[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 187 (Monday, October 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7332-S7333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Police Departments

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, it has been a while since 
congressional Democrats have used the words ``defund the police.'' That 
was a very popular phrase in 2021, but after the last election, 
Democrats learned how truly toxic those words were with ordinary 
Americans. Now they dare not say the words ``defund the police,'' but 
make no mistake about it, liberals are still trying to defund the 
police.
  A recent nominee for a high-level post at the Department of Justice 
said that she wasn't in favor of defunding the police, but she talked 
about it--``overspending on criminal justice system infrastructure and 
policing.'' That was just a fancier way of saying ``cut police 
budgets.''
  Fortunately, the voters are standing up to these people, and I want 
to give just two examples.
  First, voters in Minneapolis will go to the polls November 2 and 
decide whether to replace the city's police department with a 
department called the Department of Public Safety. This supposed 
Department of Public Safety would take a ``comprehensive public

[[Page S7333]]

health approach'' in trying to keep the city safe. Under this idea, 
police officers could be employed if necessary. Well, the American 
voters have news for the people who got this initiative on the ballot 
in Minneapolis: Police officers are absolutely necessary in 
Minneapolis, and they are necessary in every other community as well.
  Another example. In Austin, TX, voters will have a chance to restore 
funding for their police force--funding that the city council slashed a 
great deal last year.
  The murder rate in Austin is higher than it has ever been. So far, 71 
people have been killed in Austin, passing the previous record of 59 
murders set all the way back in 1984. And with 71 murders, we still 
have 2 months left in this year, if you want to compare it to all the 
murders that took place in 1984, a previous high.
  Some Austin voters have had enough of this sort of thinking, and they 
are trying to restore some common sense there in Austin. Under the 
Proposition A ballot initiative, the city would have to maintain at 
least 2 police officers for every 1,000 residents, which is more than 
they have at the present time.
  But not everybody likes that, and liberal dark money groups have 
pumped a half million dollars into defeating this Proposition A because 
they want to keep defunded police still defunded.
  Those same groups recently subsidized the campaigns of hard-left 
district attorneys all throughout the country. That includes the San 
Francisco district attorney, who has let drug and property crimes 
skyrocket. San Francisco is now getting hammered with out-of-control 
drug use, and shoplifting there happens to be a way of life.
  That isn't Chuck Grassley saying that; that is anybody watching 
television who sees pictures of people just going into stores and just 
picking up whatever they want. In one city, if it is under $950, you 
won't be prosecuted. So it is a license to shoplift.
  I hope Austin, TX, voters will make sure that their city doesn't go 
the same way. I would like to think they would want to be safe from 
criminals and the drugs that criminals push.
  Liberal politicians are no longer saying it out loud, ``defund the 
police.'' But make no mistake about it, many of them still want to 
defund police.
  If Minneapolis and Austin let their police forces wither away on the 
vine, voters all across the Nation and all across the political 
spectrum will send a very clear message to the hard left in the next 
election. So voters everywhere should stand up and say no to defunding 
the police.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.