[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 103 (Wednesday, June 3, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2672-S2674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Protests

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Monday, President Trump stood in the Rose 
Garden and called for the use of military force against individuals who 
have been gathering across the country protesting racism and police 
brutality against Black Americans. This historic call for empowering 
the Commander in Chief to militarize law enforcement in our Nation 
pushes this President's reach for new Executive authority to the most 
extreme level.
  This follows the President's tweets since last week, threatening to 
turn ``vicious dogs''--his words--on protesters outside the White House 
and quoting the racist phrase from the 1967 Miami police chief, 
stating: ``When the looting starts, the shooting starts,'' bringing to 
mind, sadly, for many, shameful moments in our Nation's struggle for 
civil rights.
  President Trump said nothing to address the anguish felt by many in 
this country, particularly people of color, and instead called on 
Governors to ``dominate the streets,'' as though the Americans, who 
peacefully exercise their right to protest, are an enemy force.
  Initially, Defense Secretary Esper went even further when he referred 
to cities as a ``battlespace.'' I am heartened by the fact that he has 
made it clear that he does not support the President's suggestion of 
militarizing the police forces and police across America. These calls 
by the President to militarize cities across America ignore that for 
far too long he urged law enforcement to ``dominate,'' as the President 
often says, rather than to protect and serve, which is exactly what is 
contributing to the challenge we face today.
  The other night, minutes before Mayor Bowser's 7 p.m. curfew came 
into effect, the President used law enforcement personnel to use tear 
gas and rubber bullets on peaceful demonstrators in LaFayette Square 
across the street from the White House. They even beat these peaceful 
demonstrators with batons and shields. There are conflicting reports as 
to whether the National Guard participated in the violence. I have made 
a direct inquiry to the Department of Defense, and they have denied it.
  According to press reports, the assault began with law enforcement 
kneeling, not to express any solidarity

[[Page S2673]]

with any racism efforts as we have seen some police officers do across 
the country; instead, they were kneeling to put on gas masks to protect 
themselves from the weapons they were readying to fire.
  As soon as this gathering was dispersed, the President marched across 
LaFayette Square to St. John's Episcopal Church. The Attorney General, 
the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
all followed--only the battle that they were witnessing was against 
Americans using their voices to stop racism who got in the way of a 
Presidential photo opportunity.
  I simply cannot understand what the President and each of these 
senior officials were thinking, if they were consciously deciding to be 
part of this by taking a stroll in the aftermath of the violence in 
Lafayette Square and whether they approved of that treatment of their 
fellow Americans.
  The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, DC, 
said she was not even given a courtesy call by the White House ahead of 
the President's action. In fact, the bishop was outraged by the use of 
physical force and tear gas in the shadow of her church to remove 
peaceful protesters so that the church and the Bible could be used for 
some photo opportunity.
  President Trump has ``not acknowledged the agony of our country right 
now,'' she said in an interview. ``Everything he has said and done is 
to inflame violence.''
  President Trump's actions violate the sanctity of our First Amendment 
freedoms and represent an abuse of his authority. We know this 
President well after more than 3 years. As shocking as Monday night's 
events were, they represent through and through who this President 
really is. It is wrong.
  The American people will have the last word in November, but I am 
encouraged to see that in my home State of Illinois officials have 
rejected the use of military force and are committed to American's 
right to protest. Governor Pritzker said the President's call to send 
troops to Illinois is ``illegal'' and ``ridiculous.'' Chicago Mayor 
Lightfoot has called to ``turn our pain into purpose'' and to ``learn 
from this moment and move forward together.''
  In my hometown of Springfield, IL, on Tuesday, three high school 
students, young African-American women, sponsored a Black Lives Matter 
rally, and 1,000 people in Springfield, IL, gathered peacefully to 
demonstrate against racism in law enforcement. No windows were broken. 
No one was arrested. They exercised their constitutional rights, and I 
am damn proud of them. They speak for me and for America; that we still 
have the right to stand up and express ourselves, and they did so 
effectively.
  Right now those around the President should look themselves in the 
mirror and ask whose agenda they are serving and whether it is the 
right agenda for America. The collective leadership of our military, 
civilian and uniformed alike, needs to decide what kind of leaders they 
want to be for the men and women in uniform they command and what 
legacy they want to be associated with. Monday night was not the legacy 
this country deserves.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Washington Post 
article and the statements of the Episcopal bishop of Washington be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       [From the Washington Post]

 Episcopal Bishop on President Trump: `Everything He Has Said and Done 
                        Is To Inflame Violence'

            (By Michelle Boorstein and Sarah Pulliam Bailey)

       The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of 
     Washington, was seething.
       President Trump had just visited St. John's Episcopal 
     Church, which sits across from the White House. It was a day 
     after a fire was set in the basement of the historic building 
     amid protests over the death of George Floyd in the custody 
     of Minneapolis police.
       Before heading to the church, where presidents have 
     worshiped since the days of James Madison, Trump gave a 
     speech at the White House emphasizing the importance of law 
     and order. Federal officers then used force to clear a large 
     crowd of peaceful demonstrators from the street between the 
     White House and the church, apparently so Trump could make 
     the visit.
       ``I am outraged,'' Budde said in a telephone interview a 
     short time later, pausing between words to emphasize her 
     anger as her voice slightly trembled.
       She said she had not been given any notice that Trump would 
     be visiting the church and did not approve of the manner in 
     which the area was secured for his appearance.
       ``I am the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington 
     and was not given even a courtesy call, that they would be 
     clearing [the area] with tear gas so they could use one of 
     our churches as a prop,'' Budde said.
       She excoriated the president for standing in front of the 
     church--its windows boarded up with plywood--holding up a 
     Bible, which Budde said ``declares that God is love.''
       ``Everything he has said and done is to inflame violence,'' 
     Budde of the president. ``We need moral leadership, and he's 
     done everything to divide us.''
       In a written statement, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, 
     head of the Episcopal denomination, accused Trump of using 
     ``a church building and the Holy Bible for partisan political 
     purposes.''
       ``This was done in a time of deep hurt and pain in our 
     country, and his action did nothing to help us or to heal 
     us,'' Curry wrote.
       ``The prophet Micah taught that the Lord requires us to `do 
     justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God,' '' he 
     continued, calling on Trump and others in power to be moral. 
     ``For the sake of George Floyd, for all who have wrongly 
     suffered, and for the sake of us all, we need leaders to 
     help us to be `one nation, under God, with liberty and 
     justice for all.' ''
       Budde and Curry are among the pantheon of progressive 
     religious leaders who have long been critical of Trump's 
     political agenda. The Episcopal Church's policies include 
     supporting abortion rights, refugee resettlement, an 
     expansion of health care and other issues that Trump has 
     opposed or not embraced. According to the Pew Research 
     Center, 49 percent of Episcopalians are Democrats or lean 
     Democratic, compared with 39 percent of church members who 
     are Republican or lean Republican.
       Trump's longtime religious allies, who are far more 
     conservative on both domestic and foreign policy, saw his 
     walk to St. John's much differently. ``What kind of church I 
     need PERMISSION to attend,'' tweeted Pastor Mark Burns of 
     South Carolina after Budde and others said Trump should have 
     let them know he was coming. ``Jesus welcomes All.''
       Johnnie Moore, a spokesman for several of Trump's 
     evangelical religious advisers, tweeted favorably about the 
     incident as well.
       ``I will never forget seeing @POTUS @realDonaldTrump slowly 
     & in-total-command walk from the @WhiteHouse across Lafayette 
     Square to St. John's Church defying those who aim to derail 
     our national healing by spreading fear, hate & anarchy,'' he 
     wrote. ``After just saying, `I will keep you safe.' ''
       Trump did not enter St. John's on Monday evening. No one 
     associated with the church was present for his visit.
       Andrew Whitehead, a sociologist at Clemson University who 
     studies Christian nationalism, said the president's 
     appearance was an attempt to promote the idea of America as a 
     distinctly Christian nation after his Rose Garden speech.
       ``Going to the church, not going in it, not meeting with 
     any clergy, holding up a Bible, but not quoting any 
     scripture, after an authoritarian speech, was about using the 
     religious symbolism for his ends,'' Whitehead said.
       ``It was a signal to the people that embrace the idea of a 
     Christian nation, that he will defend Christianity in the 
     public sphere,'' Whitehead said. ``He said he'll make America 
     safe. That raised the question, for whom? It's largely for 
     white, mostly Protestant America.''
       Budde--who spent 18 years in as a rector in Minneapolis 
     before being elected bishop of the Washington diocese--said 
     the Episcopal Church disassociates itself from the messages 
     offered by the president.
       ``We hold the teachings of our sacred texts to be so so 
     grounding to our lives and everything we do,'' she said. ``It 
     is about love of neighbor and sacrificial love and justice.''
       Following a tradition set by President Franklin D. 
     Roosevelt, Trump attended a service at St. John's before his 
     swearing-in ceremony in 2017. He visited the church again 
     that year to mark a national day of prayer for victims of 
     Hurricane Harvey and in 2019 on St. Patrick's Day.
       Budde said she learned he was headed back to the yellow, 
     19th-century building on Monday by watching the news.
       ``No one knew this was happening,'' she said. ``I don't 
     want President Trump speaking for St. John's.''
       The Rev. Robert W. Fisher, the church rector, said he felt 
     blindsided by the visit. Usually, the White House gives the 
     church at least 30 minutes' notice before the president comes 
     by.
       ``We want St. John's to be a space for grace, as a place 
     where you can breathe,'' he said. ``Being used as a prop, it 
     really takes away from what we're trying to do.''
       Earlier in the day, Fisher said, he and other clergy were 
     outside the church handing out water bottles and granola bars 
     to protesters, and expressing solidarity with their cause. He 
     said he left the area to be interviewed on television about 
     the damage from the fire the previous night and later watched 
     images of the protest being dismantled ``with disbelief.''
       Fisher, 44, became the rector of St. John's in June 2019 
     and has not yet hosted a presidential visit. The church 
     usually draws

[[Page S2674]]

     about 400 people on a typical weekend. But it has been closed 
     since mid-March due to the broad shutdown restrictions in 
     place to combat the novel coronavirus.
       Damage to the building from Sunday night's fire and 
     vandalism will cost at least $20,000, Fisher said. But he 
     said the destruction should not become the focus of what has 
     been happening in the streets outside the White House.
       Fisher said that when people have talked about the church 
     being burned, he has tried to redirect them, saying it was 
     likely one person who does not represent the majority of 
     people protesting.
       ``That has pulled away from the more important message that 
     we have to address racism in this country,'' he said.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.