[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 16, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S748-S749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Crime

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I have come to this floor before for 
the same subject, but I now come to express my concerns once again 
about the rise in crime in America. Now I want to express what that 
rise in crime means for everybody if we don't stop it. If we don't act 
soon, and don't reverse the trend of tolerating crime, a generation of 
Americans will see the greatest cities fall once again into decay. We 
have seen it before, and it is not something that we want to see again. 
To stop it, we must allow the police to enforce the law and demand that 
prosecutors do their job.
  A couple of generations of Americans have now grown up not knowing 
how dangerous some of our biggest cities used to be. The two that come 
to mind are New York and Washington, DC.
  First, let's look at New York 20, 40 years ago. When asked what they 
think of Times Square in Manhattan, most younger Americans would 
probably say that it is a tourist trap. But it wasn't always that way. 
In the 1970s, Times Square was an open sore, filled with adult 
theaters, drugs, and rampant crime. Back then, the New York City subway 
looked like something from some dystopian horror movie. In other words, 
you avoided New York City subways if you could.
  Now, let's turn to Washington, DC, in the late 1980s. Its decay could 
almost be traced back entirely to one person. Just a few blocks from 
here where we are standing right now, a drug dealer named Rayful Edmond 
ran the most notorious crack cocaine operation in the country. By 1989, 
he was bringing 1,700 pounds of cocaine into DC every month. He used to 
put snipers on rooftops near his headquarters. Police suspected his 
operation was involved in 30 homicides. During that time, the city's 
murder rate doubled. Washington had the nickname the ``murder capital 
of the world.''
  Then something great happened. Mayors and prosecutors got serious 
about dealing with crime. They sent Rayful Edmond to jail for life. 
People who lived in cities felt much safer. Businesses flourished. 
Pervasive fear gradually lessened because police took criminals off the 
street.
  The crime rates in New York and Washington plummeted. Young families 
moved to urban neighborhoods that were far too dangerous just a few 
years before. This was wonderful, obviously. The block where Rayful 
Edmond once put his snipers on rooftops is now a very normal 
residential street.
  Our cities, everybody knows, should be places where we want to live. 
We should enjoy going there to see other people. We shouldn't avoid 
cities because we are afraid of getting harassed on the streets or 
carjacked, at the worst. But that is what is beginning to happen again. 
All over the country, our biggest cities are starting to look dangerous 
and empty. History repeats and repeats.
  Cities are devolving into what they were just a couple of decades 
ago. Homicides in 22 major cities have gone up 44 percent since 2019. 
Carjackings are up double, even triple, and worse in some cities. 
Thieves are stealing from stores with impunity. When that happens, 
those businesses shut down, leaving neighborhoods with empty 
storefronts and a recipe for urban decline.
  Crime is up because of the permissive approach by too many so-called 
progressive prosecutors. One prosecutor in San Francisco has said that 
if you steal less than $950, you won't be prosecuted. No wonder people 
are committing more crimes. These prosecutors see criminals as victims, 
releasing them back into the streets shortly after being arrested. This 
sows fear in local residents. Common sense ought to tell everybody 
that. Common sense says it kills growth. Common sense says it hurt 
neighborhoods. Common sense says it endangers regular people who want 
to live their lives peacefully.
  America is a nation of progress. We are a nation of progress moving 
forward. Our current backward slide to urban decays in the 1970s and 
1980s is tragic. Working-class families and those who can't afford to 
move somewhere safer will bear the brunt of it.
  The solution here is not very complicated. A recent poll showed two 
out of every three people know what some of these blue-city mayors 
haven't figured out yet: More police equals less crime.
  When prosecutors list a whole bunch of crimes that they won't 
prosecute, it encourages lawbreaking. Also, we need to stop the crusade 
to defund the police. They need to stop progressive prosecutors. You 
know, I know there is prosecutorial discretion. We all know that not 
every crime can be punished or prosecuted.
  But if you were a smart prosecutor who didn't want to encourage more 
crime, you wouldn't tell the whole world that certain crimes aren't 
going to be punished and others will be punished, because that is 
inviting those laws to be broken. That is why you see dozens of people 
rushing into a retail store, grabbing everything they can that is under 
$950 and leave.
  Prosecutors ought to keep their mouths shut and just do the job; and 
if they use discretion, keep it to themselves not to punish some 
crimes.
  So we need to make sure that repeat offenders and those who are a 
threat to society don't get bail. Otherwise, younger generations of 
America will learn all over again the harsh lessons about how quickly 
our greatest cities can fall into decay.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


             unanimous consent request--executive calendar

  Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I am on the floor today to talk about 
the nomination of Ambassador Julieta Valls Noyes, to serve as Assistant 
Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and 
Migration.
  Originally nominated last July, Ambassador Noyes' nomination was 
reported favorably out of the Foreign Relations Committee in October.
  Since then, she has waited in limbo for all of us to act. Ambassador 
Noyes has a distinguished 35-year career with the State Department, 
serving in important and challenging roles, many of those roles tied 
directly to the work she would be doing at the Bureau of Population, 
Refugees, and Migration, often referred to as PRM.
  As Ambassador to Croatia, she presided over the final stages of a 
refugee resettlement program after the Balkan wars, while hosting 
regional conferences and trainings for prosecutors, police, and judges 
on refugee-related issues.
  As Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian 
Affairs, Ambassador Noyes oversaw the

[[Page S749]]

nations with 11 Western European countries and the European Union, some 
of our country's most critical partners.
  From 2005 to 2007, Ambassador Noyes was Director of Multilateral and 
Global Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 
where she ran international negotiations on human rights--both at the 
United Nations in New York and in Geneva.
  In that capacity, she also held consultations with the European 
Union, with the African Union, with other partners. And she was a 
member of high-level delegations that presented periodic reports to the 
United Nations on U.S. compliance with major international human rights 
treaties.
  She has been recognized as a strong manager. She has overseen large 
teams. She has administered huge budgets.
  In addition to all of this, she is the daughter of Cuban refugees who 
directly benefited from the work of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, 
and Migration, so she has a personal connection to the importance of 
the Bureau's work.
  When you think about that list of qualifications, she is really the 
ideal person to lead PRM. What is the rush, some may ask. PRM hasn't 
had a confirmed Assistant Secretary since the days of the Obama 
administration.
  Well, all the more reason that it should have one now. It shouldn't 
be a rudderless organization when addressing so many important issues 
for our Nation.
  PRM has a major role in human rights and humanitarian efforts rights 
abroad as well as providing aid to refugees here at home.
  PRM is responsible for directing more than $3 billion in lifesaving 
humanitarian aid around the world to more than 84 million forcibly 
displaced people. Eighty percent of those are women and children. So if 
you care about the plight of women and children around the world, you 
want to have an experienced leader making sure those dollars are 
efficiently allocated to the best effect.
  PRM leads the rebuilding of the U.S. refugee assistance program. PRM 
works with other governments to promote regional migration resolutions. 
PRM advances international population policies that save mothers and 
babies and prevent gender-based violence around the world.
  PRM leads diplomatic efforts for international burden sharing to 
better reduce suffering and to be more effective in saving lives.
  And PRM is a critical part of our national security infrastructure, 
vetting those who come into our country, ensuring they don't pose a 
risk to our safety and security.
  The Bureau is doing all this, but they are doing it without a leader 
to make sure they do it in the most effective, professional, competent 
fashion.
  The Bureau is doing critical work every day to address these 
challenges, and those challenges are growing as more and more countries 
are disrupted by war and by famine and by corruption.
  So this Bureau deserves to have someone leading those efforts who has 
the type of background that the Ambassador has. All of us who want to 
see these programs administered effectively have a stake in having 
competent leadership in place.
  Thus, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following 
nomination, Calendar No. 462, Julieta Valls Noyes, to be an Assistant 
Secretary of State; that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no 
intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to 
the nomination; that any related statements be printed in the Record 
and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). Is there objection?
  The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
  Throughout his administration, President Biden has shown a shocking 
disregard for congressional authority and oversight.
  Following his botched and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, the 
Biden administration has refused to take accountability or provide 
answers to Congress or the American people. The President repeatedly 
shifts blame and hides from the truth. His administration demands to 
have closed, so-called classified hearings, even though none of the 
material being discussed is classified information.
  We still don't even know how many Americans are trapped in 
Afghanistan. We don't know how many Americans are trapped in 
Afghanistan. Biden abandoned them behind enemy lines.
  It is wrong. It left many Americans with no faith in President 
Biden's ability to lead or appoint qualified individuals to serve in 
these important roles.
  That is why I cannot and will not consent to allowing this nominee to 
move forward in an expedited manner. We should take a vote so every 
Senator can get on the record with their support or opposition to this 
nominee.
  Therefore, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I would love for us to have a full, 
ordinary process here on the floor and to have all of us on both sides 
of the aisle support that process.
  I come to the floor to ask for this unanimous consent because that 
process has been frustrated, and we now have been without a leader for 
this entire administration.
  My colleague made a point about Afghanistan, and he said we need to 
know how many Americans are in Afghanistan. If you want better action 
on the issue of Americans as refugees abroad or stranded abroad, then 
you want to have a responsible leader, an accountable leader, heading 
up the Bureau of Population, Migration, and Refugees.
  So let's do our job here in this Chamber because when we fail to 
enable such a critical organization, responsible for billions of 
dollars around the world being provided to millions of people, 
responsible for the vetting of people coming into our country, when we 
fail to do our job to put somebody in charge, we are only wounding 
ourselves.
  This is exactly the type of partisan paralysis and destruction that 
is damaging our Nation. We need to get this confirmation completed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.