[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 101 (Thursday, June 12, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3374-S3375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              ALEX PADILLA

  Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, I want to thank the Chair.
  Clearly, the voices of my colleagues and I are calling this what it 
is, which is a crossroads for this body.
  One of our Members--it matters not what their party--who was in their 
State was forcibly removed when he was asking for accountability from 
the executive branch. He was taken out of that room forcibly by 
multiple men, who then--even when he identified himself, even when he 
was pulled out of that room, he was then forced to the ground, pushed 
upon his face, his hands wrenched behind his back, and he was put in 
restraints.
  This is a crossroads for this body. This is not a partisan issue; it 
is one about who we are as a body. Will we let the abuses of the 
executive branch physically take a Member of this body and drive them 
to the ground and put them in restraints?
  And why? Why? Well, we are starting to get answers already. Here is 
Tricia McLaughlin, who is the Assistant Secretary of the Department of 
Homeland Security. This is her statement.

       Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and 
     interrupted a live press conference without identifying 
     himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged 
     toward Secretary Noem.
       Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not 
     comply with officers' repeated commands. @SecretService 
     thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.

  The statement concludes that:

       Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15 
     minute meeting.

  We know this is not true because we hear with our own ears on the 
tape Senator Padilla identifying himself; further ``disrespectful 
political theatre'' is not a justification to remove a U.S. Senator in 
their own State at a public press conference and violently push them 
out of the room, drive them to the ground, put them on their stomach, 
and handcuff them.
  Disrespectful behavior? This is our democracy. You have a right to 
speak up. You have a right to free speech. You have a right to stand 
and do the job that you swore an oath in this Chamber to do, to uphold 
the Constitution of the United States of America. And one of your jobs 
is to provide a check and a balance to the administration. One of your 
jobs is to give accountability to the administration.
  I know the other 99 Members of this body, and if disrespectful 
behavior is a justification for violent reprisal from the 
administration, how many Members of this body--how many Members of this 
body--would be subjected to that?
  This is a farce of a justification and, therefore, we are at a 
crossroads. Will my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--will my 
Republican colleagues--justify the treatment of one of the Members of 
this body, justify the violence against one of the Members of this 
body, justify a Member of this body being thrown upon the ground and 
put in handcuffs--for what? For disrespectful behavior.
  If you think it stops with one, you are inviting it for the all 
because it does not. You are inviting it for every Member of this body.
  If the Obama administration or the Biden administration said that a 
Senator on the other side of the aisle was being disrespectful and 
threw that Senator violently onto the ground and put him into 
handcuffs, this body would be full of my colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle condemning what the Biden Justice Department did or the 
Obama Justice Department.
  This should not be about partisanship; this should be about 
patriotism. This should not be about tribalism; it should be standing 
up and being a leader in this moment.
  This is wrong. This violence is wrong.
  But let me be more personal. I tried to understand why this 
particularly upset me, and I think my colleague from Delaware spoke to 
that because of Alex Padilla's reputation in this body of being a kind 
and gentle person. We all know him, the goodness and the decency that 
he has. He is not one of the louder Senators. He is not one of the 
performative Senators. He has a reputation, as my colleague from 
Delaware said, on both sides of the aisle for being a gentle man.
  But I think what was really hard for me to see was that a Member of 
this body was driven to his knees and made to kneel before authorities. 
That is what got me. I think when I saw him driven to his knees 
forcibly, something there got me.
  You see, we know Alex Padilla's story. It is an unusual story for 
this body. His family came here as Mexican immigrants. His father was a 
short-order cook. His mother cleaned homes. They did those jobs that 
don't always

[[Page S3375]]

come with esteem or respect. They did those jobs where, when people see 
them, they sometimes look down on them. They did those jobs that are 
often marginalized despite their dignity.
  They raised their son to serve. He went to MIT. They raised their son 
to work hard, to show grit, to rise. They got to watch their son become 
a city councilperson in L.A. They got to watch their son ascend to be 
the secretary of state for California. They got to watch their son come 
to this body.
  And this son of Mexican immigrants who cleaned homes and served food, 
this man with equal dignity in this body, today, was driven violently 
to his knees as if made to kneel before the authority of the executive 
because he was so-called disrespectful. That should offend the 
consciousness, not just of the other 99 Members of this body, it should 
offend the conscience of this country because if you can make Alex 
Padilla forcibly kneel before this executive, when does it stop?
  He is a U.S. Senator. And if you can force him to kneel to his knees 
violently, when does it stop? What does it say to other Americans who 
want to speak up? What does it say to other Americans that want to 
exercise their constitutional duty? What does it say to other Americans 
this weekend when they want to peacefully protest? What does it say to 
other Americans from humble backgrounds who know poverty, that if a 
U.S. Senator who stands up to do his job can be made to heel, driven to 
his knees, violently handcuffed, what does it say? What message does it 
send?

  Everybody in this body should see that this is a crossroads. They 
treated a Member of the U.S. Senate violently after he identified 
himself; dragged him out of the room, threw him upon the ground, and 
put him in handcuffs. Every Member of this body should object to that. 
Why? Because the statement was that he was disrespectful. That is 
unacceptable. That is offensive. That is un-American.
  So why is there silence right now? Why aren't my colleagues saying--I 
don't care if it is a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent, when 
you drive a man to his knees in the United States of America, that is 
wrong, that is wrong, that is wrong. This is a test. This is a 
crossroads. This is a day in which the character of this body will be 
defined.
  Alex Padilla, a man of infinite decency, generosity of spirit, who, 
whether you disagree with him or not, is so well-liked in this body, 
who today, in a time of understandable outrage in Los Angeles, went to 
be with his constituents to get answers. And when he walked into a room 
and saw a Cabinet Secretary and raised his voice to ask questions, he 
was met with violence. They heaped upon him indignities. They drove him 
to his knees and then to his face and they put him in cuffs.
  Well, they didn't just assault the physicality of Alex Padilla, they 
did not succeed in assaulting his dignity. I know he rose off that 
ground with the same dignity he had before they threw him upon it. What 
they assaulted today is the dignity of this body. What is in question 
now is a truth of who we are and what we stand for.
  This is an abuse of power. This is a violent act unjustifiably taken 
on a Member of this body. The question is, Who will we be as a Senate? 
The question is, How will we respond? Will we defend this institution 
or will we yield to the tactics of authoritarian, violent leaders?
  I see my colleague here from Maryland. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

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