[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5006-S5007]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Police Departments

  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss facts and fiction. 
Recently, FOX News reporter Peter Doocy asked White House Press 
Secretary Jen Psaki about a Biden administration official's claim that 
Republicans have defunded the police by not voting to pass Biden's 
wasteful $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. Ms. Psaki doubled down on the 
idea that it is Republicans and not Democrats who want to defund the 
police.
  When a White House Press Secretary gives a press briefing, you expect 
some spin. You expect some verbal bobbing and weaving if the topic is 
unflattering to the administration. But when Jen Psaki tried to blame 
Republicans for defunding the police, it wasn't spin. It was horse 
manure. It was gaslighting.
  For over a year, Democrats and leftwing activists have been calling 
over and over and over again to defund the police. And many Democrat-
led city councils and Democrat mayors have done so, cutting and even 
slashing police budgets. As a result of those reckless policies, we are 
seeing a deeply concerning wave of violent crime in American cities 
across the country.
  The chief White House spokesperson blaming Republicans for defunding 
the police is like an arsonist showing up at the fire and blaming the 
firemen. It is like the Chinese Communist Party blaming America for the 
Wuhan virus. It is like OJ saying he is going to help find the real 
killer. It is absurd. It is ridiculous. And Democrats know it.
  Let's look at the facts. Democrats have called explicitly to defund 
the police for over a year and have been successful in doing it. New 
York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, last summer pledged to cut the 
NYPD budget by $1 billion, and then he did so. New York City passed a 
budget that did indeed cut $1 billion from the police department.
  Just a couple of months ago, de Blasio was forced to backtrack. He 
realized what a terrible decision it had been because now he is working 
to reverse it.
  AOC, the darling of the extreme leftwing, has said: ``Defunding [the] 
police means defunding [the] police'' and ``The fight to defund [the 
police] continues.'' There is not a lot of ambiguity in what AOC is 
saying.
  And she is not alone. How about Representative Rashida Tlaib. She has 
called for ``no more policing.'' Stop and think about that for a 
minute. This is an elected Democratic Member of Congress whose policy 
objective is no more policing. Those are her own words.
  How about Representative Ilhan Omar. She has said: ``You can't really 
reform a department that is rotten to the root.'' An elected Democratic 
Member of Congress describing police departments as ``rotten to the 
root.'' Again, those are her words.
  And then there is Representative Ayanna Pressley, who has introduced 
legislation to defund police officers in public schools. And she has 
said that defunding the police is about ``true reparations.'' Well, 
maybe this is just a few fringe Democrats in the House of 
Representatives. Maybe it is not a broader policy of the Democratic 
Party.
  What about Joe Biden? Uncle Joe can't possibly support defunding the 
police, right? Well, if you thought so, you would be wrong because Joe 
Biden nominated two of the leading advocates of abolishing the police--
Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke--to senior positions at the U.S. 
Department of Justice. One of them is the No. 3 official at the 
Department of Justice. The other is the head of civil rights at the 
Department of Justice. Both had written, as recently as last year, 
explicit calls for defunding the police, and they got rewarded with 
helping run the Department of Justice.
  But surely, you might say, even if Joe Biden gave in to the activists 
and nominated these folks, there are Democrats in this Chamber who 
would say defunding the police is too much; let's not go that far. 
Well, if you would say that, you would be wrong because both of those 
nominees, two of the leading advocates for defunding the police, were 
confirmed when every single Democrat in this Chamber voted to confirm 
them--100 percent.
  The next time you see a Democrat describing themselves as moderate, 
reasonable, not one of those crazies saying things like ``defund the 
police,'' maybe you should ask them why they voted to confirm two of 
the leading advocates for defunding the police to senior positions at 
the Department of Justice.
  Democrat-led city councils all over the country are following the 
same game plan, and they have voted over and over and over again to 
defund the police. Last year, the Los Angeles City Council cut the 
police budget by $150 million. Portland cut $15 million from its police 
budget. Minneapolis cut $8 million from its police budget. Seattle cut 
its police budget by 18 percent.
  Now, what do these city have in common? They are run by Democrats. It 
is Democratic politicians who are slashing police budgets. And what 
have the results been? Well, sadly, these Democratic-led cities are 
reaping what they sowed. Crime rates are skyrocketing. The New York 
Times--hardly a rightwing outfit--the New York Times has reported that 
homicides in Los Angeles increased 36 percent, that homicides have 
increased in Portland more than 82 percent, and that homicides in 
Minneapolis increased nearly 72 percent last year. By all appearances, 
these homicide spikes will continue throughout this year.
  Just a few weeks ago, Democrats demonstrated that they couldn't learn 
from the tragic failure of other cities that had slashed the police and 
seen homicides skyrocket. What did they do in Oakland, CA? The city 
council voted to cut over $18 million from the police department, and 
Oakland has already seen a 90-percent increase in homicides over last 
year.
  The New York Times has also reported data showing that in 2020, 
homicide rates increased more than 30 percent in big cities. So far, 
they are increasing again this year.
  According to the Guardian, some preliminary data showed that there 
were 4,000 more murders in 2020 than there were in 2019--4,000 men, 
women, and children who would be living, breathing, living their lives, 
raising their kids, contributing to the diverse tapestry of our Nation 
if it were not for the radicals slashing police budgets because of 
extreme ideological commitments and unleashing these crimewaves.
  Now, Democrats know that the politics and the policy of defunding the 
police aren't working for them, which is why they are desperately 
trying to backtrack and blame and gaslight Republicans. Yeah, yeah, it 
is the Republicans who are doing this. Sure, sure, that is the ticket.
  Not only did some Democrats blame calls to defund the police for 
close races that they lost in November and for the razor-thin 
Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, they also know it isn't popular 
with the American people. A recent USA TODAY poll found that only 18 
percent of Americans support defunding the police, and a large majority 
of African Americans don't support defunding the police. The same is 
true for Democratic voters. A large majority of Democratic voters don't 
support defunding the police. But in defiance of the interests of their 
constituents, Democrats continue to go down that road. The facts are 
that Democrats have repeatedly called to defund the police, and they 
have done so--this isn't a theory--they have done so in many cities.
  Crime is rising, and radical Democratic policies have had deadly 
consequences. Not only have homicides risen, but there were more law 
enforcement officer fatalities in 2020 than there had been in 46 years. 
In 2020, 264 law enforcement officers tragically died in the line of 
duty, some from COVID-19 as a result of being first responders and 
others from getting shot while on duty.
  After Jen Psaki blamed Republicans for defunding the police, Peter 
Doocy asked her to name the Republicans who said they were voting 
against the American Rescue Plan--the massive leftwing spending plan--
that had nothing to do with the police. It was shoveling a lot of money 
to liberal special interests. It was giving money to State and local 
governments. So the White House argument was, well, some of the money 
to State and local governments could theoretically have gone to police, 
so therefore, if you don't vote for the massive trillions of dollars in 
spending,

[[Page S5007]]

you really want to defund the police. Well, unsurprisingly, Psaki 
couldn't name a single Republican who said they wanted to defund the 
police or who gave defunding the police as a reason for not voting for 
Biden's $1.9 trillion, pork-filled spending bill.
  The fact of the matter is, Republicans are proud to support the 
police, to stand with the men and women of blue, while Democrats are 
demonizing and vilifying the brave men and women of law enforcement.
  I want to say thank you to every law enforcement officer in this 
country, on the Federal level and on the State and local level. Thank 
you for answering the call each day, putting on the uniform, wearing 
the badge, and risking your life to keep us safe.
  This morning, all across this country, law enforcement officers woke 
up, they kissed their husband or wife goodbye, they kissed their kids 
goodbye, and they went out to defend our communities, and they did so 
not knowing if they would come home that night. We are proud to stand 
with the men and women of our police departments.
  When it comes to facts and fiction, it is a cynical and calculated 
lie from the Biden White House that it is anybody other than Democrats 
who are leading the foolhardy charge to abolish and defund the police. 
It is dangerous, crime rates are skyrocketing, and it is an 
exceptionally bad idea.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). The Senator from Maryland