‘2020 saw the U.S. homicide rate jump more than at any point in over a century. The worst spike in the murder rate in more than 100 years… Our southern border saw more illegal crossings last year than in any year on record, yet ICE has made its fewest interior arrests in a decade… These are the sort of issues that should keep the Department of Justice up all night. But Attorney General Garland has other priorities.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, October 28, 2021 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the rule of law:
“Yesterday brought reports that carjackings in my hometown of Louisville were up 150% since 2019. And the city’s 2021 murder total is rapidly closing in on the all-time record we just set last year.
“These aren’t just local problems. They’re national trends. 2020 saw the U.S. homicide rate jump more than at any point in over a century. The worst spike in the murder rate in more than 100 years.
“The law enforcement crises don’t stop there. Our southern border saw more illegal crossings last year than in any year on record, yet ICE has made its fewest interior arrests in a decade.
“A crime epidemic and a border crisis. These are the sort of problems you might expect the nation’s top law enforcement officer to face head-on. These are the sort of issues that should keep the Department of Justice up all night.
“But Attorney General Garland has other priorities.
“The AG made waves this month with a bizarre memo that directed the FBI and along with the DOJ’s Criminal, National Security, and Civil Rights divisions to focus special attention and scrutiny on parents who have opinions about their local school boards.
“Yesterday, under questioning from the Judiciary Committee, the Attorney General seemed incapable of giving a satisfactory explanation as to why the parents of America are his A-1 priority.
“Nor could he explain why his bizarre guidance came just days after a powerful interest group sent a letter demanding this action.
“Actually, the interest group has already apologized for that letter. They say they regret sending it. But the Attorney General won’t budge from his shocking guidance even after the special interests that asked for it have backed away! Apparently, the instant that special interests ask the Biden Administration to jump, this Attorney General responds ‘How high?’
“The Attorney General insisted that all his Department is concerned about is, ‘violence and threats of violence.’ Of course violence and threats are always wrong. They are also already illegal, and already the purview of local law enforcement.
“There is no evidence that America’s concerned parents needed to be singled out as targets of this J. Edgar Hoover act from the feds.
“If Democrats at the local, state, and federal levels want fewer concerned parents showing up at school board meetings, the solution is to stop indoctrinating their kids with crazy messages on the taxpayers’ dime.
“Not trying to use federal law enforcement to frighten families out of their First Amendment rights.”
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