Authorizing the Use of Funds From the Senators' Official Personnel and Office Expense Account for Security Enhancements and Services Provided to Senators
Floor Speech
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Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I thank the majority leader for his comments and commitments regarding improving Member security. I know that he, Leader Schumer, Chairman McConnell, and I all share the same goal. I think all 100 Senators share that goal.
We continue to see an unprecedented rise in threats targeting Members of Congress, with the Capitol Police on track to investigate over 14,000 threat cases in 2025. That represents a 50-percent increase over the nearly 9,500 threats Capitol Police reported in 2024.
We are witnessing disturbing incidents of politically motivated violence across the Nation, targeting elected officials and high- profile individuals associated with both political parties.
Whether it is the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk at a college campus in Utah or the tragic assassination of former speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Melissa Hortman and her husband in their home, it is tragic; it is unacceptable. And we would be foolish not to take notice.
The House acted on a bipartisan basis to provide new funding for enhanced Member security this past July. Even before the June shooting of Minnesota State officials, the Senate Sergeant at Arms proposed a program for enhanced security options for Senators. Bipartisan Senate Appropriations leaders have expressed support to fund that effort.
Unfortunately, progress has been slow despite strong interest from Senators of both parties. So today's resolution is a step in the right direction. And the majority leader's statements about the further progress we need to make soon were very important--because, on its own, today's action is not nearly enough.
First, unlike the bipartisan House plan, there is no new funding provided by today's resolution. On the other side of the Capitol, bipartisan House leaders announced that Members will receive an additional $10,000 per month to help with security. This resolution-- without further action--requires Senators to choose between either paying for office staff and operations or paying for their own personal security.
The Senate has two great security agencies: the Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police. They do a great job with their existing programs, and they are ready and able to do more if we give them direction and funding.
So while I am ready to support adoption of this resolution today, I do so based on the commitments from the majority leader and Democratic leader, namely: First, we will work on new security options from the Sergeant-at-Arms, in coordination with the Capitol Police; and second, we will see real funding to support enhanced Senate security; and finally, that we will see more progress in the coming weeks.
I look forward to continuing to work on a bipartisan basis to get that done.
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