[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 100 (Wednesday, June 11, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3325-S3326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Los Angeles Protests

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, Donald Trump's order mobilizing U.S. 
troops to an American city sets a dangerous precedent for our civil 
liberties. As I have said, violence is not the way to achieve justice. 
Freedom of speech is fundamental, but it must be exercised peacefully 
and lawfully. And the vast majority--the overwhelming majority of 
protests have been peaceful, and they are exercising their American 
right, their privilege, to peacefully protest. That has been with our 
country since its founding.
  But sending troops to an American city against the wishes of local 
officials is outrageous, unnecessary, and reeks of authoritarianism. 
That is what authoritarian countries do.
  Using troops on U.S. soil should only ever be used as an absolute 
last resort. The last time it happened without State consent was 60 
years ago to protect civil rights heroes.
  What Donald Trump is doing, rather, is spoiling for a fight. He wants 
chaos.

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He would love any excuse to divert attention. And doing it this way 
is--he does it all the time. This is one of the most shameful, awful 
ways you can do it.
  Our troops don't deserve to be exploited in this way, to be used as 
pawns in a nakedly political fight. It is a deep disservice to them and 
to all servicemembers and law enforcement who serve our country and 
protect our community.
  And why is Donald Trump doing this? To divert attention. He knows 
that his ``Big Ugly Bill'' is highly unpopular with the American 
people. The more they learn about it, the more they hate it. He knows 
he has got big trouble with his fight with his erstwhile friend Musk. 
He knows that the tariffs are hurting the American people. So he seeks 
to divert attention. That is his MO. But what it does is create chaos. 
And the American people don't like chaos.
  And so I urge the President to immediately reverse course at once, 
remove all of the troops and the marines, and let local law enforcement 
do their jobs to keep the peace, as the Governor of California and the 
mayor of Los Angeles said they are perfectly capable of doing.