[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S665-S666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Crime

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, communities across the country have paid 
the price of Democrats' soft-on-crime policies. The Democratic Party 
has backed woke prosecutors who refuse to enforce broad swaths of the 
Criminal Code. It has endorsed ``defund the police'' policies and 
candidates, and it has consistently shown more sympathy for the 
criminals who commit crimes than for the victims who were hurt by them.
  It is no surprise that these decisions carry very dangerous 
consequences, which are being felt across America. Businesses are 
fleeing Portland, OR, due to surging crime. The mayor of Chicago was 
just defeated in her primary because she failed to address rampant 
crime in that city.
  One city that is not immune to these consequences is our Nation's 
Capital, Washington, DC. So far this year, the District of Columbia has 
seen more than three dozen homicides--a nearly 40 percent increase 
compared to last year. Forty percent. Sex crimes have more than doubled 
compared to last year, and there have been more than 1,200 motor 
vehicle thefts, including carjackings, which is more than double the 
number at this point last year. In total, the Nation's Capital, where 
we are located, reported a 25-percent increase in crime compared to 
last year.
  With crime on the rise, you would expect that the elected leaders of 
the DC City Council would take steps to improve public safety, but that 
is not what they did. In fact, council members took the exact opposite 
approach. Forget deterring criminal conduct; the DC City Council 
responded to this crime wave by reducing penalties for violent crimes. 
It actually passed legislation that decreases punishment for many of 
the same crimes that have been on the rise over the last year--lower 
penalties for carjackings, home invasions, and robberies and lower 
penalties for convicted felons who illegally carry firearms and for 
felons who use guns to commit other crimes. There are no mandatory 
minimum sentences for any crime other than first-degree murder.
  It is a slap in the face of every law-abiding resident and visitor to 
this city; every person who worries about getting carjacked on their 
way home from work, like the people who work for us here in the 
Nation's Capital; or being robbed on the Metro, like the visitors from 
our States who come to the Nation's Capital who don't expect to be 
assaulted and robbed; or individuals who have their residence targeted 
by a serial burglar.
  This is not the kind of legislation that is meant to keep people 
safe; it is just the latest iteration of failed soft-on-crime policies. 
It is no surprise that DC's Criminal Code rewrite was met with severe 
backlash.
  Even the Washington Post published an editorial entitled ``DC's crime 
bill could make the city more dangerous.'' Well, I give them credit for 
stating the obvious.
  The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia warned that this 
measure prevents courts from imposing penalties that appropriately 
reflect the seriousness of the offense and the defendant's criminal 
history.
  One local elected official used especially harsh words to describe a 
portion of the bill that would allow someone convicted of sexual 
assault to petition for early release after 20 years. She said:

       I don't think the DC Council should be helping rapists get 
     out of prison early. That's crazy.

  Crazy indeed--so crazy, in fact, that the city's liberal Mayor, 
Muriel Bowser, even vetoed this measure when it reached her desk, 
saying it ``does not make us safer.''
  I don't find myself agreeing with the Washington Post editorial board 
or the Mayor of the District of Columbia often, but they are both right 
here.
  DC Council members should have viewed her veto and the public outrage 
as a sign that they should go back to the drawing board, but 
unfortunately they doubled down. DC City Council overrode the Mayor's 
veto. They ignored the deep concerns of citizens of this city and the 
dire warnings from public safety advocates and plowed ahead.
  Fortunately, that is not the end of the road for this dangerous and 
deeply misguided bill. The Constitution of the United States gives 
Congress exclusive legislative jurisdiction over the District of 
Columbia. It is a Federal district. We must take action to prevent

[[Page S666]]

this criminal-friendly measure from going into effect.
  As we have seen, this effort has broad bipartisan support, starting 
at the White House. Last month, the House of Representatives passed a 
resolution of disapproval by a vote of 250 to 173, with more than 30 
Democrats crossing the aisle to support it. Thanks to the Senator from 
Tennessee, Senator Hagerty's leadership, that resolution will receive a 
vote on the Senate floor this week. I expect it will pass with strong 
bipartisan support, as it should, and put a final nail in the coffin of 
this dangerous and deeply misguided legislation.
  Soft-on-crime policies have had a devastating impact on cities across 
America, and we can't let our Nation's very Capital become a 
consequence-free playground for lawbreakers. So I appreciate Senator 
Hagerty's leadership on this resolution and his work to ensure that it 
receives a vote in the Democrat-led Senate.