengthen the supply chains and the means of marketing and advertising against use by transnational organized crime.

Many of these private sector partners obviously are unwitting in their assistance to these transnational organized criminals and fentanyl traffickers.

These advisories cover the manufacturing, marketing, movement, and money related to illicit fentanyl production and trafficking.  These advisories highlight the risks that fentanyl traffickers pose to American firms and their brand's reputation.  They highlight activity patterns that the traffickers tend to use and, on the way, help private sector partners better anticipate and stop fentanyl trafficking.

The 21st century drug traffickers are taking advantage of private sector platforms to profit from peddling addiction.  And today, we're making a big move to help mitigate and eradicate that.

Fentanyl traffickers have become increasingly sophisticated in leveraging otherwise honest elements of our markets against us.  A few examples: They're tapping into our manufacturing supply chains, using the same factories that produce licit chemicals and pharmaceuticals to generate illicit fentanyl.

They are using our own social media and e-commerce sites to push this poison.  One trafficker listed boldly on Craigslist, quote, that they were selling “fentanyl, Chinese."

Fentanyl is a low-volume, high-potency product, so the traffickers are able to pack it into our mail and shipments, sometimes concealing it within other products.  They're using money laundering techniques and the dark web to backstop their illicit activities within our markets.

These illicit activities are hijacking and distorting otherwise legal channels used by Americans and American product manufacturers in our day-to-day lives.

Currently, the Treasury Department is also announcing kingpin designations, a form of sanctions against Chinese fentanyl traffickers to prevent them from using American assets and currency from bankrolling the deadly drug trade.

Last fall at UNGA, President Trump launched a call -- a global call to action for other nations to join our efforts to stop the flood of illicit drugs into our communities.  More than 130 countries have joined President Trump and the United States of America in that effort.  We are working with these nations so that they too bring a comprehensive approach to combatting the scourge and help reduce the flow of drugs to our own country and, frankly, to theirs.

On that note, I would like to turn the call now to Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Jim Carroll, to tell us more about these new advisories.  Director Carroll?

DIRECTOR CARROLL:  Thank you, Kellyanne.

The negative consequences of the trafficking and use of illicit drugs, along with the toll that drug misuse and abuse is taking across America, has endangered too many communities, it has ruined too many families, and it is taken the lives of too many of our fellow citizens.

As the U.S. drug czar, the evidence shows that almost all of the illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids causing American deaths are produced outside of the United States.  The vast majority originate in China, and then are trafficked across the nation's border.  Increasingly, this is through international mail and express consignment carriers.

Our announcement today and the countless other law enforcement actions that are being taken continue to disrupt the flow of these deadly drugs and target their illicit proceeds like never before.

The illicit opioid trade offers a different model of drug trafficking.  The use of online marketplaces, international mail and express consignment, virtual currency payment, small-scale distribution, and the manufacturing of counterfeit pills all enable this new model of 21st century drug trafficking.

Private sector business and platforms are vulnerable to being exploited by these drug trafficking organizations because of the way that they operate.  These businesses can and should be a critical partner in this fight.

At the bottom line, these advisories allow there to be a force multiplier effect by partnering with businesses across the country.  Building a shared understanding with partners in the private sector will shape our response.
Domestic and foreign businesses can take individual measures to protect themselves from inadvertent involvement in the facilitation of trafficking and production.  They can collaborate to help protect their own platforms from being exploited.

ONDCP, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Treasury, the National Security Council, and several interagency partners are unveiling today a series of private sector advisories on illicit fentanyl, as well as other synthetic opioids.

     This is the first of its kind for any administration as the work continues with our government partners and the private sector to confront synthetic opioids.  These fentanyl advisories are focused on all facets of trafficking destined for the United States and are broken down into four targeted areas.

     First, the manufacturing advisory describes the unique characteristics of manufacturing illicit synthetic opioids to assist stakeholders in combatting the scourge of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids into our neighborhoods.

The marketing advisory raises awareness about the marketing and sale of illicit fentanyl via vulnerable and unsuspecting private sector digital platforms, including social media, e-commerce, and online forums.

     The third, the movement advisory, increases awareness about the entities of each stage of the illicit fentanyl supply chain, including information that can help identify and prevent the movement of these drugs into the United States.

     And finally, the money advisory alerts financial institutions to help them detect and report illicit financial schemes and mechanisms relating to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

     Under President Trump, we will hunt down these drug traffickers.  We will stop them from bringing poison into our country and killing our kids.  We will not rest.  We will leave no stone unturned.  And under this administration, we will bring them to justice.

As part of the Trump administration's National Drug Control Strategy, we are committed to disrupting, dismantling, and defeating drug traffickers and their supply chains.  We will continue to interdict the flow of drugs on land and at sea to prevent them from entering the United States.

     Now we are enlisting the support of the private sector in combatting this problem both domestically and internationally.  Make no mistake: We will use every resource at our disposal to find these traffickers.  And once we have them in custody, we will apply the fullest measure of the law.

     While this administration will always be relentless in our efforts to hunt down drug traffickers and bring them to justice, we never forget to help our fellow Americans along the way who are struggling with an addiction.  We must be ruthless on the traffickers, but compassionate to our fellow citizens suffering with the disease of addiction.

     These fentanyl advisories will be available for download via the White House ONDCP fentanyl advisory press release.  Once they are translated into numerous languages, they will be distributed globally.

     The White House would like to thank the leadership of all of the agencies supporting this effort, as it was truly a whole-of-government approach and it demonstrates this administration's commitment to be relentless in attacking this issue head on.  With that, I would like to turn it over to Ken Blanco.
     DIRECTOR BLANCO:  Good morning.  Thank you, Jim.  And thank you all for joining us today as we collectively fight an epidemic that has killed thousands of Americans, devastated families across our nation, and is tearing at the social and economic fabric of many of our communities.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 130 people die every day from this menace.  The Department of Treasury uses its authorities and resources to confront this epidemic and to protect innocent people, families, and our communities.

Let me be clear: The scourge of fentanyl and synthetic opioids threatens the security of our nation.  Its devastating and profound effects on people's lives cannot be overstated.  The accounts of lives lost and families destroyed is heartbreaking.

In light of that, Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network -- FinCEN -- which I lead, took coordinated action today to apply significant pressure against those who manufacture, sell, and distribute fentanyl and synthetic opioids and the chemicals used to make them.  FinCEN issued an official advisory alerting financial institutions of the financial schemes related to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
   
     Today's advisory will help financial institutions detect and report suspicious activity to FinCEN, which we and our domestic foreign law enforcement partners will use to target criminals, conspirators, and networks fueling this epidemic.  We need greater support from financial institutions, which are on the frontlines of the fight against opioid trafficking and other criminal activity.

     We strongly encourage banks and other financial institutions to incorporate our red flags and indicators, and report suspicious activity.  We will continue using all authorities at our disposal to protect our communities and our families and our national security.

     It is about saving lives.  We are working alongside and coordinating with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice on numerous fentanyl investigations across the United States.

We are also working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and other law enforcement agencies on a -- as members of the Joint Criminal Darknet Enforcement Team.  This interagency effort is combatting the trafficking of illicit opioids and related financial crimes over the Darknet.  And we are speaking to U.S. Attorney’s offices from districts across the country to highlight our counter-opioid efforts and determine how we can better assist them.

Combating the fentanyl epidemic requires collaboration beyond our borders, including with our North American counterparts and other foreign jurisdictions.

FinCEN’s analysis indicates individuals located in the United States use their accounts to move funds between domestic and foreign locations, such as Mexico.  This is why we are committed to working with Mexico and why we are, with our counterparts in Canada, frequently partnering together to combat illicit fentanyl trafficking.

The Treasury Department is committed to working with our law enforcement and international partners, as well as the private sector, to end this epidemic of addiction, death, and devastation.

It is imperative that we continue these efforts together so that no more parents can grieve for the loss of a child and no more children can mourn parents killed by this poison.  We must end the tragedy caused by the criminals and their associates profiting off the backs of this epidemic’s many victims.

Kellyanne.

MS. CONWAY:  Thank you so much, Jim and Ken.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you all.  Operator, we will now take some questions.

Q    Hello, this is Toby Capion calling from EWTN. My question: How would you describe the level of cooperation with China?  And how can you hunt down drug traffickers overseas where you have no authorization?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Good morning.  Thank you for the question.  China is becoming the drug dealer of the United States and I think that is a reputation that they do not want.  President Trump has been very direct with President Xi of China and, for the first time in history, secured a commitment by the Chinese government to do class scheduling of fentanyl.

What we are seeing is that they have begun to take the initial steps to crack down on this.  And so we believe that China is moving in the right direction.  We are continuing to -- we will continue to hold them accountable for this because, at the end of the day, we are talking about saving lives in the United States, which is the (inaudible) of this President.

Q    Yeah, my name is Alex Ruoff; I’m with Bloomberg Government.  I was hoping you guys could outline a little bit just how exactly advisories for private companies are going to, you know -- I guess, (inaudible), can you explain sort of how this might turn into better enforcement?  And, can I ask, is -- do advisories often come with sort of a sense of, you know, if you’re following these procedures, you’re kind of above board here?  Is there kind of a discretion of -- is this going to be followed with more enforcement on private companies that are assisting in drug trafficking, whether wittingly or not, if they’re being warned, here?   

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  So, that’s a good question.  So, there are four different advisories here, and these advisories go to private institutions in the private sector so that they can better help us look for these people who are committing crimes, right?

And if you’ll notice, in these advisories, there are red flags; there are tips; there are suggestions that these institutions and these -- and industry can look at to determine who is doing this kind of activity and to be on the lookout for it so they, too, can stop it.

For example, with the money laundering advisory out by FinCEN, what it does is: Financial institutions in the United States and, frankly, across the world, too -- because they're going to look at this -- can tell what people are doing that might otherwise look like innocent activity but, taken together, shows a network of criminal activity that is killing people in the United States.

And they'll take a look at that, they'll use algorithms inside the financial institutions, and they'll use people who are reporting suspicious activity to us here at FinCEN.  We then will take that -- we will then take that information that they have, share it with law enforcement.  Law enforcement will use it as tips so they can begin their investigation and take a look into the individuals who are conducting this activity.  But not only the individuals, the assets that they use too, which is very important -- seizing those assets and stopping them from continuing to use assets that they've gotten through their ill-gotten gain to move more fentanyl and to look at their network.
   
It also -- the financial information they have -- also connects people.  If you'll take a look at it: bank accounts doing business with other bank accounts; people using their phone numbers on the information they give financial institutions, connecting that information together; email; associations; addresses.  All that creates a network so that law enforcement can determine who is doing this, how they're doing it, where they're located, so that we can find them and stop them.  That's what this advisory does to financial institutions.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you.  I just wanted to add to that that we constantly hear from the private sector, "How can we help?"  

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think it's also important to also let them know that these advisories do not create additional regulatory obligations for them in the private sector, but it does give them guides and red flags that they can follow.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  That's right.  I think it’s net-plus for them.  And in not creating additional regulatory obligations or burdens, we actually are just giving them the tools to be more aware that this is happening and that they may be assisting it unwittingly.

But we constantly hear from private sector partners who have been tremendous in helping the government -- our federal government -- with our whole-of-government approach to be great private sector partners in helping us to combat drug abuse overall and the drug supply chain overall.  But this is another answer to the question, "How can we help?  What more can we do?"

And I think no single red flag necessarily indicates suspicious activity, so this allows them the information, again, to talk about money, marketing, manufacturing, and movement -- meaning, redistribution -- to allow them to have a more robust approach to just partnering with us, but also keeping this poison out of consumer's hands.

The drug traffickers and cartels are smart, and they're vicious, and they don't care about our kids.  In fact, the more deaths, the more popular they are, the more financially solvent they become.  And so, for them, they just move on to another drug, to another area, to another system.

But if we can, as we're combatting the use -- combatting the misuse, and the overuse, and the disease of addiction in our country -- we're also combatting the supply chain.  And this has been incredibly important.  Our own law enforcement have done it, and now we’re calling upon the private sector to answer the call as well.

Thank you.

Q    Hi, this is Eric Katz, with GovExec.  Kellyanne mentioned the STOP Act and the role that that has played to help stop the trafficking of synthetic opioids.  I just was wondering -- there was a report out recently from the Inspector General, saying that the Postal Service is falling behind on the deadlines there.  It’s not getting all the electronic data that it’s supposed to get and it’s not setting aside packages that it’s supposed to set aside.

So I’m wondering: A, do you think that the Postal Service still needs to be more -- to hold up its end of the bargain on that?  And, secondly, would you -- is the administration considering adding more Customs and Border Protection personnel to these international mail centers to help sort through the packages that raise red flags?

     SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  At this point, the White House is planning on a delegation to China in about three weeks.  And the Chief of the U.S. Postal Inspector Services will be accompanying the delegation, along -- expected -- the head of CBP.  And so we’ll be leading that there.  The three of us will be going to China to meet directly with our counterparts there to hold them accountable for what they are doing.

The U.S. Postal Inspector Services understands the danger.  They understand the danger not only to their carriers and the people in their facilities, but ultimately to the individuals, the recipients -- and, sometimes, as Kellyanne mentioned, the innocent people that might receive a package unknowingly, unwittingly.  And so that’s why it's important to go.

     But President Trump was right: China needs to do more.  That’s why we're going.  That’s why I'm taking the Chief of USPIS, as well as the head of CBP with me, so we can meet with the Chinese directly and hold them up to their end of this bargain.

     SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  That’s an incredibly important trip that you're leading there.

     The other thing that I would just mention is, if you haven’t caught it before or maybe it's worth rereading, the Washington Post exposé, called "The Fentanyl Failure," from just several months ago.  A truly remarkable, well-reported piece that basically leaves the blame of the exploding fentanyl crisis in this country at the feet of the last administration.

And the reason I mention that is because it's relevant; it comes from a mainstream media report.  But also, it just tells you the mountain that our brave men and women at the Postal Service, at CBP, and other places are just climbing every single day.  If it was ignored for all those years, and now we're tackling it instead of continuing to look the other way while people are dying in our communities, that's going to take a while.  These battleships turn slowly.

And the STOP Act by Senator Portman of Ohio and others had been in existence long before President Trump and the rest of us got here, but nobody ever passed it.  It became part of the 50 different bills on the drug issues.  It became part of H.R. 6 that passed last year, and the STOP Act was central piece of that.

So we -- I think they are doing -- the fact that they -- the fentanyl seizures in the -- the fentanyl interruptions in our U.S. Postal Service have increased six-fold just since the STOP Act was signed into law less than a year ago is truly remarkable.

But it shows you two things.  It shows you, A, the relief you can get just by doing the right thing and signing into law a very simple piece of legislation that was way overdue.  And, B, the daunting gravity of this monumental task that has been ignored for so long.  And I think you'll just continue to see those numbers increase over time.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I'm going to just expand a little bit more on that.  And that really is a great question about CBP.  I mean, what we know is the -- what is going on at the southwest border is just wreaking havoc, in terms of allowing drugs to come across the border as the men and women of CBP who are doing what their moral obligation is, of course -- of helping the people that need help -- but that means they're no longer able to stop the flow of drugs into their -- into this country.

All you have to do is look at the patch that they wear on their uniform and understand that when they took the oath of office, they were trying to protect our border; they were trying to protect our country.  And instead, as we know, so many people are coming in between these ports of entry.  They are diverted from going back and from protecting the (inaudible) to providing assistance to people that are showing up.

So one way to do this is to have a strong southwest border so that the CBP can back to their job of protecting the nation by the example that you gave in the question of being able to interdict more drugs at the U.S. Postal Inspector Services and consignment carrier ports of entry into the U.S.

Q    Hi, thanks for doing the call.  This is Marisa Schultz at the New York Post.  Can you give some examples of who these advisories are targeted at?  You had mentioned the four different areas -- the movement, money, marketing, et cetera.  Are we talking about like FedEx, UPS?  If you could just give some examples of companies in each of those sectors that could benefit from these advisories.  And if you'd like to mention any companies that you guys are working hand in hand with, particularly on this issue, that you'd like to point out as well, that would be helpful.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I can tell you, with respect to the financial institutions -- and, really, all private industry, I think, could benefit from reading these advisories.

The feedback that we're getting, particularly in the financial sector is they want to know what our priorities are.  And we're giving them a huge priority here in how we protect our national security and protect our people.

And so when we're talking about different companies and institutions, there's not one in particular.  They all should -- they all would be advised to read them, because I think that would be helpful in what they do and I think it would be very helpful to law enforcement.  And they've been asking for what our priorities are.

So that is what I think that these advisories do.  And I think that, if you really look at it, these industries all want to help and this helps them help us.

Q    Hi, this is Mike Ludwig with Truthout.  Thanks for having the call.  We heard today that we should be ruthless on traffickers but compassionate to our fellow citizens struggling with addiction.  Just this week, the U.S. District Attorney in Philadelphia was in court trying to block the establishment of a safe consumption site there and local public health officials say that’s crucial for reducing overdose deaths.  Has the administration considered reversing its position on safe consumption sites?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  No.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  No, we have not.  The evidence does not support -- when you look at some of the international cities that have tried this, you see that it does not work.  It is against federal law to have those types of facilities.  And more importantly, it shows that they don’t work.  The referral to treatment from those sites is horrific.  It does not actually get people into court -- excuse me, into treatment.

What we are trying to do is get help to individuals to help them extend their life and become productive members of society.  Under this President, we have 20 percent more people than ever before getting treatment.  We have more resources than ever before going into treatment and prevention.

Most people assume, so incredibly -- and they're so incredibly wrong -- that this administration, the only focus is on law enforcement.  This administration has got more funding than ever, and we spend more money on treatment and prevention than we do on law enforcement.

And the effort that has been -- the President has put into this -- his commitment shows.  He is very open about losing a brother to addiction.  He understands the compassion and the way that we need to reach out and embrace someone that has an addiction.  And how we actually have to get them scientifically-proven methods to get there.  And that’s what we need to look at.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And while we're on the subject of Philadelphia -- close to where I grew up -- I will tell you that it wasn’t very helpful when the mayor there made the decision to not share information with ICE -- because that, of course, includes drug trafficking -- and did a dance, famously, in his office, after he made that announcement.  And the same mayor, who, last week thought that somebody who was shooting up six police officers with a rap sheet the size of me, the response to that is gun control.  So not really in the mood to be lectured by that mayor.

And the fact is that safe injection sites are the response by people who -- before we got here -- are looking the other way and lazily addressing what is a public health emergency, as the President declared less than a year into his first term.

We want people to not move from site to site to inject themselves; we want them in treatment.  That’s why we've invested resources and secured historic funding from Congress in the billions of dollars for medication-assisted therapies; for the IMD 1115 exclusion, so that the -- we're up to like 20, 21 states now that has an exclusion from the 1115.

We got a waiver from the 1115 that used to prevent people from filling the 17th bed and still getting Medicaid reimbursement because it was a long-standing exclusion on not overly institutionalizing people in mental institutions, but it was preventing us from treating people who suffer from the disease of addiction -- that we have these long waiting lists and empty beds.

So this President and his leadership, in this whole-of-government approach, has changed that.  And so I know you're quoting some public health officials, but you need to talk to a whole bunch of others.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Also, I think it's important to note that this administration -- President Trump has put more money towards alternative courts, diversion courts than ever before.  The people that have a low-level conviction or arrest -- no one wants to incarcerate them and certainly no one in this administration (inaudible).

We’re funding diversion courts in greater numbers than ever before.  And we know that they work.  The evidence shows that they work.  And that’s what we have to look at here, and that’s why the President has committed to funding these diversion courts.  We fund so many of them directly here.  And it's a great effort that really works.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you very much.  If there are any follow-up questions, they can be presented to the White House Press Office.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you all.  This will conclude our call.  Again, a reminder that opening statements were on the record and that the Q&A section is on background, attributable to a senior administration official.  Thank you all for joining us this morning.
 

                             END                10:41 A.M. EDT
 

 

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