Meanwhile, Mary Batchelor, executive director of Principle Voices, an advocacy organization for polygamous families, said the group is "frustrated" with Reid. "We feel he is not well-informed."

He should distinguish better between groups where abuse has occurred, she said, and those where it has not.

"Reid's bill and his anti-polygamy efforts are not focused on crimes but on a family arrangement," said an information packet Batchelor was distributing in the hallway outside the packed hearing room.

Some federal officials also said the coordinated effort that Reid wants already is occurring. But other officials — and some former polygamists — seconded Reid's call for better federal-state coordination.

U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman testified that Reid's proposed task force is likely not needed. "Utah has a proud history of a coordinated state and federal response."

About Reid's proposal, Tolman said, "I believe that there is already substantial communication and coordination among federal, state and local offices; indeed, just as much as there would be were a formal task force in place."

Tolman said Reid's proposed task force "may be too blunt an instrument to accomplish an effective investigation and subtler and more covert methods may be more profitably employed."

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard testified that efforts by him and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff have been closely coordinated, and they have worked to build trust among polygamous groups and provide a safety net for victims. He said that led to the conviction in Utah of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs for rape as an accomplice.

He said their efforts have provided legal assistance, housing, counseling, education and other support to 1,200 people in the polygamous towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. "Child abuse reports have also increased dramatically in the region as a result of our outreach," he said.

Goddard, however, favored greater cooperation with federal agencies and said that had sometimes been slow in coming.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott praised the idea of greater federal involvement, which he said should help minimize "the possibility that persons will simply move their operations to another location" when one state begins prosecution. He said the FLDS move to Texas came as pressure increased in Utah and Arizona.

Also, he said greater federal involvement would help ensure that groups such as the FLDS do not seize civil control in small, remote areas to ensure local officials look the other way when crimes occur, which he said they may have done for decades in Hildale and Colorado City.