WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) led more than 30 colleagues to introduce a resolution calling on the Biden administration to work with Congress to develop a plan to combat the rise in crime and crisis at the southern border. The resolution comes as the nation honors National Police Week.
“If there was ever a time that the American people want to know that the president and Congress are working together to defeat the scourge of crime, the time is now. This resolution is to send the message that combating crime is what we are focused on,” said Dr. Cassidy.
Cassidy is joined by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), John Boozman (R-AR), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and Todd Young (R-IN).
Read the full resolution here or below.
Whereas rising crime, especially violent crime, in the United States poses a threat to the national interest, as well as to the safety and security of individuals, communities, businesses, law enforcement officers, and the rule of law;
Whereas, for the purposes of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, violent crimes consist of offenses that involve force or the threat of force, namely—
(1) murder and non-negligent manslaughter;
(2) forcible rape;
(3) robbery; and
(4) aggravated assault;
Whereas violent crimes are occurring every day in major cities across the United States in part due to progressive prosecutors declining to charge violent offenders and certain bail reform policies allowing dangerous criminals back into society;
Whereas released offenders go on to commit more violent crimes and inflict more terror and death on other individuals in the United States;
Whereas rising violent crime destroys families and should be combated by criminal justice systems that prosecute the offenders as offenders, and not as victims;
Whereas the murder rate in the United States rose 30 percent between 2019 and 2020, the largest single-year increase in more than a century;
Whereas there was a 59 percent increase in murders of police officers in 2021;
Whereas, as of April 1, 2022, 101 police officers had been shot this year, 17 of whom were killed by gunfire;
Whereas at least 16 cities in the United States set murder records in 2021;
Whereas organized retail crime threats in 2020 cost retailers an average of $720,000 for every $1,000,000,000 in sales, and 69 percent of retailers surveyed in 2021 had seen an increase in organized retail crime in 2021;
Whereas organized retail crime threatens the safety of retail workers as organized crime groups, gangs, and individuals use weapons other than guns, such as mace chemical spray and Taser stun guns, to rob and assault hard-working retail employees;
Whereas rising violent crime in the United States can be directly correlated to a surge in illegal immigration at the southern border of the United States and a surge in the sale, distribution, and consumption of illegal drugs;
Whereas, in December 2021, 178,840 illegal immigrants were apprehended attempting to cross the United States-Mexico border, the highest total for December in the history of the Department of Homeland Security, and a 142 percent increase from December 2020;
Whereas more than 2,500,000 illegal immigrants have been caught attempting to cross the United States-Mexico border since January 2021, with more apprehended in the 3-month period from November 2021 through January 2022 than in all of fiscal year 2020;
Whereas 461 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the southern border in December 2021 alone, enough to kill more than 30 percent of the United States population;
Whereas drug cartels have overburdened Border Patrol resources by surging illegal immigrants into strategic locations so that the cartels can traffic narcotics and other contraband into the United States undetected;
Whereas violent crimes related to illegal immigration and the illegal drug trade must stop for the sake of the sovereignty of the United States and the safety of the people of the United States;
Whereas, with overdose deaths at an all-time high, every State is a border State, as the flow of illegal drugs from the United States-Mexico border puts all States at risk regardless of proximity to the border;
Whereas securing the southern border and ensuring the safety of citizens of the United States is one of the most important responsibilities of the Federal Government;
Whereas the current Administration’s alleged violent crime reduction strategy is actually a gun control strategy and wrongly puts lawful gun owners and dealers at the center of enforcement efforts instead of focusing on the criminals perpetuating violence, insecurity, and fear across the United States;
Whereas the same gun violence reduction strategy unfairly puts the blame for gun violence in major, Democrat-run cities and States on neighboring States with lower crime rates; and
Whereas violent crimes can only be combated if the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, other law enforcement agencies, and the private sector work together: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the President should work with Congress to develop and execute a strategy, drawing on the multiple instruments of power and resources of the United States—
(1) to counter the rise in violent crime across the country by reinforcing strong criminal justice policies, by laying blame on the perpetrators of violent acts, and by securing the southern border; and
(2) to coordinate with Federal, State, and local agencies and authorities to—
(A) implement the strategy; and
(B) exhort all those agencies and authorities to strengthen their approaches to combat the violent crime epidemic within the country.
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