Amid Violent Crime Surge, Biden Nominee Called for Cutting Police Funding
‘If our Democratic colleagues have their way, a couple of days from now, the American people will have an Assistant Attorney General who argued publicly just last year that ‘we must invest less in police.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Department of Justice nominee Kristen Clarke:
“When President Biden’s nominees have been qualified and mainstream, they’ve received bipartisan cooperation. But the President’s choice to head a key division at the Department of Justice as an Assistant Attorney General failed to even advance out of committee.
“The Democratic Leader had to reach into the Judiciary Committee and rescue the nomination of Kristen Clarke. Our colleagues on the Committee did not give her a favorable recommendation.
“That’s because of a long history of statements that place the nominee on, frankly, the far-left fringe of the political spectrum.
“If our Democratic colleagues have their way, a couple of days from now, the American people will have an Assistant Attorney General who argued publicly just last year that ‘we must invest less in police.’ She used that exact phrase three times in one essay.
“Violent crime shot up dramatically in 2020. One survey of 30-plus major American cities found that the murder rate jumped 30 percent last year alone. Other estimates have found even larger increases. Experts say 2020 saw the largest one-year rise in homicides that America has ever seen, as far back as we have the recorded statistics. Early data from this year suggest that 2021 may be even worse.
“But apparently the President’s response to this violent crime wave is to have a proponent of defunding the police help run the Department of Justice.
“Adequate policing is not an enemy of civil rights. Among other things, a recent study by multiple university professors confirmed that more cops lead to fewer murders. Quote: ‘Larger police forces save lives and the lives saved are disproportionately Black lives.’ End quote.
“Police funding isn’t the only important issue where the nominee’s judgment has missed the mark.
“Three years ago, when the then-Attorney General was standing up a Task Force on Religious Liberty, Ms. Clarke said this was designed, quote, ‘to make it easier for people to use religion to mask their discriminatory goals.’ An incredibly out-of-touch far-left statement.
“Finally, we are currently watching an alarming spike in anti-Semitic attacks and violence across our country. I introduced new legislation on Friday with Senator Cotton to confront anti-Semitism head-on. But as a Harvard undergraduate, Ms. Clarke invited, welcomed, introduced, and then defended a famously anti-Semitic guest speaker who had authored a book literally titled The Jewish Onslaught.
“The nominee has stated recently that she regrets that decision. I would hope so.
“Yet she also claims that her op-ed from just last year, which asserted three times that ‘we must invest less in police,’ was not actually suggesting that we invest less in police.
“This is not the right nominee for a crucial post at a crucial time. I urge my colleagues to vote ‘no’ this week.”
Related Issues: Law Enforcement
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