Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Grassley, and distinguished Members of the Committee: I am honored to be here today as President Biden’s nominee to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs – and I want to thank Senator Durbin for the generous introduction.
I also want to thank my family for their love and support – always, and certainly throughout this process. I am joined today by my wonderful husband, Michael, and my awesome 13-year-old daughter, Eva. My sons, Gabriel and Josh, couldn’t miss their college classes at the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan, but I know they are cheering me on.
My parents, Janet and David Lefkowitz, are watching from North Carolina. I am beyond grateful for their unconditional love and support. My mom is my biggest cheerleader – she tries to keep up with every development in the field. I am just so relieved that she didn’t submit a letter for the record or bake brownies for the committee.
I also want to recognize my brother David, my father-in-law Stuart and his partner Elissa, my late mother-in-law Judy, my sisters and brothers in law, nieces, nephews, and cousins. I am so very fortunate to have the love and support of a close family.
I also want to acknowledge my beloved work family. I have been working on criminal justice issues for more than 30 years and am so lucky to have had amazing role models and mentors, including Frank Hartmann, Jeremy Travis, and Laurie Robinson and Karol Mason – who were both Assistant Attorneys General at OJP. These individuals taught me, thru their example, to aim high, keep eyes on the prize, follow the data, and always do what is right.
The career team at OJP is an important part of my work family too, and I have such admiration for my colleagues at the Department. I have worked at OJP 3 times over the last 25 years, in both career and appointed positions. The first time was in the 1990s at the National Institute of Justice. I was a junior staffer in a windowless cubicle… and I loved every minute of it. In those early days I learned that government could be creative, rigorous, and dogged about finding solutions to help our communities, as we tackled historically high rates of violent crime and pioneered some of the earliest national reentry efforts.
My second stint was during the Obama Administration, when I served as executive director of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a cabinet-level body that focused on bipartisan and common-sense ways to improve the odds of successful reentry after prison and jail.
Then in May 2021, I was called back to the Department as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, where I have been fortunate to be part of an outstanding team of public service professionals.
In addition to my time at DOJ, I’ve spent 17 years working in nonprofit, think tank, and philanthropic settings, as well as a year as a VISTA Volunteer at the Vermont Department of Corrections, which set me down this path in the first place. Over the years, I have worked on corrections reform and prisoner reentry, juvenile justice and efforts to reduce violent crime. I have worked with law enforcement and corrections officials, victims’ advocates, the research community, and people with lived experience. I have always worked with stakeholders and policymakers on both sides of the aisle, and more often than not, we’ve found common ground and shared goals, as we all seek a country with safe neighborhoods and where our children can lead full and joyful lives.
The through line here is an earnest commitment to bi-partisan and evidence-based solutions, and a focus on moving the dial on outcomes that really matter to people.
Since I’ve been back at OJP, I have focused on being a good steward of federal dollars; raising morale and bolstering the dedicated career staff; leveraging our resources to help jurisdictions keep their communities safe; and investing in research and data to inform practice and policy. I set a high bar and have very high expectations of the team and myself. I try to bring out the best in people, but also hold us all to account. I see so much potential in OJP – to serve as a think tank for the Department and an engine of innovation for the field. And always with a north star of safe and just communities.
I thank you for considering my nomination, and I look forward to your questions.
###