[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 21, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E531-E532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 8369, ISRAEL SECURITY ASSISTANCE 
 SUPPORT ACT; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 7530, D.C. CRIMINAL 
 REFORMS TO IMMEDIATELY MAKE EVERYONE SAFE ACT OF 2024; PROVIDING FOR 
   CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 7343, DETAIN AND DEPORT ILLEGAL ALIENS WHO 
ASSAULT COPS ACT; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 8146, POLICE OUR 
  BORDER ACT; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 7581, IMPROVING LAW 
   ENFORCEMENT OFFICER SAFETY AND WELLNESS THROUGH DATA ACT OF 2024; 
 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 354, LEOSA REFORM ACT; PROVIDING 
   FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. RES. 1213, RESOLUTION REGARDING VIOLENCE 
AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS; AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H. 
   RES. 1210, CONDEMNING THE BIDEN BORDER CRISIS AND THE TREMENDOUS 
           BURDENS LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS FACE AS A RESULT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 15, 2024

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to Republicans 
using Police Week to push divisive legislation in the House that takes 
away local control from communities, weakens gun safety laws, and 
dehumanizes immigrants.
  Our constituents did not elect us to get involved in the local 
politics of our Nation's capital city. Yet, House Republicans think 
it's appropriate to waste Congress's time to limit Washington, D.C.'s 
ability to police itself. Congress does not have the authority to pass 
such a resolution for Minnesota or any other state--and we would not 
have that power over D.C. and its 700,000 residents if the District was 
granted statehood as the majority of its residents' support.
  Children at schools, daycares, and playgrounds deserve to be safe 
from guns and gun violence. House Republicans instead pushed 
legislation eroding the ability for communities across America to 
protect these areas from guns. Overriding a community's ability to 
establish zones that are gun-free fails to make our children safer, it 
exposes them to the danger of firearms. Three million children are 
already threatened by gun violence each year in America. More than 
20,000 are killed or wounded. The solution to the gun violence crisis 
in this country is not more guns, and it clearly isn't overruling the 
will of a community that is taking its own action to make vulnerable 
children safer.
  Finally, House Republicans continue to dehumanize immigrants, as they 
have week after week in this Congress. They have presented their 
harmful proposals under the guise of protecting and supporting our law 
enforcement. Madam Speaker, I support law enforcement. I always have. 
These bills do nothing to support or protect the people who serve our 
communities. House Republicans continue to insist on

[[Page E532]]

undermining Constitutional civil liberties by removing the hurdle of 
proving guilt before deportation. As I've said before: Where will they 
stop? Are American citizens next?
  It is shameful that House Republicans are using our law enforcement 
as pawns for the Majority's extreme MAGA immigration rhetoric. House 
Republicans must stop their politics of division and distraction from 
addressing the real challenges facing Americans. They need to join 
Democrats at the table to find solutions.

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