Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. The right to peaceful protest is absolutely sacrosanct. It is a core American liberty. When peaceful demonstrations occur within the bounds of the law and with respect to the needs of law enforcement, leadership at every level has an obligation to respect and honor them.

Our Nation must not turn a deaf ear to the anger, pain, or frustration of Black Americans. Our Nation needs to hear them. There is no question that the killing of George Floyd was horrific. In my view, it absolutely appears to have been a heinous act of criminal violence. It is totally unacceptable that Mr. Floyd is dead. There is no doubt that residual racism continues to be a stain on our country. We need to do more to address it.

Over the last few days, we have seen peaceful protests hijacked on a nightly basis into a rolling series of riots that engulfed great American cities in wanton destruction and violent crime.

These are the two issues the American people are focused on: justice for Black Americans in the face of unjust violence and peace for our country in the face of looting, riots, and domestic terror. Those are the two issues that Americans want addressed: racial justice and ending riots.

Unfortunately, this resolution from my friend the Democratic leader does not address either one of them. Instead, it just indulges in the myopic obsession with President Trump that has come to define the Democratic side of the aisle. It pays more attention to the precise ways that Federal law enforcement protects Presidential movements around the White House than to the fact that great American cities, including my colleague's beloved New York, have been consumed by rioting, looting, and violence against police for several nights in a row, with no end in sight.

Outside of the Washington, DC, bubble, there is no universe where Americans think Democrats' obsession with condemning President Trump is a more urgent priority than ending the riots or advancing racial justice. There is no universe in which the dynamics of Lafayette Park before the President seeks to exit the White House is a more urgent national priority than the shattered glass, destroyed businesses, and brutal attacks on law enforcement that are happening nationwide in places like Lafayette Street in New York City.

I will object to my distinguished colleague's thin resolution and will offer something more full-throated in its place.

My resolution would condemn a long pattern of unjust police violence toward Black Americans. It would champion the First Amendment and praise the peaceful protests that followed Mr. Floyd's death. It would clearly condemn the violent rioting that has paralyzed places like New York City and insist that local authorities finally get serious about protecting the innocent.

I hope my distinguished colleague will not object. America is united and outraged at the death of Mr. Floyd, and I hope we can unite to condemn these senseless riots and move forward together as one Nation.

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as in if legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 601 submitted earlier today.

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Mr. McCONNELL. tomorrow; finally, if either of the nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

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