Course of time america should find a president in the oval office who chooses to break the Police Tactics of dictators around the world to the streets of america, then that is the moment it is incumbent on every member of this chamber who has sworn and oh an oath to our saytitution to stand up and no no say not now, not here, not ever, and we put an end to i t. That is why i brought forward this amendment, stop secret policing in america amendment and ask for it to be debated on this bill because it involves police powers, military powers in the United States of america, and it is happening right now. What am i talking about . Some sense ofu what we have seen on the streets of america in the past few days. Governments, not democratic governments send unmarked authorities after protesters. This is what we saw. Border protection in combat camouflage coming to streets not marking what their organization is and no unique identifier. The head of the cbp said they had markings. Here they are. , they make it even worse look a whole lot like protesters from the far right who come to make trouble dressed in camouflage. They actually have things that look more like badges than the actual representatives of customs and border protection. And what else did we see . Here is a navy veteran standing in the street who said he came to protest to simply say, are you honoring your oath to the constitution . Officersave cbp beating him. They broke one of his bones. This man pepper sprayed him in the face. A peaceful protest are standing tester protester, standing, being attacked by dressed in camouflage forces deployed by the president of the United States. And then what else happened . They did not consult with the city and with the state and not think carefully about what weapons they are carrying and how they use them. So impact munitions. This protester in the silhouette, he is standing, he is holding what appears to be a sign above his head, or maybe it is a radio. Moments later in the video that shows this, he is shot down. You see him collapse on the street. Peaceful protest are protester, standing, making his case, as peer indeed by the u. S. Constitution, and he is shot square between the eyes by president trumps forces, deployed without permission, had no coordination with the local representatives or governor of the state of oregon. Down,oung man, struck shot in the head, and the hospital, in clinical condition, is doing better now, thankfully. These forces deployed away from the federal buildings and start snatching protesters and throwing them into an unmarked van. Vans like this one here. One young man said i was terrified. He said i did not know who these people were. There is a video of people saying, who are you all, and they did not answer him. He thinks they might be right wing protesters being camouflaged. He thinks he might be kidnapped. Even when he is thrown into a jail cell, it is not explained why they grabbed him off the streets. Secret police, unmarked, throwing people into unmarked vehicles and sweeping them away. That is what you get from authoritarian dictators. Republic wherea we have a constitution and we have rights. That is what is going on here. That is what has to stop here in america. Some of the headlines, federal Law Enforcement use public vehicles to grab unmarked vehicles to grab protesters off the streets. A navy vet and the white sweatshirt being attacked by two officers while another sprays him with pepper spray. Federal officers deployed in portland didnt have proper training, dhs says. Well they shouldnt have been there. We need a bill to stop secret police in america. We need a bill done as an amendment on this bill right now. On this bill we are considering about military force. A bill which says your organization has to be identified on your uniform, that there has to be a unique identifier so you dont think you can abuse people and never be held accountable. A bill which says if you are on a mission to defend monuments or buildings, you dont go out through the streets. You want to become crowd control and take over a city . You have to have permission of the mayor or governor. As a federal government and transparency in our democracy has to tell us all as participants that they are disclosing how many people from where are being sent to what city. This isnt some small issue. This is the president saying yesterday, after bragging about what he has done in portland to violate the rights of people, saying he is looking at new york and chicago and philadelphia and detroit and baltimore and oakland. Deploying these secret Police Tactics all over this country. Andi do now is stand here say i want the vote on ending these practices in america. I say to every colleague, i want a vote. I inhere here in full partnership with my colleague fulloregon am here in partnership with my colleague from oregon who shares this indignation. We will together ask to have a vote. What is this chamber if cannot take on and hold a debate and discussion over authoritarian strategies brought to the streets of america . Y colleagues, i thank my colleague this afternoon because he speaks today with passion and facts and clearly outlines what our constituents told us at home this past week. I thank him for this partnership that oregonians are seeing on the floor of this great senate. Madam president , donald trump has deployed a paramilitary squad to our hometown in portland. His secret police are terrorizing my friends and neighbors. Countryle across the need to understand that yesterday, donald trump announced to america that your friends and your neighbors are next. Vans full of armed men in military gear snatching people off the streets. They take people away. They hold them. They interrogate them without justification, and ultimately without charges. Over the weekend, a very close an er doctornd, and a mom was protesting peacefully and was teargas to without teargassed without provocation. She felt like she was seeing democracy pass right in front of her eyes. Seenons of americans have the video of that navy veteran who was repeatedly beaten and pepper sprayed and left with broken bones. What wase ask me, ron, his offense . I am sure senator merkley gets exactly the same question. What did he do wrong . Motionless,ing hands by his side, speaking up for the liberty that he served to protect. This isre stunned that happening on the streets of our hometown. We have seen reports of agents ripping a mask off a protester who is obeying with hands in the air, only to pepper spray the protesters face. Threwcret police even flashbangs and teargas at a wall of moms. Here they are. Hometown. Are in our you can see them. Over the last couple days, moms and dads and now their kids are asking to come, to peacefully sing songs and protest for justice. Oregonians just standing up for what is right. Trumphe cowards of the administration would try to convince america that these peaceful protesters, the wall of moms, represent some kind of anarchist threat. It is nonsense. Anybody, violence by always. And i spent much of last week working for Nonviolent Solutions in my hometown, and fresh approaches that reduce tensions on our streets. The fact is the protests in portland have been overwhelmingly peaceful. Crime in portland and across oregon was down before donald trump sent in his secret police. Donald trump did not spend that force, that paramilitary this Expeditionary Force to keep people safe. Donald trump is doing this to create an image of chaos, to air them on farright television, scare the country, turn them into campaign ads. But these are the people that senator merkley and i are honored to represent. These are the people Donald Trumps Paramilitary Forces attacked and terrorized. He calls it a great success. Indicated, hes got a game plan to basically make portland an experiment, and do it in other cities, especially, by his accounts, those with democratic leadership and voters. This kind of abusive exercise of power by a rogue president would have horrified our founding fathers. They wrote our wonderful constitution to prevent exactly this behavior because democracy cannot survive in a nation that tolerates it. These tactics were used throughout the world a century ago to turn elected politicians into tyrants. Madam president , the president s first and most important job is to keep americans safe. Residents of portland are less safe and less secure since donald trump deployed the secret police to our streets. The same thing and i say this to colleagues wherever you are from the same thing will where in your communities donald trump chooses to send his Paramilitary Forces. Frankly, donald trump always talked about targeting portland and other cities, senator merkley. I wish he would target the coronavirus. I wish he would put a fraction of his passion for going after our cities into dealing with the coronavirus. Because while Donald Trumps secret police are out terrorizing portlands moms and doctors and other protesters, we face a raging pandemic, record high unemployment. Renew theto supercharged Unemployment Benefits that people are essentially going to lose this weekend. Donald trump isnt doing any of that work. What he is doing is making americans in cities less safe and not dealing with the coronavirus on top of it. He is attempting to cut resources for covid testing and Public Health professionals rely on to do their jobs. He does it repeatedly. Sending millions of americans tumbling off an economic cliff in the midst of the worst Unemployment Crisis since the great depression. He is not doing his job. He is ignoring his responsibilit streets both on the of portland and in washington dc, when he walks away from dealing with the coronavirus , he isnt keeping americans safe, he is putting them in more danger. Saidhave said and repeatedly, donald trump ought to attack the coronavirus pandemic and not the people of portland. That is why theories shortly senator merkley very shortly senator merkley and i will make an amendment that will block donald trump from using these Paramilitary Forces where they are unwanted. What we are seeing in our own hometown is these paramilitary squads brutally unleashed against peaceful protesters, moms and veterans. All they want to do is speak out for liberty and justice. What donald trump is now doing is incompatible with the fundamental principles of ourcracy, laid out by founders and expanded throughout the generations. I believe what donald trump is doing, in light of his statement yesterday to america that he is going to go after one city to another, what donald trump is doing is totally out of control. The senate cannot allow this to happen. That is why senator merkley and i are calling for the senate to act. Colleague friend and for his leadership. He has made it clear that 100 of oregon United States senators are going to keep fighting until this changes. I yield the floor. Madam president. Throughout is felt oregon to stop secret policing in america, but it is a coast to coast feeling. I yield to my colleague from connecticut to speak to the other side of the country. Senator from connecticut. I want to thank from my heart our two colleagues from oregon who are standing up and championing not just the constituents of their state, they are speaking for every hometown, every citizen of our country, from every party from every corner of our great nation. Let me say simply, these pictures of heavily armed, unidentified individuals in camouflaged fatigues, driving unmarked vehicles, throwing individuals into their car, would be something we would associate with the Worst Nightmare of a two bit dictatorship. And here we see it in the United States of america. I spent almost my whole career in Law Enforcement before i came to this body. Ashamedarrassed and of sadistic, hate filled abuse was done in the name of Law Enforcement. What we witnessed in oregon was in no way Law Enforcement, it was a violation of the law and of individual rights. And it is coming to your hometown as well. The president has specifically named chicago, philadelphia, detroit, baltimore, oakland. It will come to hartford and my hometown, stanford, and other cities in connecticut. Have no fear. If the president will go to these abusive extremes on the other coasts of america, he will come to the east coast as well. Let me say the requirements of this amendment identification of each officer, limiting federal agentss agents to their proper role, identification of them and accountability, are basic tenants of Law Enforcement. We should not have to address this issue on the floor of the United States senate. And we are doing it only because the president has broken the norms. He disrespected the law. Every senator in this body, regardless of party, should be standing up and speaking out in support of this amendment. I thank my colleagues for speaking our truth to power. Thank you, madam president. I yield the floor. Two oregonf of our senators and the 34 other senators who are standing up for andcracy, for rights, askinst secret police, i unanimous consent to call up amendment 2457. An amendment officers for crowd control, that there be two hours for debate deeply divided between opponents and proponents, that upon disposition of the amendment, the senate vote with no amendments in order prior to the vote with all other provisions under the previous order remaining in effect. Objections . Reserving the right to object. Center from,. Senator from oklahoma. First of all, i dont know how long i have sat and listened to this. Its a long time. Probably not as long as it seemed. Cruel. Police, sadistic, i am beginning to come to the conclusion that they are not going to be supporting donald trump for reelection. I rise to object to my colleagues request for unanimous consent. This body has worked together to carefully consider each and every one of the 739 amendments. Iled on the ndaa never happened before. Those amendments that have broadbased bipartisan support. The mage already and minority majority and minority Work Together for which amendments are brought up for a vote. Senator merkleys request for that circumvents the process period. This morning, the senate adopted my amendment which will ensure Law Enforcement has the right equipment and the right training. Senator merkleys amendment flies in the face of that responsible approach. Handspring what would hamstring our military even when operating in a title 32 status under the control of the state governor. This would hinder their ability to keep our communities safe, and for these reasons, i object. Madam president. I say to my colleague from oklahoma, if these secret police were loosed on the streets of tulsa, you would be down here defending your constituents, but you have a responsibility to defend all constituents across this country, the rights of all citizens of the united dates of america. I am not asking you to support my bill. I am not asking you to make the arguments for it. The simple courtesy that this chamber do the job it is vested with under the constitution which is take serious issues that arise in america hold a dialogue about them on this floor and take close to show the American People where we stand and hope to solve problems. I have no doubt that i would not get 100 votes. You write some interesting points. Request toat my debate a very serious issue in america circumvents process. I can tell you that for 200 years, this chamber believed it was here to address serious issues, and they did not raise process issues to keep serious issues from being debated. You did not need unanimous consent. Just a few decades ago, i was here watching this chamber, working the tax reform act, and watching each amendment completed. As soon as it was done, the next senator asked for the recognition. Normally, 10 senators saying and it was always, mr. President , madam president , but they were saying getting attention because the next person who spoke got the next amendment. The system has taken away fundamental responsibility of senators to be able to introduce important issues in america which has been debated and voted on. My colleague says we have a new process where the majority leader and Ranking Member of the committee consult and decide what should be considered. That concentration of power is at total odds with this chamber developed by our founders. Will the senator yield . I will not yield until i am done. That was one of your arguments, that it circumvents process. It takes equipment away and training away. Yet my bill does not deal with equipment or training, so clearly, that argument does not stand. Title 32 status under the control of a governor, says an expanded role of crowd control occurs under the permission of the governor, not without it. So this is why these issues should be debated on this floor. And i call on all my colleagues to return the senate to a place where serious important issues regarding the rights of american considered and not shut beside because shoved aside because one member does not want them addressed. That is a challenge for this chamber but we have a bigger challenge which is how do we defend the rights of our citizens if we cannot put an amendment on the floor and have it debated and voted on . To all my colleagues who believe the secret police have no role in america, that unidentified officers delegated without proper training, without consultation, without ordination, who are have no place in america, that being thrown into a van and you dont even know what that van is or who those people are, has no place in america, that the tactics of duterte in the erdoganines and in turkey lets bring this issue to the floor and have the debate and have the vote. Journal,s washington every day, we are taking your calls on the air on the news of the day, and we will discuss policy issues that impact you. Coming up wednesday morning, Pennsylvania Republican congressman glenn thompson, a member of the house education and labor committee, will join us to discuss negotiations on the next Coronavirus Relief bill. And oregons democratic congressman, earl blumenauer, will be on to talk about the federal response to the antiracism protest in portland. Watch cspans washington journal, at 7 00 eastern wednesday morning, and be sure to join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, and Text Messages and tweets. Join the discussion. Wednesday on the cspan networks, the house returns at 9 00 a. M. For morning speeches. At 10 00 a. M. , legislative work begins including a bill to remove a confederate bust from the u. S. Capitol and replace it with a bust of the Late Appeal Court justice, thurgood marshall. On cspan two, the senate is back at 10 00 to continue work on the 2020 one defense programs and policy bill. At 9 00 a. M. On cspan3, fema administrator peter gaynor testifies before the House Homeland Security committee on the response to the coronavirus pandemic. At two 00 p. M. , the Senate Foreign Relations Committee looks at u. S. Competition with china. U. S. Attorney general william barr appears before the House Judiciary Committee general oversight hearing on the justice department. On tuesday, july 28, watch live coverage on cspan. Watch anytime on cspan. Org. Or listen on the go with the cspan radio app. Watch our live daily unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house. Pres. Trump our countries are linked by trade and travel. On issues that matter to you. Part of our ongoing effort to focus on a mission to save lives , meet the needs of our states, healthcare workers. On theg with briefings coronavirus pandemic. Supreme Court Oral Arguments and decisions. Thanks for coming out to say hello, everybody. Your calls and comments welcome. Be part of the conversation every day with washington journal and if you missed any of our live coverage, watch anytime on demand at cspan. Org or listen on the go with the free cspan radio app. Next, a hearing on legislation calling for the removal of confederate choose on public land. The house Natural Resources subcommittee on National Parks heard from historians, mitch landrieu, who removed confederate monuments from that city and reverend robert w lee the fourth, a descendent of general robert e lee, who agrees with the removal of confederate monuments. This hearing runs one hour 40 minutes. Committee will come to order
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.