Recognizing Law Enforcement Officers Across the Country
Floor Speech
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Mr. BANKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend from the great State of Arizona (Mr. Biggs) for organizing this Special Order so we can focus on the civil unrest that has enveloped our Nation in recent months.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all of my colleagues who have already shared their thoughts on how we can stop the unrest and restore law and order.
Too many Americans are home tonight worried about what will happen if a violent mob descends on their community or on their small business. That is why I join my friends here tonight and rise up to voice my concerns about leftwing activists running through our streets rioting, looting, and destroying people's livelihoods.
But what concerns me the most is that we are not holding them accountable for their actions. That is why I have written a bill that would strip a rioter caught and convicted of looting, vandalism, or violence of coronavirus unemployment benefits.
While we all support the right to protest peacefully, I know I speak for my colleagues and my constituents when I say it is time to put a stop to the destruction of American cities and leaving the taxpayers and small business owners as the ones who are holding the bag.
My bill is called the Support Peaceful Protest Act. Not only would it hold those rioting and looting accountable by preventing them from receiving enhanced unemployment benefits, but it would also force those arrested and convicted to pay the costs of policing these spectacles.
It is time to force these rioters to face the financial costs of their actions. They need to feel the consequences of their actions.
I offer this piece of legislation as part of a solution to stop the rioting and restore law and order across our Nation. The civil unrest is dangerous, and it must come to an end.
Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my friend and colleague, Mr. Biggs, for letting me share about my bill. I hope that all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will consider adding their names to it.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Biggs, once again, for holding this important Special Order hour on what is on the top of the minds of so many of the American people.
Thank you. God bless.
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