Chapter 10 What Agency Am I?

I am an independent judicial agency that establishes sentencing policies and practices for the federal courts, including guidelines prescribing the appropriate form and severity of punishment for offenders convicted of federal crimes. I also advise and assist Congress and the executive branch in developing effective and efficient crime policy and collecting, analyzing, researching, and distributing information on federal crime and sentencing issues.

Part of the Commerce Department, I advance national security, foreign policy, and economic interests. I regulate the export of sensitive goods and technologies; enforce export control, anti-boycott, and public safety laws; assist other countries on export control and strategic trade issues; assist U.S. industry in complying with international arms control agreements; and monitor the viability of the U.S. defense industrial base, ensuring that it is capable of satisfying U.S. national and homeland security needs.

I am a Department of the Interior police agency that protects public safety and resources across 264 million acres of public land. I protect cultural and historical sites from vandalism; eradicate drug-manufacturing laboratories and marijuana fields; ensure the humane treatment of wild horses and burros; guard against the dumping of hazardous wastes and other pollutants; and prevent the theft and damage of timber, rare cactus plants, minerals, and other valuable publicly owned resources.