[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 103 (Wednesday, June 3, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2688-S2690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                PROTESTS

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, for the past week, our Nation has been 
engulfed by protests in dozens of cities over the senseless murder of 
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers. 
Americans are angry, frustrated, and grieving, not just for Mr. Floyd's 
and Ms. Taylor's deaths but for centuries of injustice and brutality 
against African Americans. The instances are too numerous to count. Yet 
these instances of violence keep happening while meaningful reforms 
have not taken place.
  The protests are set against the backdrop of the deadly novel 
coronavirus pandemic. As our country copes with this crisis, African-
American communities have suffered disproportionately high infection 
and death rates. Compounding this tragedy, we are in the midst of an 
economic downturn that rivals the Great Depression, with communities of 
color bearing the brunt of the economic fallout. Millions of hard-
working Americans have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. 
They are struggling to provide for their families, put food on their 
table, and keep a roof over their head.

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  These protests are not isolated. They are taking place in every State 
in the Nation and in many other countries. Protesters are of every race 
and ethnicity and run the gamut in age from high school and college 
students to parents and grandparents. The people participating in these 
protests represent the diversity that is the strength of America.
  The overwhelming majority of these protests are emotional but 
nonviolent. They embrace a fundamental tenant of civil engagement, 
which is the American right and tradition of peacefully protesting to 
make their voices heard and to rectify injustice.
  On the fringes of these peaceful protests, there are opportunists who 
are sowing mistrust and division. Their primary goal is to loot and 
destroy property, that cause chaos that puts innocent lives in harm's 
way. Let me state clearly, theft and looting are a crime. They are 
unacceptable and undermine the powerful message of thousands demanding 
justice and change. They offer an easy way out to those who would 
rather turn away from this challenge of justice and simply indulge in 
their own petty objectives of violence, diversion, and destruction.
  Our Nation is in pain. We need leaders who bring calm, unity, 
empathy, and aid. Instead, our Nation has a President who treats it as 
a field of war. He does not even attempt to bring people together, to 
listen to others, or to accept the reality that leaders in a democracy 
are neither infallible nor omnipotent.
  In a tweet on May 30, President Trump said:

       Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis will never be mistaken for 
     the late, great Douglas McArthur or great fighter General 
     George Patton. . . . Get tough and fight.

  In a call with our Nation's Governors, Secretary of Defense Esper 
said: ``I think the sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, 
the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal.''
  These are American city streets that we are talking about, filled 
with Americans exercising their rights, not battlefields filled with 
the enemy.
  Then, in a statement in the White House Rose Garden on June 1, 
President Trump said: ``If a city or a state refuses to take the 
actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their 
residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly 
solve the problem for them.'' America learned shortly thereafter what 
actions the President was prepared to take. The U.S. Park Police and 
others near Lafayette Park used tear gas, flash-bang grenades, and 
rubber bullets to aggressively push back a peaceful crowd 30 minutes 
before the DC curfew went into effect.

  Why was this assault undertaken? It wasn't to step inside St. John's 
Church and offer a prayer for George Floyd, his family, or the 
countless other Americans who have been victims of police brutality. It 
wasn't to reflect on the pain and division that is rife within our 
country and contemplate what actions he could take to heal our Nation, 
like President Lincoln often did during the Civil War. The President 
crossed a street, aggressively cleared of peaceful protesters for a 
photo op that was meant to say he was strong, and he was in charge. 
Unfortunately, for him, it had the opposite effect.
  President Trump's rhetoric and some of the events that have occurred 
are not ones that many of us ever thought we would see on American 
streets or hear from an American President. They are the words and 
actions that happen in authoritarian states, words and actions that 
past American Presidents have condemned. They are words and actions 
that violate the democratic norms our Nation has stood for and American 
servicemembers have died for.
  While the President does have the authority to call up military 
personnel under the Insurrection Act, it does not mean he should. It 
was last invoked in 1992 when California Governor Pete Wilson requested 
Federal military assistance from President George Herbert Walker Bush 
to respond to the L.A. riots following the acquittal of police officers 
for the beating of Rodney King. Before that instance, the act was 
invoked in the 1950s and 1960s to enforce civil rights laws and end 
segregation in the South.
  The Insurrection Act serves as an exception to posse comitatus and to 
the broad principle embedded deeply in American democracy and history 
that the Active Armed Forces should not be used to enforce State laws 
or to exercise police power reserved to the States unless absolutely 
necessary as a last resort. The act is, by design and tradition, rarely 
invoked.
  The Insurrection Act envisions that, when Active military forces are 
used to supplement State police forces to enforce State laws, they do 
so only at the request of the Governor or legislature, which is 
ultimately responsible for the execution of the laws within the States. 
In the present moment, I am not aware of any Governor or legislature 
calling for the Federal Government to step in and take control. Put 
simply, if they need help, I have no doubt they will ask for it.
  The President's ability to invoke the Insurrection Act without the 
Governor or State legislature requesting assistance rests on the need 
to enforce or protect Federal law, which is not the case here. If 
President Trump were to invoke the Insurrection Act today, absent a 
request from a State, it would only be to further his own political 
interests. He would be using Active military forces as a political and 
propaganda tool in contravention of everything our military stands for.
  Using the Insurrection Act on a whim risks politicizing the military. 
The military's mission is to defend and serve the Constitution and the 
American people regardless of who is in office. Bringing the military 
into domestic politics risks a rupture in the sacred trust between the 
civilian and military leadership and undermines fundamental American 
values.
  As former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff GEN Martin Dempsey 
stated shortly after the 2016 Presidential conventions, ``If senior 
military leaders--active and retired--begin to self-identify as members 
or supporters of one party or another, then the inherent tension built 
into our system of government between the executive branch and the 
legislative branch will bleed over into suspicion of military leaders 
by Congress and a further erosion of civil-military relations.''
  Over the last few years, that erosion has increased steadily as 
recent events have made eminently clear. This erosion is a toxic force 
that will undermine one of the most essential ethics of the American 
military. Soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and coastguardsmen serve 
the Constitution, not the President. That is the oath many of us took 
as young men and women. That is the oath that defines the military of 
the United States, unlike many other countries, fortunately, for us.
  According to press reports, Secretary of Defense Esper told senior 
military leaders to ``stay apolitical during these turbulent days,'' 
but I would urge Secretary Esper to heed his own advice. Traditionally, 
the Secretary of Defense, while a Cabinet member and appointed by the 
President, has taken a nonpolitical stand--staying away from campaign 
events and avoiding even the potential of a political photo op. As 
General Milley discovered Monday evening, once the civilian leader of 
the military joins the political fray, it is difficult for the military 
to stay neutral.
  Our Nation is in crisis, but it is not a crisis that can or should be 
solved by American military force against its own citizens. I think, if 
you ask any young man or woman who took the oath to join the forces of 
the United States--whatever branch--was he or she doing it to go fight 
Americans, they would answer no. He or she is doing everything they can 
to protect Americans, to protect the system of government, and, 
ultimately, the Constitution. That is the oath we take.
  The strength of this Nation and of the great American experiment in 
representative democracy goes far beyond our military strength. It goes 
to our civil traditions, our Constitution, our sense of civic 
responsibility, and our ability to constantly evolve and improve 
ourselves even from our earliest days stained with slavery. We need 
leaders who will listen and commit to change and then implement that 
change. We need leaders who will not exacerbate the problem but will 
seek to solve it and bring people together as our greatest Presidents 
have done throughout history. In short, we need leaders who are 
builders, not destroyers, and until those leaders emerge, I

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am afraid the tumult will continue. It is my fervent hope that this 
Nation finds a way to peace soon.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cramer). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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