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Floor Speech
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Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, when a criminal is convicted of a crime and locked away in prison, you would think that would put a stop to their illicit activity, but sadly, in too many tragic cases, criminals just continue their wicked ways behind bars. That is because tens of thousands of contraband cell phones are smuggled into and throughout prisons, enabling convicted criminals to carry on with their criminal business as usual from behind bars.
Contraband cell phones in prisons pose a severe threat to public safety. After all, these convicted criminals aren't using cell phones to order takeout, to check the weather, or to watch NFL highlights--no. They use contraband cell phones to order hits on criminal rivals, to traffic drugs, and to run extortion schemes.
Convicted criminals who are sitting in a prison cell shouldn't be able to endanger correctional officers, members of law enforcement, and innocent Americans outside of prisons by using contraband cell phones. If we opt to stand idly by, we might as well hand these criminals the keys to their prison cells.
That is why I have introduced again the Cellphone Jamming Reform Act--to allow State and Federal correctional facilities to use targeted cell phone jamming equipment in prison housing facilities. The key word here is ``targeted.'' The technology is so precise that it does not interrupt with the regular communications of law enforcement or emergency first responders in the vicinity.
However, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and at the end of the day, I simply care about delivering results for every Arkansan. That is why I am proud to support President Trump in his efforts to bring back law and order to neighborhoods and communities across our country. I applaud the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on crime and specifically Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr's announcement that the FCC will vote on a proposal allowing prisons to jam contraband cell phones for the first time. As I am sure many of my Republican colleagues and friends would agree, this action is both a welcome step forward and a long-overdue development.
For years, I have repeatedly urged Democrats to take action, but they didn't--instead, prioritizing and coddling criminals as usual. Consider that in the final hours of the Biden Presidency, Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 convicted criminals, robbing hundreds of thousands of victims of the closure and justice they deserved. To be clear, these were not sympathetic figures; these were criminals, such as a drug dealer responsible for killing a relapsing addict; a fraudster who stole millions of dollars intended for hungry Arkansas kids and low-income families; and the so-called ``kids-for-cash'' judge, who accepted kickbacks in exchange for his role in sending thousands of children to private detention centers.
Sadly, that is not all. Last year, just 2 days before Christmas, Joe Biden announced he was commuting the death sentences of 37 depraved rapists and murderers. While we still don't know how many of these pardons were signed by Joe Biden and how many were signed by his radical aides using his autopen, this is a reminder that, unfortunately, the Democratic Party is the party of soft-on-crime.
As further evidence of this, consider the so-called George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would have handcuffed law enforcement instead of dangerous criminals. Further, consider that every single Soros prosecutor is a Democrat. Finally, consider that the jurisdictions with the worst crimes at the local level are all controlled by Democrats.
Now, you may have heard some Democrats argue that cities with the highest homicide rates are in Republican States, but look a little closer. In almost every case, those cities--like Jackson, MS; Birmingham, AL; and St. Louis, MO, are run by Democrats.
Look at Democrat-led Charlotte, NC. Just last month, an innocent, 23- year-old Ukrainian refugee was heinously murdered by a crazed career criminal while riding a light-rail train. Thanks, in part, to the soft- on-crime policies of the liberal former Governor, Roy Cooper, this deranged murderer had been arrested 14 times, had been convicted of crimes, including robbery with a dangerous weapon, and had assaulted his own sister. Yet he was still allowed to walk free and take the life of Iryna Zarutska.
I want to extend my condolences to her family and loved ones and assure them that we will pursue justice in her tragic case. President Trump and Republicans are working on behalf of innocent individuals like Iryna, who have a right to be safe and secure in their homes, neighborhoods, and communities.
Compare Charlotte to Washington, DC, where more than 1,900 arrests have been made and more than 200 illegal guns have been seized since President Trump deployed the National Guard and Federal law enforcement last month. While the Democratic DC Mayor admitted that President Trump's strategy is working, other Democratic leaders in places like Chicago and Baltimore are resisting assistance and putting up a big stink.
But let me remind everyone that Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson and Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott aren't the ones riding public transportation alone after a long day at work like Iryna Zarutska. They aren't the ones clutching a bottle of pepper spray in their pocket as they wait for a bus to arrive at a stop on an empty street. They don't have to worry that their briefcase or purse will be ripped away from them as they walk to their car in a parking garage.
I would bet that many of the 81 percent of Americans who see crime as a major problem in large cities worry about some of these very real threats in their day-to-day lives. So I would invite the Democrats to wise up and join us on the right side of this issue: fighting crime and standing up for innocent Americans. I am pleased to stand with President Trump and my Republican colleagues to crack down on crime and ensure that every law-abiding American can live in safety, security, and freedom.
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