[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3277-S3278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE JUSTICE ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the American people have been asked 
to swallow a number of contradictions over the past few weeks. I have 
already discussed some of them here on the floor.
  Many citizens were told by their mayors that small religious services 
were just too dangerous. At the same time, massive political protests 
were not just allowed but encouraged.
  Americans have been told they should very carefully distinguish good 
people from bad apples if they are talking about protests and riots, 
but they must not make the same distinction if they are talking about 
the police.
  Recently, the country was informed by hysterical journalists that a 
rational policy essay from our colleague Senator Cotton was just too 
inflammatory to publish, but the Speaker of the House can say Senator 
Tim Scott and his 48 cosponsors are ``trying to get away with . . . the 
murder of George Floyd,'' and Democrats just cheer her on--cheer her 
on.
  Americans have been ordered to rethink and relearn our Nation's 
history by a movement that is itself so historically illiterate that 
they mistake George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, and a 19th-century 
abolitionist for enemies of justice and destroy their monuments.
  One common thread seems to connect all this: The far left wants you 
to play by one set of rules if you think like they do and a completely 
different set of rules if you dare to think anything else.

[[Page S3278]]

  Well, yesterday here in the Senate, the latest absurdity was added to 
the list. Our Democratic colleagues tried to say with straight faces 
that they want the Senate to discuss police reform while they blocked 
the Senate from discussing police reform. They declared that Senator 
Scott's bill, which contains many bipartisan components, which 
literally contains entire bills written by Democrats, was beyond the 
pale. Senator Scott offered a wide-open, bipartisan amendment process, 
and they walked away.
  Over in the House, when Democrats shoot down every Republican 
amendment in committee and allow zero amendments on the floor, you can 
bet it will be anointed a big, big success.
  Now, as an aside, I could not help but notice that in the Democratic 
leader's lengthy remarks yesterday morning, he did not once address or 
acknowledge the junior Senator from South Carolina as the author of the 
JUSTICE Act--not one time. Not one time did the Democratic leader 
address Senator Tim Scott as the author of the legislation he was 
trashing.
  I cannot see why the Democratic leader talks right past Senator Scott 
as if he were not leading this discussion, as if he were barely here. 
All I can say is that it was jarring to witness, especially in a 
national moment like this. Senator Scott was the leader of the working 
group. He wrote the bill. He has been studying and working on and 
living these issues since long, long before the Democratic leader came 
rushing to the microphones on this subject a few weeks ago.
  I can certainly take all the angry comments my colleague from New 
York wants to throw my way. I don't mind. But if he would like to learn 
something about the substance of this issue, he might want to stop 
acting like Senator Scott hardly exists and learn from the expert who 
wrote the bill.
  The American people know you do not really want progress on an issue 
if you block the Senate from taking it up. They know that most police 
officers are brave and honorable and that most protesters are peaceful. 
They know our country needs both. We need both. The American people 
know they don't need history lessons from common criminals who are 
dragging George Washington through the dirt. They know prayer is no 
less essential than protest. They know that a politician who compares a 
policy disagreement to a brutal murder has just permanently forfeited 
the moral high ground to the grownups who want solutions.
  Some forces are desperate to divide our country any way they possibly 
can, but if people of good will and common sense stick together, the 
radical nonsense will not stand a chance.

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