cipal areas in which organized crime is involved are: gambling, loan sharking, narcotics traffic, extortion, labor racketeering, and the corruption of public officials.

The mainstay of organized crime in America is gambling. Revenues from illegal gambling alone, as you know, have been estimated to net the Cosa Nostra from $7 to $50 billion per year. It is the tremendous sums of money obtained from gambling which serve to underwrite the activities of organized crime in all other areas of its activity. Authorities differ as to whether the syndicate's second greatest source of illegal income is from loan sharking or its traffic in narcotics. The Intelligence Bureau of the Internal Revenue Service estimates the yield from each of these activities to be approximately $350 million per year. In the experience of our membership, traffic in narcotics is the more dangerous since a great portion of the violent crime in our larger cities is attributable to drug addicts attempting to meet the ever increasing costs of their habits. Extortion and labor racketeering are closely aligned. In both cases, violence or the threat of violence is used by organized crime to coerce law abiding citizens to pay tribute to the syndicate. Finally, the large sums of money which flow into the coffers of the Cosa Nostra are used for the corruption of public officials, without which many of the other illegal activities could not flourish.

In the face of such widespread and well-organized criminal activities, it is astounding that this Government has tolerated this situation for so long. Perhaps the greatest reason organized crime has not been checked in America is a lack of commitment on the part of all concerned. As stated by the President's Crime Commission:

Investigation and prosecution of organized criminal groups in the 20th century has seldom proceeded on a continuous, institutional basis. Public interest and demands for action have reached high levels sporadically; but, until recently, spurts of concentrated law enforcement activity have been followed by decreasing interest and application of resources.o

In the view of the association, the time for an all-out assault on the forces of organized crime in America is long overdue. On behalf of the association I would like to urge the subcommittee to make a firm, unequivocal commitment to stamp out organized crime in America.

Last year the Congress enacted the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The association actively supported that legislation and applauded its enactment. Nevertheless, there remains a great deal to be done if we are to begin winning the war against organized crime.

Obviouslly, most importantly, the budgets of the various Federal agencies and departments charged with responsibility in combating organized crime must be increased substantially.

While law enforcement is primarily the responsibility of State and local governments, the Federal Government can serve as a moving force and focal point for the war against organized crime. However, in order for it to do so, funds available to the principal crime fighting agencies and departments of the Federal Government must be aug.

3 Ibid.

Compare H. Rept. 1574 at 4 with the President's Crime Commission at 3 and American Bar Association Project on Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, "Electronic Surveillance," at 36 (1968).

mented substantially. In particular, I am referring to the Department of Justice's organized crime and racketeering section, the various U.S. attorneys offices affected, investigators from the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the Bureau of Customs, the U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Labor and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These are the agencies which are involved in the imaginative "strike force" concept being employed very effectively by the Justice Department at the present time. Headway against organized crime is beginning to be made; but more funds must be committed to provide the additional manpower, training, research and development that is necessary for the elimination of organized crime in this country. I urge the members of this honorable subcommittee to use their influence in the support of legislation to provide the additional funds needed.

In the view of the association, there are other areas of legislation which well deserve the support of this subcommittee. The measures to which I refer are detailed below.

The association strongly supports the many provisions of S. 30, the "Organized Crime Control Act of 1969," which was introduced by the honorable chairman of this subcommittee on January 15, 1969, and was at that time cosponsored by the honorable Senators Hruska and Ervin. We note with pleasure that this bill has now received the support of a number of other Senators.

As investigators, our members have found, of course, that cases against those involved in organized crime cannot be made without witnesses. Because of the ever present threat of violence, persons who are willing to testify against members of the Cosa Nostra are few and far between.

The distinguished chairman of this subcommittee addressed himself to this point on Tuesday, March 11, 1969, when he stated:

[W]itnesses in organized crime cases simply do not volunteer to testify or to ture over relevant books and records. Attorney General Nicholas deB. Katzenbach testified in 1965 that, even after the cases had been developed, it was necessary to forego prosecution hundreds of times because key witnesses would not testify for fear of being murdered. Indeed, the Attorney General indicated that such fear was not unjustified; he testified that the Department lost more than 25 informants in the period of time between 1961 and 1965.

Thus we heartily support the provisions of title VI of S. 30 which would authorize the Attorney General to provide secure housing facilities for Government witnesses in organized crime investigations and prosecutions on both the State and Federal levels. We assume that the provisions of title VI are sufficiently flexible to protect Government witnesses against the multitude of harms which might befall them. I note that we have some trouble with the word "facilities," in that we do not contemplate nor anticipate the need for the creation of Federal encampments for witnesses. In the past, Federal law enforcement officials have been able to protect the witnesses involved in organized crime cases quite adequately. The fact that we have not been able to protect all such witnesses stems primarily from the lack of sufficient funds to do so. If sufficient funds are made available to this important task, we believe that the Federal Government has sufficient initiative

Speech of the Honorable Senator John L. McClellan, "Organized Crime in the United States," Congressional Record, March 11, 1969.

to develop means to provide protection to all of those who have the courage to come forward to testify against members of the syndicate. In 1968, the President's Crime Commission recommended enactment of a general witness immunity statute sufficiently broad to insure compulsion of testimony at both Federal and State levels. As investigators. we regard enactment of such a provision as indispensable to any concerted effort against organized crime. Accordingly, we support the provisions of title II dealing with such immunity.

Similarly, the provisions of title III concerning the court's ability to punish for contempt when a witness refuses to testify and of title IV eliminating the rigid two-witness and direct-evidence rules in certain prosecutions would be of great assistance to us in our efforts to obtain witnesses against organized crime, and we strongly urge enactment of such provisions.

Title VII, with one clarifying exception, merely codifies the existing law with regard to the admissability of the revelations of one coconspirator against a fellow coconspirator. Insofar as title VII makes clear to the Supreme Court the determination of the legislative and executive branches to utilize the conspiracy concept against the Cosa Nostra, we favor its enactment.

I return now to the provision of title I, concerning the grand jury. As investigators, we have found the grand jury to be an invaluable tool in the fight against organized crime. Nevertheless, the grand jury must be strengthened and must be given the flexibility required to maximize its effectiveness against the type of continuing criminal activity which is associated with the Cosa Nostra. In our view, the provisions of title I permitting the grand jury to be called into session in each jurisdiction once every 18 months with the right, at 6-month intervals, to extend its existence up to 36 months, is a significant step forward. We also applaud the provision granting the grand jury the right to make formal reports or presentments to the court, which we believe will prove useful in providing the public with the "whole picture" regarding the activities of organized crime within the jurisdiction. Adequate safeguards will, of course, be needed to guarantee that such reports do not become vehicles for the slandering of innocent persons. We feel confident that such safeguards will be included and therefore strongly endorse the provisions of title I.

In summary, we applaud the provisions of S. 30 as a significant step forward in the war against organized crime in America. We strongly urge that it be given serious consideration and that it be promptly enacted.

There are a number of other legislative proposals in support of which the association would like to testify.

It is our understanding that legislation will soon be introduced to rehabilitate the wagering tax laws which were destroyed in the Marchetti and Grosso cases. The wagering tax statutes were a vital weapon and must be returned to the all too limited arsenal of those waging the war against organized crime. Consequently, we recommend that such legislation be given serious consideration by this subcommittee.

8 Marchetti v. United States, 350 U.S. 39 (1968). Grosso v. United States, 390 U.S. 62 (1968).

Other bills which, we believe, deserve the careful consideration of this subcommittee are S. 974, S. 975, and S. 976 introduced on February 7, 1969, by the honorable Senator Joseph Tydings. The first of these measures, S. 974, would elevate the organized crime and racketeering section of the Department of Justice to division level by creating the position of Assistant Attorney General for Organized Crime, S. 975, which would compel testimony in certain cases, and S. 976, which would provide increased sentences in certain cases where a felony is committed as part of a continuing criminal activity in concert with one or more other persons are also, in the association's view, deserving of this subcommittee's careful consideration.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes the association's presentation with regard to legislative matters within the jurisdiction of this subcommittee. Before concluding my statement, however, I would like to address myself to one additional point, which we believe to be of exceptional importance in determining the success or failure of our war against organized crime. In large measure, the success of such a war depends upon the ability, training, and experience of those who undertake it. Accordingly, this association has been and continues to be vitally interested in upgrading the quality of the Federal investigator. One way we believe this can be done is by obtaining recognition of the Federal investigator as a professional within the structure of the U.S. Civil Service. Accordingly, we are now cooperating with the Civil Service Commission in an attempt to develop uniform standards for the hiring, training, supervision, and professional recognition of the investigators employed by the various departments and agencies of the Federal Government. In granting professional status and recognition to the Federal investigator, we would be paying a welldeserved tribute to the men and women who have dedicated their lives to this area of public service. By so doing we would also encourage the recruitment of the highly qualified individuals needed to enter this challenging occupation.

Once again, on behalf of the Association of Federal Investigators, I would like to thank this distinguished subcommittee for permitting me to appear to testify today.

Senator MCCLELLAN. Thank you, sir.

Are there any questions, counsel ?

Mr. BLAKEY. No.

Senator MCCLELLAN. Well, thank you very much. We appreciate your support of this legislation and your comments regarding other measures now pending before this committee, some of which will be considered along with S. 30. Some of them may very well be added to this bill as additional items.

Thank you very much.

The committee will stand adjourned.

(Whereupon, at 1 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.)