Schumer Blocks Republican Resolution Opposing Calls to Defund Police, Demands ‘Action, Not Rhetoric’

Senator Tom Cotton called today for a non-binding resolution that would have demanded justice for George Floyd, condemned excessive force, but also put the Senate strongly on the record against defunding or disbanding the police.

Like a resolution that failed in April that would have continued funding the PPP program, this one needed unanimous consent, which, under the Senate’s rules, requires agreement with all 100 members. Senator Chuck Schumer blocked this one as well.

Leader McConnell co-sponsored a resolution with @SenTomCotton that would have demanded justice for George Floyd, condemned excessive force, but also put the Senate strongly on the record against defunding or disbanding the police. Senator Schumer and the Democrats blocked it.

Leader McConnell co-sponsored a resolution with @SenTomCotton that would have demanded justice for George Floyd, condemned excessive force, but also put the Senate strongly on the record against defunding or disbanding the police.

Senator Schumer and the Democrats blocked it. pic.twitter.com/fejsT1QYFH

— Senate Republican Communications Center (@SRCC) June 10, 2020

I urge my colleagues to join with us in passing this resolution which calls for justice for George Floyd and other victims with excessive use of force while also honoring law enforcement officers who keep us safe.

From The Hill:

“We must reject radical proposals to dismantle and defund police departments as some suggested. …Defunding the police would be deadly. It isn’t a solution but an insult to good officers and a threat to law-abiding citizens,” Cotton said from the Senate floor.

Schumer, however, objected, saying the GOP resolution was “rhetoric, not action.”

“The great worry so many Americans have is that so many on the other side will feel rhetoric and then try to let this go away. We demand action, and we demand it now. Real action, not rhetoric,” Schumer said.

“The resolution by my friend will do, nothing, nothing, it is rhetoric,” he added.

Schumer instead tried to pass a resolution that would require the Senate to take up the Democratic police reform bill as soon as it passed the House. But Cotton, who is viewed as a potential 2024 GOP presidential contender, objected, saying that he was “mystified” by the Democratic leader’s strategy.

“I just say again that what we’re seeing here is the Democratic leader apparently objecting on behalf of the Democratic Party in defense of the radical idea that we should defund the police,” he added.

Full video of Cotton and Schumer on the Senate floor: