Public Safety

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, from coast to coast, American families are facing an explosion of violent crime on their streets and in their neighborhoods. The year 2020 saw homicides skyrocket nationwide--the sharpest 1-year increase in decades--and 2021 is already shaping up to be even worse.

Last year, Seattle saw a 61-percent increase in murders citywide. In 2020, Minneapolis saw homicides hit levels not seen since the 1990s, and, so far, 2021 is about doubling last year's pace. Here in Washington, DC, 2020 saw homicides hit a 16-year high, and, again, 2021 is already on an even worse trajectory. The situation is devolving all across the country. In my hometown of Louisville, as one report put it: ``[T]he number of slayings in 2020 dwarf[ed] anything Louisville has seen--obliterating the previous record.''

Crime and delinquency have many causes. In some ways, the pandemic likely contributed, but it is impossible to ignore that these terrible trends are coming precisely as so-called ``progressives'' have decided it is time to denounce and defund local law enforcement. Seattle, for example, cut police funding by 20 percent. Minneapolis defunded cops by millions of dollars. The District of Columbia's city council approved $15 million in cuts. These boneheaded decisions are the direct result of an anti-law enforcement fad that has swept through the political left like a wildfire.

Perhaps just as important as these funding cuts is the wave of hostile sentiment that has come with them. Harvard scholars have found that, after high-profile incidents reduce the trust that the public and politicians put in the police, the cities in question receive less active policing and, subsequently, see an increase in crime, including homicides.

In other words, in the wake of terrible incidents like we saw last summer, local leaders should look for ways to build bridges and rebuild trust between the vast majority of brave and honorable officers and their communities.

Oh, no. Instead, from city councils to the Halls of Congress, many on the far left decided to crank the knob all the way up on anti-cop rhetoric all across the board:

Not only do we need to disinvest from police but we need to completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.

Policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist . . . No more policing, incarceration, and militarization.

Incredulous people asked whether this nonsense was ever meant seriously.

Helpfully, one Member of Congress clarified: ``Defunding police means defunding police.''

That is a clarifying comment.

A small set of politicians may see selfish opportunities for fame or fundraising if they defame and defund the police, but American families are paying a deadly price.

Defunding the police isn't just a terrible idea for overall public safety; it is also a uniquely awful strategy for racial justice. One study recently confirmed: ``Larger police forces save lives, and the lives saved are disproportionately Black lives.''

So, look. I am not sure exactly how the rantings of far-left Twitter about crime and policing became official Democratic Party dogma in so many places across America. What I do know is that ordinary Americans cannot bear much more of this, and that goes double for the most vulnerable neighborhoods.

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