A resolution condemning the pardons for individuals who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police Officers.

Mr. President, many of us who were here on January 6 have pretty indelible memories. I am looking at Senator Murray, who has particularly harrowing memories. One of mine is, I was one of the last people out of the Senate, and by the time we got to the room where we were sequestered for our own protection from the mob, colleagues were irate, and they had been frightened.

There is footage of Republican Senators running through the halls to get away from the mob. I remember one of our colleagues shouting out that we should get back over here to vote even if it meant protesters would have to be shot--again, a Republican.

There were 600 of the rioters here who committed violence on police officers, and nearly 200 of them used weapons. They were convicted of this after all proper, fair procedures in an American court of law.

Then the notion of pardons started to come up, and we were basically shushed by our Republican colleagues. Oh, that will never happen.

The Vice President said: If you committed violence on January 6, you shouldn't be pardoned. In fact, he said ``obviously''--``obviously you shouldn't be pardoned.''

Another colleague in the Judiciary Committee chastised Democrats for asking the Attorney General nominee what she would do with respect to the violent January 6 protesters. Would she recommend that the President pardon them? And we were chastised for the absurdity of that question. That is an ``absurd and unfair hypothetical to even ask.''

Over in the House, Jim Jordan said that he didn't think anybody violent was going to be pardoned. ``I think,'' he said, ``he is going to focus on . . . all the people who didn't commit any violence.''

Another colleague on the Judiciary Committee said he was against any such pardons ``for people who assaulted cops, threw stuff at cops, broke down doors, broke windows.''

We heard this cascade of denial from the other side about these pardons. It was unfathomable that he would do this. It was wrong that he would do this. It was absurd that he would do this. And then he did it.

And what happened? Well, two things happened: One, over 1,000 people who have demonstrated their willingness to commit acts of political violence at the behest of Donald Trump were set loose on the streets. We haven't heard the last of them. There may be another call to arms.

``Will be wild!''

``Be there.''

We haven't heard the last of them.

But just the leading edge, in only the week since we have been there--one has already been arrested for a violent confrontation with police officers, another was killed in a shooting incident when he refused to be arrested and engaged police officers with a weapon, and a third is in Rhode Island in our ACI, our adult correctional institute, for having challenged police officers in an armed standoff. Now, he was in prison when he was pardoned. Nobody in this pardon operation thought to understand that this guy actually was convicted again of violence against police officers and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment in my State.

So we know that there is going to be more violence from these people. We know that Trump now has an on-call assault team that he can use to launch political violence, just the way he did on January 6, and this is a dangerous situation.

This ought to be the easiest vote in the world. How you can even walk through these halls and look our Capitol Police officers in the eye-- the ones who were there, the ones who took their lives in their hands to steer the mob away from vulnerable Senators--how you can look them in the eye if you haven't supported this, I don't know.

There is a word in the English language, ``subservience.'' I think we need a word called ``Trump-servience'' in which things you know you shouldn't do you do anyway because you are either frightened of Trump or want to suck up to him.

This is not a great moment.

There is an effort, frankly, to erase that incident. For a long time: Oh, just peaceful protesters. This was all just, you know, happy people coming in to visit the Capitol, fun and games.

Yeah, so fun that we had Senators running down the aisles to get away from them; so fun that, to get back into this building, we had armed SWAT officers with automatic weapons lining the entire pathway back from where we were secured into this Chamber.

Just remember what our colleagues were saying in that time period, but the effort to erase this moment goes on. It occurred just recently in the Judiciary Committee when the Attorney General nominee said that there had been a peaceful transfer of power, like January 6 never happened.

I asked a question for the record, asked her to explain that. She said: Well, on Inauguration Day, it was peaceful.

Do you remember why it was peaceful on Inauguration Day? Because we had the Capitol of the United States surrounded by more soldiers, more police officers, more fencing, more snipers, more law enforcement and military safety people than had probably been the case since the Civil War. Yet now everything is peaceful.

We cannot forget what happened here. It is wrong to forget what happened here. It is an insult to this Capitol to forget what happened here. It is an insult to the men and women of the Capitol Police Department and the DC Police Department and the others who came in to fill in when they were overwhelmed by these brutal rioters.

So I am glad that Senator Murray did this. I appreciate very much the opportunity to speak on their behalf, both for the sake of those police officers and for the sake of the truth and for the sake of our history here. This deserves to be remembered.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, January 2025 has been a turning point for the United States of America. President Donald Trump's inauguration marked the beginning of, as he put it, a new ``golden age'' for America. And our new President unveiled a list of Executive orders undoing 4 years of decline, in his very first week in office.

He has already reversed a number of the failed Biden-Harris policies that weakened both security at our border and enforcement of our immigration laws in our Nation's interior. He has taken action to end catastrophic catch-and-release policies. He reinstated ``Remain in Mexico,'' and he stopped the abuse of immigration parole.

Not only did President Trump turn our country's border and immigration policies around 180 degrees on his very first day, but, finally, at long last, Congress is working again. The House and the Senate sent the strongest immigration enforcement legislation to the President's desk since 1996.

After nearly a year of working to get the Laken Riley Act through, it is finally mere hours from becoming actual law. We are finally on our way to ensuring that criminal illegal aliens are off our streets before they can commit the most heinous crimes imaginable. Providing our States the ability to compel the Federal Government to do its job is something it also includes--and the enforcement of the laws that are actually on the books.

Far too often, we hear from grieving parents whose children's lives were cut far too short by illegal border crossers, who were poisoned by fentanyl brought across our southern border, or who suffered abuse at the hands of people who shouldn't have been in our country to begin with.

The American people have heard enough of those stories, and, on November 5, they told us they wouldn't take it any longer. The results of the November election were a signal from the people we represent to the lawmakers meant to act on their behalf. They were a verdict from the American people that Washington had, for far too long, become guilty of overlooking the problems that actually mattered to the people we are here working for.

With the Laken Riley Act, we have started to deliver on that verdict, but we are not done yet. The Laken Riley Act addresses the important problems of criminal illegal aliens already inside our country, but interior immigration enforcement is only one aspect of the problem we face. There is another priority we must focus on: preventing criminals from entering our country to begin with.

That is why I have reintroduced the WALL Act. It is long past time to finish construction of a wall on our southern border, and this bill would put us on the path to doing just that. It would appropriate funding necessary to finish the wall, and it would allow President Trump to do so without raising taxes on U.S. citizens or increasing our national debt by a single cent. In fact, we would fund the wall by fixing yet another issue with our immigration system: We would eliminate taxpayer-funded entitlements and tax benefits to illegal aliens. Not only would taxpayers stop having to foot the bill for illegal aliens, but we would also close the loopholes that illegal aliens are taking advantage of. Meanwhile, the benefits intended for citizens and legal residents would truly only go to citizens and legal residents.

Solving another problem, the WALL Act would impose monetary fines on illegal aliens and immigrants who overstay their visas. We would finish building the wall, and we would save money while we are at it.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated in 2018 that enacting the provisions in the WALL Act would save us $33 billion over 10 years. The bill would save us both dollars and lives. And what could be more important than the task of keeping our country safe and restoring financial responsibility?

Just like the Laken Riley Act, the WALL Act is common sense, and, most importantly, it delivers to the American people what they have demonstrated they want, need, and deserve. It is the first move toward making sure that our immigration enforcement and border security Agencies have the funding they need to carry out the will of the people.

We must fund construction of the border wall, but we can't just stop there. As the chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, I am committed to ensuring that the Trump administration has the detention space they need to get criminal illegal aliens off of our streets and providing funding for CBP and ICE enforcement and removal operations so these Agencies have the personnel, resources, and technology necessary to fulfill their missions. And that, Mr. President, is a long time coming too.

As long as civilization has existed, both leaders and citizens have understood that the most important role that the government has is to provide security for the people who live under its jurisdiction. From the White House to both Chambers of Congress, the Republican Party is committed to getting our country back on track, to responding to the demands of the American people that they made to us this last November: securing our border, removing criminal illegal aliens from our streets, and providing a safe, orderly nation for the American people.

There is no greater responsibility we have, no higher calling we can seek than making America safe again. We have heard the American people's voices, and we understand the call. Now, let's heed that call and pass the WALL Act. Let's continue to turn our promises made into promises kept.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, on January 6, many of us stood right here toward the beginning of the day. In fact, most of us can remember, almost minute by minute, what occurred as we learned that the Capitol was under attack. It was under attack, not just metaphorically. It was actually under physical attack on that day by rioters who bore pipes and baseball bats and, yes, firearms and physically battered this place. And they threatened every one of us who was here.

They did more than threaten the police officers who defended the Capitol on that day. They actually assaulted those police officers. They attacked them brutally--sometimes with their own shields or with arms that they brought with them. They gave lasting, severe injuries to a number of them and, in some instances, contributed to their deaths. The mob violently attacked those police officers--punching them, kicking them, choking them, pepper-spraying them, plunging stun guns into their necks, beating them with all kinds of weapons, including flag poles, hockey sticks, as well as those baseball bats.

Many of us have heard Capitol Police officers recount their feelings on that day--terror, fear, guilt. They thought they would die. They even thought that that would be their last day, and some phoned their families to tell them as much. These brave officers suffer from severe and lasting injuries and trauma. Five died in the aftermath. All experienced some form of very severe pain and trauma.

Nearly 600 rioters were charged with assaulting law enforcement officers, and 170 of them were charged with using a deadly weapon or a dangerous weapon to commit the assault. True, they were not charged with killing anyone, but those charges against them were serious and severe. They were convicted by juries of everyday Americans who were instructed properly as to the law by judges who were simply following those statutes on the books, and they convicted those defendants, insurrectionists, rioters in proceedings that have been reaffirmed on appeal, where there were appeals, or where there were guilty pleas and an acknowledgment of responsibility from some.

Now, with clearly callous regard for the justice system, for those juries, for the prosecutors, for the judges, for the rule of law, the President has gifted them--gifted them--``full, complete, and unconditional'' pardons--``full, complete, and unconditional'' pardons--even after those proceedings of lawfully convicting them. Shame on him.

These sickening pardons are the ultimate show of disrespect for our police officers and a clear endorsement of political violence. His actions normalize political violence. They condone it--maybe even encourage it--because, from now on, those kinds of rioters who disrupt the lawful and peaceful transition of power or any other functioning of our government can at least hope for and, under this President, maybe expect that they will never be held accountable.

These pardons are a betrayal not only of these officers--the Capitol Police--on that day, who defended and protected us and who literally were willing to lay down their lives for our democracy, but these abuses of pardons show that it is past time for Congress to enact reform and implement restraints on the pardon power. America elects Presidents, not Kings with unfettered power. The pardon power was lifted--taken from England--by the Founders, who saw the practice in the monarchy at that time. It was one of the only powers--maybe unique among powers--in its being totally unchecked. We need accountability and transparency, starting with this resolution--transparency and accountability, starting here.

But we also need the measure that I propose, the Pardon Transparency and Accountability Act, which will impose some guardrails and safeguards: a statement by the President explaining why he is doing a specific pardon, because it is supposed to be an individualized judgment; then a justice impact statement that gives the victim of that crime or any related offense the opportunity to be heard and state a position; the prosecutors an opportunity to state a view; and a disclosure as to what lobby--maybe even campaign contributions--have been involved.

Ultimately--and I know we are speaking to history here--there needs to be a change in the Constitution, an amendment, that, in effect, shares that pardon power with other branches of government. It may be that pardons are appropriate whether as an exercise of mercy or ultimate justice or a recognition of rehabilitation for whatever reason. Maybe we need the pardon power, but it should not be unchecked and absolute in the President. We are limited as to what we can do in reform because it is in the Constitution. What we can do without a constitutional amendment by statute is simply to require some explanation, a justice impact statement, fuller disclosure, and more transparency and accountability in the limited ways that the Constitution permits, but we need to begin with this resolution today-- right away.

I urge my Republican colleagues who were protected on that awesomely terrible day and who now are silent--they are silent in the face of these sickening pardons--to join us. Come with us in condemning the violence that occurred and stand with the officers--the police, the law enforcement. Stand with the blue, and condemn the violence of that day. Stand with the officers who put their lives on the line and who suffered injury, maiming, and some deaths in the aftermath.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I rise in support of the resolution offered by my colleague from the State of Washington, and I thank her for that.

This is personal. For many of us, it is personal. We were here on the Senate floor on January 6, 2021. Vice President Pence was presiding. I was sitting at this very desk. A few minutes after 2 o'clock, the Secret Service came in and literally removed him from his chair.

We knew there were demonstrations outside, but we didn't know how serious or how violent they had become.

A few minutes after that, a Capitol policeman stood in front of this Chamber and said to all of us: Stay in this room. Just take your seats. This is going to be a safe room. There will be many people coming in here, and we will keep them safe.

We didn't know what was happening outside, but we knew something serious was going on.

We waited another 10 minutes, and the same Capitol policeman said: A change of orders--leave immediately and exit through that door.

We all filed out through that door and headed for one of the buildings on Capitol Hill where there was a safe space for Members of the Senate to meet.

I wasn't sure what was going on in the House of Representatives. I still don't know all the details. But the reality was the mob--the insurrectionist mob--was taking over the Capitol. Thousands of people were storming into this building--not for a peaceful demonstration by any means but, sadly, for violence and destruction.

That day was the worst day I can recall in the history of the Senate in terms of our respect for this building that has become a symbol--not only for the United States but for the world--for peace and democracy.

And I thought of those poor Capitol policemen who were asked to defend us with their lives. They were asked to risk their lives for us. And they did. Four or five of them lost their lives as a result of it, and over 140 were seriously injured. Some of the things that were done to them were outrageous. You have seen the videotape. We don't have to speculate on what it was. We saw it, as they tore down building structures, as they beat up on these cops as many of them faced death and knew at the time it was that serious.

The grimmest reality of those riots was the subsequent death of five of these law enforcement officers and the injuries to approximately 140 others, many of whom still pay that price to this day.

Last week, President Trump, who incited the violence, commuted the sentences of 14 individuals and granted full, complete, and unconditional pardons to approximately 1,500 others convicted of offenses related to the January 6 attack. Many of the perpetrators have shown a stunning lack of remorse following their violent assaults on the brave members of the U.S. Capitol Police and DC Metropolitan Police who

protected my life and the lives of so many others that day.

For example, last August, David Dempsey, just a few hours after receiving a 240-month prison sentence for attacking police on January 6 with a flagpole, crutches, pepper spray, and pieces of furniture, called in to a gathering of supporters outside the DC jail. In reference to Trump's opponents, Mr. Dempsey said:

Don't celebrate too hard man, because that sentence is only

gonna last like 6 months.

He knew that if President Trump were elected and had the power, he would pardon him, despite what he had done to the Capitol Police.

Devlyn Thompson attempted to throw a speaker at police officers, which ended up hitting and injuring a fellow rioter, and hit a police officer with a metal baton.

Daniel ``D.J.'' Rodriguez, a California man who drove a stun gun into an officer's neck during one of the most violent clashes of the Capitol riot, was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison before President Trump granted him clemency.

Andrew Taake pepper-sprayed police officers and hit one with a metal whip. He was supposed to serve 74 months in a Federal prison in Beaumont, TX, but he was pardoned by President Trump.

These are just a few--a few--of the hundreds of individuals President Trump decided to pardon in his unconscionable Executive order. The list of crimes committed by these thugs goes on for pages and pages and pages of court documents.

Winston Churchill said once:

Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to

repeat it.

That is why we must continue sounding the alarm on the violence and chaos of that day to ensure it never happens again. We must be clear that violence for political purposes is never, never acceptable. It has no place in democracy.

The men and women who bravely defended the Members of this body deserve more, and we should honor them for their heroic efforts, not excuse the thugs who attacked this body and the ideals it represents. President Trump was wrong in pardoning these men who attacked the police.

I thank Senator Murray for introducing this resolution condemning President Trump's pardons of the January 6 insurrectionists who assaulted our brave law enforcement officers, and I am disgusted-- disgusted--that our Republican colleagues won't join us in honoring the men and women who risk their lives every single day for us. They risk their lives for us, and Senator Murray has asked us to recognize that fact and say violence against them is never acceptable.

We couldn't even get a bipartisan vote for that. It is a shame it has reached that point, but it has.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Washington and Senators Schumer and Durbin for bringing us together to condemn the pardons and what happened, but I also want to first express my dissatisfaction about what is happening with this administration in just the first week.

It was only a week ago that we gathered in the Capitol Rotunda, and, as I said that day, there is a reason we have three branches of government under the Constitution.

The first article is article I, which establishes the Congress and makes very clear our job to have people's backs. And what has happened with an order in the middle of the night--just a letter from a bureaucrat, in which one person can--what?--basically get ahead of the Constitution--I think we have gathered here today saying: No.

This has real consequences for people's lives. I think about the mom who didn't know this morning if she could send her kid to childcare. I think about the teenager--and I was contacted about this--in a cancer study, hoping that it is going to save his life. I think about the woman in an abusive relationship who has nowhere to go because her local domestic violence shelter couldn't take her in.

Our office heard today from a domestic violence organization in Minnesota that said it could not access critical funding.

We think about the first responders and the firefighters all over our country. We think about what we saw them doing in Los Angeles over the past month. Grants that pay for their equipment, funding that pays for them to allow them to hire firefighters--this is not acceptable.

It is not the executive branch's decision to make. It is Congress's job to direct funding through laws passed by both Chambers. In fact, the laws we are dealing with here clearly had bipartisan support. That is how they got in when we had one House that was Republican and one House that was Democratic. Now that switched, and they are both Republican. But the money and the funding were supported by both parties.

The American people have sent us here to represent our constituents, and that is what we are doing.

This chaos that we have seen today, with multiple groups and people not knowing what was happening, reminds me of the last Trump administration. We saw the same thing.

January 6

Just a few days ago, the President issued blanket pardons for the insurrectionists who desecrated this very building on January 6, 2021. It is a shocking display of disrespect for the law enforcement heroes who defended our democracy.

I will say, I have been critical of pardons from Presidents of both parties. I think we desperately need pardon reform. While it is the power of the President, when you look at what Governors do across the country, which actually have commissions set up that make recommendations on pardons, you could still have the power to pardon, but you could make recommendations and more thoroughly look at these cases on a case-by-case basis.

So January 6 and the assault on our democracy, many of us were there. I was the one with Senator Blunt, the former Senator of Missouri. We were the leads on the Rules Committee, and we were the ones, at 3:30 in the morning, when everyone had gone home, that made that walk with Vice President Pence. It was just the three of us and three pairs of young women holding the mahogany boxes with the electoral ballots that one of the young pages had the wherewithal, and the Parliamentarian staff, to get out of the Chamber before it was invaded.

In the morning, when we made that walk, it was a celebration--pomp and

circumstance--everyone following behind us. And then that night, at 3:30 in the morning, we had officers with scratches on their faces, over 100 of them injured, and we made that walk over broken glass and by pillars spray-painted with racist vulgarities.

We made that walk, and democracy prevailed. Part of that democracy was to make sure that those who violated the law, those who assaulted the police officers, those who had members of our staff--people always focus on the Members of Congress, but so many members of our staffs were hiding. My staff was hiding in the little kitchen downstairs, with knives in their hands, for 3 hours, behind a door. Two of them were in this little closet off the kitchen. That story was repeated throughout the Capitol.

These were assaults. This was a violent mob that attacked our democracy and attacked brave men and women of the Capitol Police who were defending it.

Over the last 4 years, I have led bipartisan hearings to examine the events and the security failures. I did that with Senator Blunt and Senator Portman and Senator Peters. We have worked. We have 103 recommendations that came out of the inspector general and dozens out of our committees, and Chief Manger has met the challenge--all 103 recommendations. We have increased morale. We have the fact that we have more police officers. We hired hundreds more.

Then came the gut punch of these pardons--the gut punch to justice, the gut punch to these police officers. They were the heroes that day, not the criminals that stormed the Capitol because they didn't like the election result. To pardon these criminals, many of them convicted of very serious felonies, is to endorse political violence. It is a slap in the face of the men and women of law enforcement who showed true patriotism that day, and it is truly an affront to our democracy.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, the government shutdown that Donald Trump just ordered is illegal and unconstitutional. He is not a King, and we do not live in a monarchy.

It is Congress's authority to decide on Federal funding. The power of the purse is the foundational funding of the article I branch. Everybody talks like that. Everybody says those things. But now we are all put to the test--Democrats and Republicans.

Are we going to forfeit all of our power? We are the elected branch. We make the laws. And the President of the United States just ordered a funding freeze for stuff he doesn't feel like funding. That is literally not how it works.

And, today, the White House Press Secretary was asked about specific popular essential programs. You know what she said? She said: Have those people talk to Russ Vought and make an appeal to him.

Now, there are a couple of problems with that. First of all, Russ Vought doesn't get to decide, in an appropriations law, which parts of the law to follow and which parts not to follow. Second of all--let's be really clear about this--Russ Vought is not a government employee right now. He is a nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

And so we are supposed to have--I don't know--Medicaid recipients, VA home loan recipients, nursing homes, education organizations, healthcare organizations, transportation contractors, like, appeal: Mercy to the King. Will you please release these dollars? that is not how the American system works. This is illegal.

There is real pain starting today because of this funding freeze. Schools, childcare facilities, fire departments, community health centers, domestic violence shelters--all of them will instantly lose their funding at 5 p.m. today because somebody said: We are fiscal conservatives. You want to enact a fiscally conservative appropriations bill, pass a law. Pass a law.

I also would like to select the Federal funding which I agree with and fund that and select the funding that I disagree with and defund that, but I am not a monarch, and neither is Donald Trump.

We are hearing from so many constituents across the country, and I had a bit of a time delay because it is earlier in Hawaii, but all of my colleagues were getting incoming texts and calls and panicked people. This isn't about some arcane government program; this is, like, basic stuff. People are staged to do construction and told not to show up for work. Some of these construction projects are in places where you only have a narrow window during which you can even do construction, so a 90-day freeze means: Wait until next year. I don't care what the law says; wait until next year.

If you are a disaster survivor in North Carolina or Louisiana or California or Texas or Florida or Maui, you don't know what happens next. If you are a low-income family that relies on the Women, Infants, and Children Program to get healthy meals for your kids; if you live in a remote area like Waianae or Lanai in Hawaii and you go to a community health center to fill your prescriptions, to get a checkup, this freeze on funding means you don't get help.

You know how long it takes to get a home loan, a VA home loan or any other kind of home loan. People are showing up to get their VA home loans and saying: Not today. You might be like 45 days from closing. You are a veteran. You are entitled to this thing under the law. Russ Vought--not a member of the Federal Government yet--has decided you don't get your home loan today.

What an embarrassing abdication of the role of the Congress. All of this high-minded talk from my fellow appropriators about, you know there are really three parties in the Congress--this is the old joke-- Democrats, Republicans, and appropriators, right? The idea is that the appropriators are the adults in the room. The appropriators are the adults in the room, and they are not going to let nonsense, unconstitutional, illegal acts happen because we are the ones that control the purse strings.

I want to make one final point. In addition to all the pain that is being caused, my goodness, the door swings both ways in Washington. Imagine a progressive President reaching into the Federal budget after an appropriations bill is passed and saying: You know what, I don't like that thing. I don't like that other thing. I don't like this one. I don't like that one. I am in charge.

What are we even here for?

So this is not going to be business as usual. I will tell you one thing: I have never in my 13 years withheld my unanimous consent. I have used a little leverage. Everybody does. But we better get this straight on a bipartisan basis--not because I want to score partisan points, not because I want to characterize Donald Trump in one way or the other, but because we all worked so hard and made real sacrifices to get to this place so we could have a position of responsibility to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

What is happening today is unconstitutional. It is also against statutory law. But most importantly, it is causing pain across the country.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, 8 days ago, democracy and the rule of law were dealt another blow. It wasn't at the hands of a mob this time. No bear spray. No battering rams. No chants of ``Hang Mike Pence'' or ``Where's Nancy?'' echoing through these halls. This time when the blow came, it made barely a sound. No screaming rioters in military garb and Viking helmets--only a President in a suit and tie with the demure flourish of a pen.

Eight days ago, President Trump pardoned over 1,500 people who assaulted this Capitol, brutalized police officers, and sought to overthrow a free and fair election. Among them were the ringleaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers--violent, unrepentant, White nationalists who orchestrated an insurrection; some who were convicted of seditious conspiracy, others of beating police officers, of dragging them into a mob, of bear-spraying them, of crushing them in a revolving door. Horrifying, sickening stuff.

With the flick of a wrist, their benefactor, their inspiration, Donald Trump, erased their crimes and handed them something unthinkable in a democratic society: absolution in the form of pardons and clemency.

This was not mercy; this was madness--1,550 pardons; 1550 acts of absolution for those who committed violence against our Constitution and against those who swore to defend it; 1,550 ``get out of jail free'' cards handed to individuals who tried to overturn a free and fair election.

Make no mistake, these pardons were a promise--a promise that if you commit violence in Donald Trump's name, you will be protected and you will be hailed, even glorified, for your violence; a promise that no matter how egregious your actions on behalf of this President may be, accountability will not find you; a promise that America will now have to live with the fear that January 6 may not be the last of the violence in service of this President.

Senator Kaine was saying that we have seen what happens when democracies falter, when leaders resort to violence and when those who were meant to stop them lose their will, when those who defy the rule of law are exalted instead of prosecuted. History is littered with the wreckage of nations whose leaders decided that violence for them was more important than justice, more important than the law, more important than the people.

Sadly, these pardons are not the last action the President will take to bend and subvert the rule of law to his will.

Already, we have seen this President and his Justice Department fire those who led a completely justified investigation into him, which led to indictments and, if allowed to proceed to a jury, would likely have led to his conviction.

We have seen his Justice Department announce an investigation into the investigators and those who prosecuted important cases against January 6 violent criminals.

We have seen this Justice Department, his Justice Department, reassign those who were viewed as not loyal enough.

We will see a lot more before the week, the month, and the year are out--much more. If we are to remain a democracy, we had better see much more done to stop it. In this body, in this vital check on the power of the Executive, we must see more done to stop it. We must draw a line here. We must draw a line now.

The Vice President argued that these pardons are about liberty. They are not. I ask you: What does liberty look like to the police officer who was beaten with a pole that once held the flag he was sworn to defend? What does liberty look like to the congressional staff who barricaded themselves in their offices, listening to the chaos outside? What does liberty look like to the families of those who died as a result of the violence that day?

Liberty and justice don't come from pardoning the perpetrators of violence; it comes from ensuring that violence is not repeated, condoned, absolved.

The question before us is simple, one that our Founders answered correctly and that today we must answer again: Are we a nation of laws or are we a nation of men or more specifically, of one man, above accountability, beyond reproach? Because make no mistake, we cannot be both.

What does it say if the Senate cannot and will not pass such a straightforward recognition of the law enforcement officers who protect us or a condemnation of the rioters who attacked them and tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power? It says that we are willing to see our cherished legacy die with a whimper, one sordid absolution after another. It is really that simple.

I urge my colleagues to join me, to join us, in condemning this most grotesque abuse of power. Condemn these pardons.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I have been unequivocal in saying: In this country, we use our voices and our votes--not violence--to advocate for change. I have said it many times. I will say it many times more. And I say it today.

But you are sorely mistaken if you think I am going to sit here feet away from our Capitol Police officers and let the Senate say we stand by the richest men on the planet before saying we stand by the men and women who keep us safe every single day.

Where is the solidarity for our officers here? And where, by the way, is the plaque that Congress passed into law honoring their sacrifice on January 6?

Do I have to march down to Speaker Johnson's office, put it up on my own? You can hang it on my door. You just bring up the plaque; I will go get the nails and do it myself because I am not going to let anyone ever erase this history, and I am not going to let them paper it over with outrage on behalf of the richest man in the world.

I have no problem condemning violence. I will do that any day of the week. I condemn attacks on our car owners and salespeople. I condemn destroying other people's personal property. This is not a new position for me. But you will have to excuse me if I don't take some Republicans seriously when they make this big show about law and order at the same time they are letting this President stab law enforcement in the back. I am not going to let Republicans get by selling a charade not weeks after they voted to freeze funding levels for law enforcement in a bill--

Mr. President, I ask for 3 additional minutes.

I am not going to let some Republicans get by selling a charade not weeks after they voted to freeze funding levels for law enforcement in a bill where House Republicans slashed DC's budget for police officers; not months after Trump tried to halt COPS grants and many Republicans

didn't breathe a word about it; not when Trump is still in the middle of firing just about as many Federal law enforcement workers as he can get away with; and certainly not when some of my Republican colleagues are still ignoring how our lawless President continues to champion the very people who attacked our Capitol Police.

Just this week, mere days ago, President Trump speculated about compensating people who committed crimes on January 6, about rewarding their violence with taxpayer dollars. Where is that outrage? Where is the condemnation? What are some of you waiting for?

Don't you try for a single second to say: Oh, he is not talking about the violent ones. You all know better. We know better. Remember when you tried to say that about pardons? Remember how that worked out? Trump pardoned people who violently attacked police. They are back on the streets--except for the ones who already committed new crimes.

I don't know how my colleagues keep forgetting what happened on January 6. I don't know how on Earth it is not burned into their memories. But President Trump is talking about people who attacked this building, our offices, our staff, our democracy. He is talking about people who smashed windows in that we walk by every day, people who brought bats and weapons to the halls where we meet our constituents, people who beat the Capitol Police who keep us safe every day, the Capitol Police who are standing guard even now, who sit right outside this Chamber.

These are violent criminals, and President Trump is talking about them like heroes. He wants us to write them a check. Over my dead body, Mr. President. And I am going to say it again and again.

Unlike some of my Republican colleagues, I will say the same for the people who burn Teslas and for the people who smash windows here at the Capitol.

I am tired of watching this. I know our constituents are. We need to demand that Speaker Johnson hang that plaque that he--

It is not too much to ask, and I hope this body recognizes that violence is violence, and we should condemn the attacks on January 6.

I yield the floor.