[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 124 (Thursday, July 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S4918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Police Departments

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, why is there such an increase in violent 
crimes in American cities?
  In New York City, the murder rate is up 37 percent from 2 years ago; 
in Atlanta, 53 percent from 2019. In Portland, OR, murders have 
increased over 500 percent.
  So everybody is asking: What is going on?
  Well, if you were to ask President Biden, he would say the usual 
rhetoric about how we need more gun control. The White House recently 
put out a so-called strategy to reduce crimes.
  What is the first thing that the President wants to do about this 
issue? Go after rogue gun dealers. Well, we all know gun dealers must 
follow the law, like doing background checks. We all agree on that. But 
I don't think anyone truly believes that legal gun dealers are 
responsible for the sudden spike in violent crime, including our own 
Department of Justice.
  Referring to a Department of Justice 2019 report, inmates who 
committed a gun crime most likely got their weapons from the black 
market--no background checks there. In fact, according to this report, 
only about 1 in 50 Federal inmates got a gun from a legal firearms 
dealer.
  Speaking of which, if Democrats really want to protect Americans from 
illegal gun sales, they should support my bill, the Protecting 
Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act, which would 
actually do that.
  But getting back to the recent crime wave, the real problem is what 
everyone knows but many of my friends on the left dare not say. The 
real problem is that for the past 14 months, police officers across the 
country have been vilified for doing their job, which has led to many 
of those same police leaving their job. In addition, liberal 
communities--and everybody knows most of our big cities of America are 
run by Democratic mayors--reduced the police forces and even reduced 
prosecutions. The result is that in San Francisco, for example, as you 
see on television, shoplifting appears to be a way of life.
  Some police have pulled back from making sure that we are all safe 
because in too many cities, elected officials don't have their backs.
  Last year, Attorney General Barr enacted Operation Legend, which 
paired Federal law enforcement officers up with local police in nine 
cities where crimes were soaring. This led to the arrest of 6,000 
violent criminals by the end of last year, including hundreds of 
murderers.
  Now, does this White House have the will to support law enforcement 
so the police can make our streets safer? Does the President have their 
backs?
  Recently, the President's spokesperson said it was the Republicans 
who wanted to defund the police, not the Democrats. And that is just 
plain untrue and everybody knows it. What they were trying to say is 
that Republicans didn't support the Democrats' irresponsible spending 
bill back in March.
  That is not defunding the police. That is just being fiscally 
responsible. It is not Republicans who say things like: ``No more 
policing, incarceration, or militarization. It can't be reformed,'' or 
words like ``defunding the police means defunding the police.''
  Let me give you another example. The push to take resources away from 
law enforcement is alive and well over in the House. A couple of weeks 
ago, the Senate passed three bills that would support police. The first 
one is the Protecting America's First Responders Act. That bill makes 
sure seriously injured first responders or their widows and children 
get the benefits that they are entitled to.
  The second bill, the COPS Counseling Act, creates a zone of privacy 
for police officers so that they can have counseling sessions for 
traumatic experiences and protect their privacy.
  A third bill, the Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila Federal Officers 
Protection Act, makes it clear that killing a law enforcement officer 
overseas is a crime in the United States.
  The Senate passed these bills because when it comes to law 
enforcement, we have their backs.
  But right now, Democratic leadership in the House is preventing a 
vote on these bills. Why? I don't know. They are bipartisan bills that 
should easily pass with resounding support. If you are with me on 
funding the police, I know you will support these bills. If the 
President wants to reduce crime, he should tell our police: Go out 
there. Patrol our streets. We have your back.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.