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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, about safety and the Capitol and our meeting today that Senator Thune and I called.

First, I would like to say that the Capitol Police have always been the silent heroes behind the scenes, keeping Members safe. That is no secret. The country saw that for themselves on January 6 and in the footage after, and they are doing a good job. We had a very good meeting where Members brought up their concerns, and efforts--strong efforts--are going to be made to answer those concerns with expanded--expanded--activity by the Capitol Police. But after the awful situation this weekend, there is real concern, not just here in the Capitol but with folks across the country, about the safety of elected officials.

These violent acts are an attack not just on the individuals who were targeted but on our democracy itself. Public servants should never have to fear for their lives simply for doing their jobs. There should not be an attempt to intimidate public servants not do their jobs or not to take their jobs. So we need to take immediate steps to ensure the safety of Members. That includes sending additional funding and resources to the Capitol Police. There was agreement today in the Senate, among Democrats and Republicans, that we ought to be spending some more dollars here to protect the Capitol, the Senators, and their staffs.

But it is amazing. Instead, the Trump administration is doing the exact opposite. USA Today reported that, as lone actor attacks are on the rise, Donald Trump had cut the program called AIMED at spotting them. This program is aimed to spot lone-actor, violent, domestic extremists--exactly what happened in Minnesota.

The day before a violent political attack in Minnesota [occurred], the last top officials at a program that aims to spot so-called ``lone actor'' violent domestic extremists were reassigned to other roles.

And that is USA Today's reporting.

In the 4 months since Trump took office, his administration has shrunk the Department of Homeland Security's Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, known as CP3, from dozens of analysts and supervisors. Now it has fewer than 10 people, and it is led by a 22- year-old recent graduate with no law enforcement experience. Here we have more violent attacks, and at the same time, the Trump administration is cutting the very unit in law enforcement that is supposed to go after these lone-wolf, violent attacks and prevent them. Right now, we need to give law enforcement more resources to prevent these horrific attacks, not less. A program in charge of doing these things shouldn't have fewer than 10 people and be led by a 22-year-old with no experience.

What I am saying here, that this program has been cut dramatically-- the AIMED Program--will reverberate among everybody who wants a safer America and should reverberate among all elected officials, Democrat and Republican, about the need to keep this program.

So we need to give more resources to law enforcement, but let me be clear: This dangerous environment isn't spontaneous. It is being stoked, often deliberately, by the reckless rhetoric coming from some of the most powerful voices in the country.

When political opponents are treated like enemies, danger follows. And that is what Trump has done. He has weaponized the Justice Department and law enforcement. It is going after his political enemies instead of going after criminals.

It is the responsibility of all leaders, especially the President of the United States, to not just unequivocally condemn hatred but to stop violent and aggressive language against political opponents.

Trump has to see that his words have real impact and consequences, and here is one way he could start right now: He could demand of Senator Lee that he take down his inflammatory, despicable posts about the deaths of the two people in Minnesota. They are gross. They are disgusting. They are the kind of thing that just riles people up.

Let Trump call Lee up and say: Take them down. Take those posts down.

That will be a start. But in general, he has to stop treating his political opponents as enemies because danger will always follow.

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