[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 57 (Wednesday, May 10, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S3792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CAPITOL HILL POLICE FACE A FORCE REDUCTION

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, the Hill just came out today, and the 
headline is ``Capitol Police face loss of 400 in 2001 budget cut.''

       The U.S. Capitol Police force would be reduced by more than 
     400 officers under a bill approved Tuesday by the House 
     Appropriations Committee.

  And then later on there is a quote from John Lucas, chairman of the 
U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee. He says:

       This budget cut comes on the heels of promises to improve 
     Capitol security for members, staff, visitors and the 
     officers who protect this wonderful institution.
       ``Where is the passion of yesterday's promises? What 
     happened to the commitments to the officers who protect you 
     and to their survivors?'' he continued, in an attempt to 
     invoke the concern expressed by Congress shortly after the 
     1998 shootings.

  That was, of course, Officer Chestnut and Agent Gibson. Today, at 
3:30, there will be an appointment of a new police chief. What a way 
for the new police chief to be sworn in.
  I spoke to our Sergeant at Arms, Mr. Ziglar, about this. Senator 
Bennett, Senator Feinstein, with key positions, care deeply about this 
issue. I find this to be, in the years I have been in the Senate, one 
of the most unconscionable decisions that has ever been made.
  I just for the life of me don't get it, albeit I have my own emotion 
on this question, and I have spoken on the floor many times.
  In July, almost 2 years ago, we lost two police officers. We said we 
were going to do everything we could to make sure it would never happen 
again, albeit it could never be 100-percent certain. One of the things 
we certainly were going to make sure of was that there were two 
officers at every one of these posts, because if one deranged person 
shows up--especially if 20 or 30 people are coming through the door. 
Senator Grassley is my neighbor over at the Hart Building. This happens 
at the Hart Building sometimes in the middle of the day. This is just 
simply unacceptable.
  I am telling you that there is an unbelievable amount of bitterness 
right now in the police force over what is happening with this vote. 
They have been making the requests. They have been begging. They have 
been pleading. I think very soon we will start to at least get to the 
point where we have two police officers at these posts because people 
are coming in and then one deranged person might show up sometime. That 
is all you need. Then, God knows what will happen.
  In order to get there, there are one or two things that have to 
happen: More money has to go into overtime; the slack could be taken up 
that way; or more officers have to be hired.
  Now we have a headline that they are going to cut 400.
  This could be one of these sorts of inside games where the House says 
to the Senate: Look, we need to do this to show--whatever. I don't know 
what they are trying to show, frankly. Then you will put it back in. 
You save us on the Senate side.
  I will tell you something. Maybe it is my background in community 
organizing, but my hope is that they get to decide for themselves. This 
is a union. My hope is that the Capitol Hill Police Union will hold a 
press conference. I hope they are there in numbers. I hope they make it 
crystal clear to people who voted for these cuts that they are not 
going to let you play around with their lives: We are not going to let 
you profess such concern for us and our families and then put us in a 
position where we not only cannot protect the public but we cannot 
really protect ourselves, which is absolutely outrageous.
  I do no damage to the truth when I say this on the floor of the 
Senate. As a matter of fact, I initially made the mistake, I say to the 
Senator from California, of listing some of the door posts. I was then 
told by the police to not do that because they worry that you then 
create a security risk. So I don't do that anymore. But I can tell you 
that I observe it all the time. This House vote is just so damaging to 
people's morale. It is not right. It is going to create a dangerous 
situation. It is already not a good situation. But we are going to see 
a lot of people leave this police force. We are. They are going to join 
D.C. police, or go wherever; they are going to leave.
  Hopefully, in the Senate we can be there and inject some sanity into 
this appropriations process.
  But I will tell you one thing. I think this union and these police 
officers should take on this vote. They have been patient. They have 
been patient.
  I think this is just absolutely unconscionable.
  Two years ago, we went through hell. There was such emotion. We made 
this commitment. What a short memory. What a short memory.

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