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Scalise: House Republicans Keep Communities Safe from Soft-on-Crime Policies

  • Crime Bill Enrollment Ceremony 3.10.23
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Republican Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Oversight Committee Chairman Jamie Comer (R-Ky.), Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), and other members of the Republican Conference at today’s enrollment ceremony for Rep. Andrew Clyde’s legislation, H.J. Res. 26, which prevents the D.C. Council from implementing their disastrous soft-on-crime criminal code overhaul that makes it easier for violent offenders to walk the streets of our capital. Leader Scalise highlighted how important it is to keep hardened criminals in jail after the first violent crime they commit so their future crimes are prevented and the lives of their would-be victims are saved. Additionally, Leader Scalise affirmed House Republicans’ support of law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to keep our communities safe.   
 
Click here or on the image above to view Leader Scalise's remarks.
 
On H.J. Res. 26 and keeping communities safe from soft-on-crime policies:

“All Americans deserve to be safe. People who live in the District of Columbia deserve to be safe. When American citizens come from all around the country to see their government in action – and by the way, now that the House is open, where all people can come and see their government in action again, more people are participating in that process – but they deserve to be safe when they come here, too. 

“And [Rep.] Andrew Clyde recognized that, as you saw crime getting more and more out of control, and shockingly, the D.C. Council passed an ordinance that zeroed out, got rid of mandatory minimum sentences for violent offenders, people who commit violent crimes. If somebody carjacks you at gunpoint, [it] used to be over 14 years they serve minimum – brought it down to zero. And for many other violent crimes, too. 

“And [Rep. Clyde], as the Speaker said, heard from someone here in D.C. who said, ‘Can we do something about it?’ Congress has a constitutional duty to be able to govern D.C., to pass legislation to solve problems. And here was a real serious problem that needed to be solved. 

“When House Republicans ran to get the majority, one of the things we said we would do is fight for those people who are being left behind, fight for those hard working families who the government had just forgotten about. We said we would address crime in communities in just a few short weeks. We now have a bill going to the President's desk that will be signed that will save lives here in the District of Columbia.

“We wasted no time to start following through on the commitment we made to America to address serious problems. You've seen it in the last few weeks. We passed another important bill today that will go to the President's desk and probably be signed to declassify information on the origins of COVID so Americans can find out how this really started. Disease that affected every American all across the country and people all around the world. And you're going to continue to see us bring legislation week after week to fight for those families who had been left behind for way too long. 

“But today, we're talking about a bill that's going to make communities safer. And as the Speaker said, this doesn't just involve D.C. We saw just a few days ago, the people of Chicago said, ‘We're going to take our city back,’ and they fired their mayor. This is happening all across the country. People are fed up with crime that's out of control and they want to do something about it. But we're going to do something about it as well. 

“And this bill that [Rep.] Clyde brought forward, that all of my colleagues behind me proudly voted for, even with the President saying he was opposed to it – that's not why we do this. Whether or not the Senate is going to take it up, whether or not the President is going to sign it, is not the driving factor. The real issue is, is it the right thing to do for America? And if it is, we're going to do it and then we're going to encourage the Senate to pass it. We're going to encourage President Biden to sign it. But at the end of the day, this is about getting this country back on track. 

“And the D.C. police chief probably said it best just a few days ago when he talked about how dire this is, because we stand with the blue. We've got the Fraternal Order police here represented today. We support the men and women in law enforcement who keep our community safe. But there's nothing more demoralizing to police officers who are risking their lives than when they see that they arrest somebody, a hardened criminal who committed a crime, created another victim, and even when they're found guilty, they get to walk scot free and go commit more crimes. 

“This is really happening. The police chief pointed it out. He said for every single person who's murdered, eleven other victims were created prior to that. So not only is this bill important to keeping our streets safe, but there will be fewer victims in the District of Columbia when this is signed into law. There will be fewer homicide victims. There'll be more people alive in D.C. the next few months and years because somebody who commits a homicide, if there's eleven other victims, if you put them in jail the first time they're caught, there's not those ten other victims and the eleventh person that's actually a homicide victim who's killed. 

“This bill will save lives, this bill will make streets safer, and this bill will send a message for other people around the country, in state houses and in cities throughout the country, to take action just like we are to make communities safer.”