Durbin: If Republicans Were Serious About Violent Crime, They Would Get Serious About the January 6 Insurrection

WASHINGTON – Responding to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today condemned the Republican Party’s hypocrisy on combating violent crime.

“We are going through regular—sometimes daily, sometimes weekly—lectures from the Republicans about who's soft on crime,” Durbin said.  “Every single nominee that comes from the Biden White House is subject to being challenged as to whether they're going to ‘defund the police’… These same Republicans asking these pointed questions to nominees are nowhere to be found when it comes to discussing January 6, 2021.  In fact, many of them were cheerleaders and apologists for the very demonstrators who came into this United States Capitol.”

Durbin continued, “These were violent individuals who are being called to task for having assaulted this Capitol, broken down the windows and the doors,… forcing the Vice President of the United States, and the Senators there that day—and I was one of them—to exit by the backdoor for their lives.  And here we have this ‘we're not soft on crime’ message from Republicans who are making excuses [for the insurrectionists].”

Durbin went on to remind the Senate chamber that it was only yesterday when U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) objected to Durbin’s unanimous consent request to confirm six U.S. Attorney (USA) nominees and two U.S. Marshal (USM) nominees—who play a critical role in enforcing the law, promoting public safety, and protecting our communities.

“There's not a single question being asked about the qualifications of these individuals,” Durbin said.  “Don't tell me you respect law enforcement and don't tell me you want to fight crime, and then turn around and tie the hands of the Department of Justice… If we’re going to get serious about fighting crime… every federal law enforcement official should be doing their part.  They cannot do their part when the junior Senator from Arkansas stops us from even approving their appointments to these positions.  These appointments remain vacant and we pay a price for it.  And when we receive lectures from the Minority Leader or from others on the floor about respect for law and law enforcement, I'd say he ought to start in his own caucus.”

Durbin concluded, “If we're going to reach into the communities around America and try to stop this violence before it occurs, then we have to look at other approaches… I hope that when we talk about this whole issue of a safer America which we all aspire to, that we do it in a balanced way.  We talk about effective prosecution by members of law enforcement who are playing by the rules.  But we also realize that it takes more than that.  We need an investment in the communities to make a difference.”

Video of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s floor speech is available here for TV Stations. 

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