{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/disapproving-action-district-columbia-council-approving-revised-criminal-code-act-2022", "DISAPPROVING THE ACTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COUNCIL IN APPROVING THE REVISED CRIMINAL CODE ACT OF 2022", "2023-03-08", "2023", "2023-03", "Republican", "Senate", "MS", "Cindy Hyde-Smith", "H001079", "www.hydesmith.senate.gov", "hydesmith", "https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/newsroom", "scraper", "Congressional Record Vol. 169, No. 44\n\n(Senate - March 8, 2023) PDF\n\nMrs. HYDE-SMITH. Mr. President, I rise to express my support also for\n\nthe resolution of disapproval of the new soft-on-crime law approved by\n\nthe District of Columbia City Council. The resolution represents my\n\nchance to say: Enough is enough.\n\nToday, Americans feel increasingly unsafe. It is not hard to\n\nunderstand why, since it has become impossible to disregard or dismiss\n\nthe unraveling of law and order across the country over the past few\n\nyears.\n\nWhether it is the lack of law enforcement on the border, anti-police\n\nrhetoric, or weakened punishments for the violent crimes, Americans\n\nknow the shift away from law and order, right and wrong, is tearing all\n\nthe fabric of their communities. Crime is at a 25-year high across the\n\nentire country.\n\nUnfortunately, my home State of Mississippi is not immune from this\n\ntrend. Our capital, Jackson, has recorded more than 100 homicides for 3\n\nconsecutive years.\n\nIt is the same song, different verse in our Nation's very own\n\nCapital, where overall crime is up 25 percent since last year. In fact,\n\nWashington, DC's murder rate is 34 percent higher today than this time\n\nlast year. Auto thefts are up 110 percent in this city.\n\nWhat has the response been from the Democratic leadership? Well, it\n\ncertainly has not made public safety a priority. There is a good reason\n\nthe Senate is considering a resolution of disapproval against the DC\n\nCouncil's Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022. With DC's growing record\n\nof lawlessness, the city council voted to eliminate mandatory minimum\n\nsentences and reduce penalties for crimes like robbery, carjacking,\n\nhome invasion, burglary, and more. These are violent crimes that leave\n\nvictims traumatized, injured, or worse--dead.\n\nSo why is the instinct to protect the criminal--to signal that the\n\npenalties for violating the law are being eased?\n\nThis law will put residents, constituents, tourists, Federal workers,\n\nand elected officials directly in harm's way. Rather than holding them\n\naccountable for their own actions, the DC Council would prefer to let\n\nthese violent criminals go back to the streets and commit the same\n\nviolent crimes. Is it any wonder Washington, DC, has a police\n\nrecruitment and retention problem?\n\nAt the same time, those responsible for enforcing our justice system\n\nseem more interested in carrying out ``justice'' based on politics. The\n\nBiden administration's Justice Department, for example, appears to be\n\nlaser-focused on parents at local school board meetings, pro-life\n\nAmericans exercising their right to protest, and spying on Catholic\n\nAmericans, while taking a nothing-to-see-here approach to threats of\n\nviolence against sitting Justices at the Supreme Court or attacks on\n\npregnancy centers. If things continue this way, Americans will start to\n\nwonder if their safety and protection is determined by their political\n\naffiliation.\n\nMr. President, public safety should not be a political issue. It is\n\nnot virtue signaling to lessen punishments for violent criminals; it is\n\njust dangerous. It is not progressive to pretend the breakdown in\n\nborder security and subsequent flood of fentanyl aren't contributing to\n\nthe surges in the crime and death; it is nonsensical.\n\nAmericans who live in the greatest Nation in the world at the very\n\nleast deserve to feel safe. We deserve to live in a country of law and\n\norder. Yes, it is time to say ``enough is enough'' to the radical\n\npolicies embraced by the Democratic Party that have only resulted in\n\nmore crime, more fear and more tragedies.\n\nI yield the floor.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T23:30:02Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hydesmith.senate.gov/disapproving-action-district-columbia-council-approving-revised-criminal-code-act-2022"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.096223946660757, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}