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BIDEN'S CRIME CRISIS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose) for 5 minutes.
Mr. ROSE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the alarming spike in crime happening across major cities in our Nation.
Right now American families are being forced to face an explosion of violent crime in their streets and in their neighborhoods. After the riots of the past year which saw the destruction of both public and private property, and as we undergo one of the worst crime waves in modern history, citizens are deservedly concerned about their safety and well-being.
One of the essential functions of our government is to provide security to all citizens. Yet the Biden administration, after months of refusing to acknowledge the crime wave, finally addressed it by claiming that crime is down. That misleading claim couldn't be further from the truth. Crime is actually skyrocketing, and it is plaguing cities across the Nation.
Homicides are up 533 percent--yes, 533 percent--in Portland, 50 percent in Minneapolis, 35 percent in Philadelphia, and 24 percent in Los Angeles compared to the same time in 2020.
On top of that, ambush-style attacks on police officers this year have increased 91 percent compared to this time last year. When Democrats defund the police, lawlessness is guaranteed to follow, complete with more crimes of all kinds, including murder. Left unchecked, such lawlessness will eventually destroy our Republic.
So how did a nation of law and order become a nation of lawlessness and chaos in such a short period of time?
Make no mistake, the socialist agenda of President Biden and far-left Democrats in Congress is to blame. Radical policies like defunding the police, abolishing prisons, and eliminating cash bail have contributed to the surging crime wave.
We cannot tolerate vandalism or violence, and we surely cannot normalize a culture of violence by failing to fully prosecute those who are working to dismantle our cities. Tennesseans cannot bear much more of Biden's crime crisis. The solution to countering the crime wave is clear: we must fund and support our law enforcement agencies across the country.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 133
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