The Justice Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on a totally different matter, last week, Senator Scott of South Carolina and a group of our colleagues rolled out the JUSTICE Act--a serious set of proposals to move the ball for police reform across the country.

This legislation identifies a number of smart levers that Congress can pull to advance and encourage smart reforms of law enforcement without steamrolling States' and localities' constitutional powers.

It would step up transparency in reporting and recordkeeping. It would expand accountability and disciplinary measures needed to establish and restore community trust. It would directly address issues, such as choke holds and no-knock warrants, which have been in the news lately for reasons that nobody believes are acceptable.

These are the subjects that the country needs us to address. Accordingly, these are the subjects Senator Scott's proposal does address.

The American people expect us to do our jobs, discuss, debate, and legislate on this subject that has captured the Nation's attention-- discussion, debate, and votes on amendments.

Tomorrow, we will find out whether even these modest steps are a bridge too far for our colleagues on the Democratic side.

Earlier this month, Senate Democrats were telling everyone who would listen that we would be derelict in our duty if we did not have police reform legislation on the floor of the Senate this month. But then, as soon as the junior Senator from South Carolina actually published something concrete, their tune changed rather sharply.

Now, suddenly, our Democratic colleagues are reportedly agonizing and debating whether to let the Senate have this discussion at all or whether to kill any chance of reform legislation before it can even taxi onto the runway.

The American people deserve better than a partisan stalemate. The American people deserve for the Senate to take up this issue at this time.

Senate Republicans want to have this discussion. We are ready to make a law, not just make a point.

Tomorrow, we will find out whether our Democratic colleagues share our ambition or whether they choose to duck the issue and leave the country in the lurch.

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