Cloture Motion

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Let me thank Patty Murray for her leadership on this issue.

It is becoming clear--it has become clear already, but it is even clearer today--a pattern is emerging from Donald Trump's Presidency, a pattern of lawlessness. He has pardoned insurrectionists. He has fired many of the government's independent watchdogs. And today--or last night--he froze billions, perhaps trillions, of Federal grant funding to hospitals and fire fighters and seniors and Head Start. Under Donald Trump, it is already clear: It is a golden age--a golden age for lawlessness.

Today, Democrats will seek passage of a resolution that talks about one aspect of this lawlessness: We simply condemn pardoning rioters who attacked our Capitol Police officers on January 6.

My colleague Patty Murray, who has done such a great job on this, read the whole resolution. How the heck can anyone object to a resolution that says we should condemn pardoning those who assaulted police officers? Where is the law-and-order crowd? Where are the people who talked about defunding the police? How do you think every police officer feels when one of their brethren is assaulted and then they are pardoned, and their own Senators, who represent thousands and thousands of police officers each in their States, won't even stand up for their fellow officer?

I just hope our Republican colleagues don't block this resolution. All of us, every one of us--it doesn't matter if you are Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative--every one of us should be able to agree that people who attack police officers don't deserve Presidential pardons. If Republicans stand in the way of this resolution, what an awful message it sends to our own Capitol Police whom we see every day, who work so hard to keep us safe.

Let's be clear. The people who invaded the Capitol on January 6, whether engaged in violence or not, committed a very serious crime. I saw them. I was within 20, 30 feet of them. Now, because of fear of President Trump, the party on the other side says: Never mind.

One of the worst days in American history. There is no gray area here, particularly when it comes to people who attack police officers.

By handing out these pardons to convicted criminals, President Trump is effectively saying: You want to attack our brave police officers? That is OK.

Pardoning lawless rioters is not, not, not what Americans want the President to be prioritizing. They want to see answers to problems that impact them: inflation, good-paying jobs, a better future. They sure as hell don't want to see OMB taking away monies that have been lawfully allocated that they desperately need in so many aspects of their lives.

Our Capitol Police deserve nothing less than our full and steadfast support for everything they do to keep us safe. The very least--the very least--we can do for them as Senators is to come together and declare that those convicted of attacking Capitol Police officers--we say clearly with one voice, let's hope--that these people do not--do not--deserve a pardon.

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