The JUSTICE Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, nearly a month has passed since George Floyd died. In a show of unity, which bridged divides Americans-- Republicans, Democrats, Independents--demanded that something be done to prevent such deaths from happening in the future. Republicans are trying to do something.

Thanks to the leadership of Senator Tim Scott, the Senate is trying to consider the JUSTICE Act, a major bill to reform police departments in meaningful, practical ways; yet today, Democrats blocked consideration of the bill. I hope Democrats allow the Senate to at least debate the JUSTICE Act. If Democrats don't like the bill, offer an amendment. Make the case. Reforming police departments, making justice fair, and equal for all is a bipartisan issue.

I smiled when I was sitting in the Chair where you are right now, Mr. President, when a Senate colleague, who is a Democrat, spoke yesterday and described the Senate as the world's greatest deliberative body. I thought she must be sarcastic. I say that because Democrats refuse to allow deliberation. The people sent us here to solve problems. Let's do the work.

As I was sitting in the Chair yesterday, I heard Democrats rationalize why they refuse to allow debate. As best as I can tell, they refused to allow any deliberation because they are not sure that what they want to be included will be included.

I think now it is time to review that which most of us learned in fifth grade. Just for a civics lesson for my Democratic colleagues, I am going to go through how a bill is passed and to show that, even though they don't like how the bill starts, they can actually change how it ends and vote against it if they don't like it.

We all learned this. This is how a bill is passed. We get an idea from a constituent. Those ideas are on the street right now. They want reform of how policing occurs, to make sure that it is fair and equitable for all. The bill can go through the House. It is debated on the House floor. If it is approved, it comes to the Senate.

I am going to interject here. The Senate may come up with its own bill, and it goes to the floor. Here, it says the bill is debated. That is not happening. Filibuster and cloture may occur, and the Senate may approve the bill.

Let's stop here. If the Democratic Senators don't like the bill in its current form, they can amend it. If they don't like the way it is when it is amended, they can vote against it. If they vote against it, it will not pass. If they don't like where it ends up, after we deliberate, debate, and offer amendments, they can still defeat it.

Let's just imagine that it does get approved, then it goes to the conference committee--you and I know this--but there are some watching who heard this dialogue yesterday or these speeches yesterday from our colleagues on the Democratic side. Let me just remind people, if we approve a bill, it still goes to conference committee.

The legislation passed by the House of Representatives is considered; those two bills are merged; and then it comes back for another vote. They have a chance to amend. They have a chance to vote against it if they don't like the final product, and then it is going to a conference committee with Speaker Pelosi's version, and then they get to vote against that if they don't like that.

If all they do is allow deliberation of the bill--in what one said sarcastically was the ``world's greatest deliberative body''--they would have this, that, and that opportunity to either change, disapprove, or to vote on something which they finally approve. That is how it is supposed to work.

By the way, my young aide was bringing us into the Chamber and saw somebody in the hallway, and the young person said: Hmm, it doesn't work that way. He remembered seeing this cartoon, this YouTube, when he was a kid. All he could say was: It doesn't work that way.

It should. It is how our Founding Fathers set it up. But the other side decided it doesn't work that way, and that is too bad. That is too bad because, if we don't do the work, if we don't deliberate, if we continue to have status quo over the change and the reform that all the American people are demanding, then we will not be answering the pleas of those peaceful protesters who are asking for that change.

The cynic might believe the Democrats blocked deliberation of the JUSTICE Act because they don't want the President or the Republicans to have a win in an election year. If that is the case, if this is purely political, they have let down the American people, especially those who demand justice. They let down the American people just to score political points.

Maybe they blocked it because it doesn't include the Democratic Party's new wish list: defunding and abolishing police forces. Perhaps they knew that, if somebody offered an amendment to the JUSTICE Act to defund police, then Members would be forced to vote on the measure rather than just pay lip service to an idea that is going nowhere.

Let me say, defunding and abolishing police forces is not the direction Republicans believe we should take, for obvious reasons. Mobs are destroying and defacing property and destroying and defacing monuments of national heroes--George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant. World War II memorials are being defaced with swastikas, torn down by a mob that hates the United States of America.

When you establish a so-called police-free zone--an absurd promise for a utopian society that is, in fact, full of crime--the one in Seattle has had, I think, four shootings--at this point, the mob's goal is not justice for George Floyd; the mob's goal is about displaying their hatred for the United States of America.

If Senate Democrats reject that behavior of the mob, let the country hear you. Reject it. But that would require debate. That would require deliberation. That is what is being denied the JUSTICE Act. That is what Senate Democrats will not allow.

Here is what Senate Democrats blocked when they decided against allowing deliberation of the JUSTICE Act, if you will, addressing the demands of the people who are calling for reforms of policing. They denied stronger accountability measures for the police departments. The JUSTICE Act requires reporting of use of force and no-knock warrants. It increased penalty for false police reports. It institutes penalties for failing to properly use body cameras. It requires sharing of disciplinary records so that departments will know whether an applicant has the history of bad behavior in another law enforcement department.

By the way, some of the Senate Democrats have said they want to outlaw these things. Offer an amendment. That is why you deliberate. You don't come up with a deal in a back room and bring it--and, oh, my gosh, we have to vote on it. You offer an amendment. Allow deliberation.

Why will they not respond to the pleas of the American people to deliberate, to consider, to come up with some form of fairness and policing for those who feel like it has been denied?

Let me continue. The JUSTICE Act requires the Department of Justice to develop and provide training and deescalation and intervention techniques to prevent police encounters from getting out of hand. That training works. The New Orleans Police Department has implemented it.

One of the images I saw when the riots were occurring in Minneapolis was the New Orleans Police Department taking a knee with protesters in Jackson Square--literally on common ground--to say that we are with you to work towards a solution. That is because of this sort of training being instituted there. I am so proud that my State has example of that which works. This bill would take that which works and make it common across the country.

The JUSTICE Act also requires training and education about the African-American socioeconomic circumstance so officers can gain a better perspective in these communities. It promotes understanding of how African-American males are impacted by experience, including education, healthcare, financial status in the criminal justice system. It helps departments know the best practices for police tactics, employment processes, community transparency, and how law enforcement can best engage on issues related to mental health, homelessness, and addiction.

Senator Scott, drawing from his own experiences, crafted a bill with reforms that will lead to more accountability, fewer uses of force, and a better understanding of disenfranchised and minority communities that police should also serve and protect. Criminal justice reform advocates have long called for the very same reforms the JUSTICE Act institutes. In fact, there is a lot of agreement between Republicans and Democrats on many of the reforms in this bill.

I will ask once more: Why are Democrats blocking even a consideration on this floor of this bill? If you don't like it, work to change it. If it passes, it only passes with your votes. If it does pass, it then goes to the House of Representatives for reconciliation with their bill, and then it comes back. But we should at least debate--at least pretend to hear the cries of the American people who are asking for justice for those who perceive that they have been denied.

We know that the JUSTICE Act brings about the changes to policing that Americans are calling for: more accountability, deescalation training, education, and other things. Yet again, Senate Democrats have blocked even a discussion of those reforms.

I ask myself--it doesn't make sense, good people--why would they block even consideration, any response whatsoever to the cries of the people on the street that the Congress do something? Why would they even do that? Then I return to this. I think they are afraid that someone on their side of the aisle will offer an amendment to defund the police, and they would have to go on the record as to whether or not they are going to appease a radical left base to vote to defund the police or whether or not they are going to support the men and women in uniform that protect us all. They don't want that.

It is not just a political calculation that they don't want President Trump to have a win, I suppose; it is a political calculation that they don't want a loss. They don't want to be forced to declare their support for the police or their support to defund the police.

They are ignoring the cries of protesters demanding that George Floyd never occur again in order to cover political tracks. I think it is important to recognize that defunding the police, which I think is a radical concept, is absurd. We need police officers. In fact, I am always struck that my colleagues of both parties always thank Capitol Police for the service they do.

Don't the people who live in our community thank the police officers to keep their business from being stolen and robbed or burned? I think they do. But on the other hand, if you think police should be defunded, allow that amendment to come up, and then vote on it. The American people didn't send us here to duck tough votes. They sent us here to declare that which we believe in but also to represent their interest.

A word about the mob that is not peaceful protesters advocating for justice for all but those who hate the United States of America, who wish to erase our history, and who wish to replace our national heroes with toppled statues and swastikas and hammer and sickles upon the side of the building. The irony is that most of the mob relies upon constitutional protections of free speech and freedom of assembly. We cherish those rights. We cherish them and thank those who are peacefully protesting for exercising those constitutional rights.

I also hear from some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that, somehow, these actions of anarchists are just violent. There is a sentiment that says we try to enact change peacefully, but nothing is happening. I, unfortunately, have to agree with them.

The Republicans have brought forward a bill that would peacefully begin to make changes in how policing is understood and practiced and, in peacefully doing so, bring about change for which they are advocating. But again, nothing has happened because Senate Democrats have decided that they don't even want to debate a bill, offer amendments, vote against the final product, or allow it to go to a conference committee with the House of Representatives to be changed once more to perhaps come more to their liking.

Again, my Senate Democratic colleagues are not just blocking reform; they will not even allow discussion of reform. They don't want to talk to Republicans about it. They don't want to take a stand on defunding and abolishing police departments. Rather than have a debate, we go into hiding, leaving the issues regarding the reform of policing unresolved. I hope my Democratic colleagues allow the debate to occur. I hope they recognize the importance of this issue to all Americans, especially to those in communities of color, but really to us all.

To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Come back to the table. Let's hear your amendments. Let's have debate. Let's enact the change we need by building a consensus on the best path forward. Let's live up to the statement that the Senate is the world's greatest deliberative body.

Together, the Senate--Republicans and Democrats--can deliver change for the American people. We can bring about the unity that we as a country desperately need in order to heal as a society, but this will only happen if my Senate Democratic colleagues stop hiding behind procedural votes.

Come to the floor. Let's deliberate. Let's do what the Founding Fathers imagined that we would. I know that it is politically difficult, but sometimes, we have to rise above political difficulty with a challenge of time, and that challenge is now.

I yield back.

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