[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 38 (Monday, March 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S921-S922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Federal Funding

  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, from the streets of Portland and Seattle to 
right here in our Nation's Capital, lawlessness has ensued all too 
often across our Nation over the past year. I have consistently called 
it what it is--anarchy. And, folks, we need to be absolutely clear on 
this: Anarchy cannot be tolerated in our Nation.
  The mayhem that we have seen over the last year has put our families, 
our communities, and our law enforcement in danger, and tragically it 
has led to death and destruction.
  In what will probably come as no shock to the American people, a 
nonpartisan watchdog organization found that the Federal Government has 
spent more than $14 billion of our taxpayer money, our hard-earned 
dollars, on Federal contracts and grants in five major cities where 
civil unrest, also known as anarchy, goes unchecked and police are 
unable to do their jobs--14

[[Page S922]]

billion with a ``b'' dollars paid to local leaders and city officials 
who are failing to do their jobs.
  Let's keep talking about these dollar figures, folks. According to 
recent reports by local media in Oregon, leftwing protests in Portland 
have caused roughly $2.3 million in damage to Federal buildings since 
they broke out last summer. The near-nightly standoffs with police 
involved graffiti, broken windows, firecrackers, as well as Molotov 
cocktails. According to one U.S. attorney in Oregon, cleanup at the 
courthouse and four other government buildings has cost more than $2 
million, and that number could keep going up because the repairs are 
ongoing.
  Last year, I pushed for a review of any Federal funding that was 
going to the cities and States that were allowing anarchy to run 
rampant. It was a simple ask: Scrutinize any future Federal funding 
that might flow into these lawless jurisdictions.
  Specifically, I asked the Office of Management and Budget to look 
into and report to the American people the amount of taxpayer dollars 
local officials used to either sustain these autonomous zones or the 
amount needed to repair the damage done during the chaos. Thankfully, 
last year, the Federal Government began to do just that, but, folks, 
just last week, President Biden reversed this effort, and I would like 
to know why.
  I agree with our new President that peaceful protests are a 
cornerstone of our democracy, but smashing windows is not protesting 
and neither is looting. Burning small businesses that are the modest 
nest eggs of hard-working Americans and actions like those are totally 
unacceptable. I don't think there is anyone in the Senate who would 
disagree. So why, then, is President Biden reversing course and 
preventing this review from going forward to simply examine the funds 
that are going to the very places where lawlessness continues to be 
unanswered?
  Too often over the last year, local leaders have prevented law 
enforcement and emergency responders from being allowed to carry out 
their jobs and protect the public. Yet millions of our taxpayer dollars 
have still been doled out to these cities.
  I will continue to stand strong and be a voice for the hard-working 
taxpayers of this country. If city and State leaders abdicate their job 
to protect citizens and allow anarchist jurisdictions to prevail, the 
Federal Government and Iowa taxpayers should absolutely not foot the 
bill. Anarchy is never OK--never OK--and taxpayers should never 
subsidize it.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.

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