[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 105 (Monday, June 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2747-S2748]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                PROTESTS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, all across our Nation, the past few 
days have seemed to mark a turn for the better.
  On Friday morning, new data showed that the economic fallout from 
this pandemic may have bottomed out and begun to turn around weeks 
earlier than had been predicted. Instead of losing millions more jobs 
in the month of May, our Nation had already begun adding back millions 
of jobs. Lockdowns are easing, and businesses are reopening. The 
greatest country in world history is coming back online, and our 
citizens are getting their jobs back by the millions.
  Now, there is no question our national comeback is just beginning. 
The coronavirus is still with us. We have a long way to go to rebuild 
and recover from the historic layoffs of this spring, but already, even 
in these early days of our careful reopening, the American people are 
trouncing the predictions and starting to come back strong.
  What is more, this weekend saw millions of Americans, once again, 
take to the streets and town squares to protest the deaths of George 
Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans at the hands of law 
enforcement. Yet, unlike what our Nation faced about a week ago, this 
weekend's demonstrations seemed to have been almost entirely peaceful--
no more rampant looting, no more police precincts set on fire. By and 
large, there had been just peaceful protests in our great American 
tradition.
  In my home State of Kentucky, in Louisville, just like around the 
Nation, hundreds gathered to remember Breonna Taylor on what would have 
been her 27th birthday and to continue to call for answers. In 
Lexington, a moment of silence was held at an historic former slave 
market. Then a group marched to police headquarters. Police officers, 
including the chief, came out and met them in civil discourse. And, 
while a lot of ink has been spilled recently about our big cities, we 
cannot miss that this moment is echoing throughout smalltown America as 
well.
  In Henderson, in western Kentucky, 200 people--protesters, law 
enforcement, and local leaders alike--gathered for an interfaith prayer 
vigil. In southeastern Kentucky, in Corbin, more than 100 gathered for 
a peaceful demonstration that included a prayerful moment of silence. 
The police officers keeping watch joined in. In Hazard, a town of about 
5,000 people in eastern Kentucky, citizens gathered for what they 
called a ``march of love.'' It was the same story in Benton, in 
Danville, in Morehead--all around the Commonwealth and all around the 
country. Our

[[Page S2748]]

country has remembered that peace and protest can and must coexist.
  The vast majority of the men and women in law enforcement across our 
country are not evil, are not racist, do not wake up every morning 
looking for violence. We are reminded of their bravery every time a 
citizen needs to dial 9-1-1, and they rush toward danger. We were all 
reminded again this past weekend, as these professionals bravely kept 
watch over demonstrations, including ones where they themselves had 
been called racist or evil or were denigrated in the worst ways because 
of their uniforms and their badges.
  So, if peaceful protesters rightly do not want to be lumped in with a 
subset of looters and rioters who seek destruction, then the vast 
majority of brave police officers cannot be lumped in with the very 
worst examples of heinous behavior. It is that simple. But, instead, we 
are already seeing outlandish calls to defund the police or to abolish 
the police take root within the leftwing leadership class. The 
president of the City Council in Minneapolis has proclaimed she can 
``imagine a future without police.'' One of her fellow council members 
put it even more clearly: ``This council is going to dismantle this 
police department.''
  To be clear as to what this effort is about, one of the local groups 
informing this push in Minnesota has literally stated that arts 
programs and mental health resources will be more effective at stopping 
crime than will be armed cops. Instead of ``strangers armed with 
guns,'' they say other professionals like social workers should be the 
ones to ``respond to crises in our community.''
  I am all for social work and mental health, but call me old-
fashioned--I think you may actually want a police officer to stop a 
criminal and arrest him before we try to work through his feelings.
  Well, even if some leftwing leaders fall for this nonsense, I have a 
feeling the American people are too smart for that. They know that what 
happened to George Floyd was totally abhorrent. They also know that 
riots and looting are unacceptable. They also know that well-trained 
law enforcement officers are an important part of creating safe 
communities, not something to defund or abolish.
  So I am proud that Americans across the country can protest in safety 
and peace. I am proud that their neighbors continue to answer the call 
to protect and to serve, and I am hopeful that, with unity and mutual 
respect, we can continue this important national discussion to ensure 
justice and equal protection under the law

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