Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: FBI Director James Comey provided members of Congress with insight into the criminal and national security threats facing America and why his agency needs additional resources to address them.

Pledging that the FBI is a good steward of taxpayer dollars, Director Comey says budget enhancements for fiscal year 2017 would close gaps in operational capabilities in nine programs involving cyber criminals, spies, and more.

Mr. Comey took questions from lawmakers ranging in matters from a new FBI Headquarters, the encryption discourse, to the current ISIL threat.

James Comey: The number of investigations we have into people who are in some spectrum from consuming ISIL’s poison to acting on it has continued to slowly rise. We have about 1,000 now in the United States.

Halpern: The FBI is also asking for additional support for conducting background checks for Americans who want to purchase firearms.

Comey: We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of transactions we have to process. That's put great strain on our folks. They are working like crazy to make sure they meet that obligation to ensure that bad people don’t get guns, but we’ve got to get them help.

Halpern: To read Director Comey’s full statement, visit www.fbi.gov. With FBI, This Week, I’m Mollie Halpern of the Bureau.

Related information:

-News Blog: Director Comey Briefs Congressional Subcommittee on Key Threats and Challenges
-Director Comey's full statement