[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 23, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S1699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 929

  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I am going to suggest an even narrower 
situation. Perhaps we can't agree on victims of crime. How about 
murderers?
  We just had a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on gun 
violence. We saw a horrific mass murder in Colorado. Can't we agree 
that murderers shouldn't get checks--$1,400 stimulus checks--from the 
taxpayers? Let's take the money going to murderers and put it in the 
crime victims task force fund instead.
  And so, Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous 
consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 
929, introduced earlier today. I further ask that the bill be 
considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized.
  Mr. WYDEN. Thank you very much.
  Mr. President, there isn't information about this crime or these 
crimes at the Federal, State, and local levels. So, again, we are back 
in exactly the same place.
  The Senator from Texas wants to hold up the checks to millions and 
millions of people in spite of the fact that he voted--he voted 
earlier--for a system that got the checks to everybody in a timely way. 
And when you don't have the information about the specific crimes at 
the Federal, State, and local levels, it becomes impossible to carry 
out what the Senator from Texas seeks to do. And the net effect is, 
again, that millions and millions of Americans aren't getting the funds 
that they need to pay for essentials, rent and groceries.
  I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, you know, it could be hard in these partisan 
days to know what the truth is. Both sides yell at each other. They 
insult each other. It is hard to know who is telling the truth.
  I ask the folks at home who are listening to this debate to exercise 
a little bit of common sense. The Senator from Oregon just told you the 
Federal Government has no idea who are murderers currently in prison. I 
want to suggest that doesn't make any sense.
  I feel quite confident the Department of Justice could produce a list 
of currently incarcerated murderers in Federal prisons within 24 hours. 
I am absolutely certain the State of Texas could produce that list. I 
am confident the State of Connecticut could produce the list of the 
murderers currently in Connecticut prisons. I am even confident the 
State of Oregon could produce a list of the murderers convicted of 
homicide currently incarcerated in the State of Oregon.
  The claim that we don't know who the murderers are who are in our 
prisons serving time for murder--it doesn't pass the laugh test.