[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 24, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S5327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Trump Rally Shooting

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, some events in our lives make such an 
impression that we can recall exactly where we were and what we were 
doing when we reflect on learning about them. On November 22, 1963, I 
was a sophomore at Georgetown University here in Washington, DC, when 
the news broke that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, 
TX. I was in the library, and the news spread through that quiet room 
like wildfire. We all stopped what we were doing and went outside and 
stood in the street and listened to the car radio's report of the news 
that was just tragic news, of course, that President Kennedy had given 
his life.
  It has been more than 60 years since the assassination of President 
Kennedy and 43 years since President Reagan was shot. A week and a half 
ago, Americans were shocked to witness on live television an 
assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump as well as 
the murder of Corey Comperatore at a Pennsylvania political rally.
  We should all take a moment to reflect on Mr. Comperatore's family 
loss. His wife reported that when shots were ringing out, he shielded 
his wife and children with his body. It is an amazing scene to think 
that at that moment--that emergency moment--he thought of others to 
protect them. They have been in my thoughts since the tragic events of 
that Saturday afternoon.
  We have a responsibility in Congress to learn how the Secret Service 
failed to protect former President Trump on July 13. We need to do this 
on a bipartisan basis; keep politics out of it.
  The Judiciary Committee, which I chair, has jurisdiction over the 
Secret Service. Tomorrow morning, the Judiciary Committee, along with 
the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committees, will receive a 
classified briefing on the shooting. I hope that we learn more since 
the hearings that occurred in the House of Representatives.
  Next Tuesday morning, the Judiciary Committee and the Homeland 
Security Committee will hold a joint, bipartisan hearing on the 
assassination attempt, where we hope to learn more from the FBI and the 
Secret Service.
  We need to ask probing and important questions and do it in a 
responsible way that avoids the kind of incendiary language that has 
become all too common in our country. It is irresponsible for a Member 
of Congress to accuse the opposing political party of being ``flat out 
evil and . . . [trying] to murder President Trump,'' but a Member of 
Congress actually said that. Another Member said, ``Joe Biden sent the 
orders.'' Can you imagine? Those kinds of statements are so 
irresponsible, mean-spirited. They don't belong as part of the national 
debate.
  As a country, we have become desensitized to toxic and violent 
rhetoric that some politicians have embraced as standard fare. We 
should all be disturbed by the April poll from Marist which found that 
``one in 5 U.S. adults believe Americans have to resort to violence to 
get their country back on track.''
  I have said this repeatedly, and it bears repeating: Political 
violence is never acceptable. It is never the answer. Political parties 
should not elevate leaders who say these things that are so 
irresponsible.
  Candidates should encourage Americans to exercise their 
constitutional right to speak and vote, not open a rally with an 
official declaring: If we lose this election, it is going to take a 
civil war to save this country.
  As the most powerful democracy in the world, the eyes of our allies 
and rivals are always on us. Our political discourse should reflect our 
solemn responsibility to encourage free and fair elections not just 
abroad but at home because, in the land of the free, everyone should 
feel safe expressing their political views and participating in this 
country's most sacred and fought-for legacy, a free and fair democracy.