CRIME

Policing is a state and local responsibility. But the federal government can offer aid and help make policing more effective.

For instance, it could continue distributing surplus military supplies to financially strapped local communities. I also propose that police officers be exempted from federal income taxation just as military members serving in combat zones are. Measures such as these will show national support for police forces and appreciation for what they do to serve and protect.

H. Con. Res. 40 was a resolution passed in the House to condemn efforts to defund or dismantle local law enforcement agencies. It passed with strong bi-partisan support by a vote of 301-119. But progressives like Shontel Brown voted against it. I would have voted otherwise. Progressives claim they only wish to “reimagine” law enforcement. And yet, when confronted with a specific resolution to oppose “defunding” or “dismantling” law enforcement, Shontel Brown and they showed their true colors.

It also bothers me that Shontel Brown voted against the recent “Detain and Deport Illegal Aliens Who Assault Cops Act.”  It passed with a 268 to 148 vote.  It had the support of 54 Democrats but Shontel Brown was not one of them.

I am as concerned about gun violence as Shontel Brown. There are too many murders by guns and too many children being shot and killed. A world in which churches are invaded by lunatics with guns is a sick world. Better mental health systems would help. But Congress also should consider stronger laws to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. Such laws of course must be consistent with the Second Amendment. But I believe that is possible.

Other forms of crime concern me as well. Car jackings, physical assaults, and mob attacks on retail stores are but a few. That is yet another reason why the lack of support Shontel Brown gives to police departments is unfortunate. And Shontel Brown also wants to end cash bail. I do not agree with her about that. Keeping many criminals off the streets would be one important way to reduce crime in general and gun violence in particular. Lessons must be learned from sad experiences in Detroit, Portland, San Francisco, New York City and elsewhere with the ending of cash bail.

Shontel Brown does not even mention the fentanyl crisis. More Americans die each year from fentanyl than from guns. More have died than in the Afghanistan, the Iraq, and the Vietnam wars combined.  All deaths are tragic. But Shontel Brown should be paying more attention to the fentanyl crisis, which clearly is even a bigger national problem than gun violence.  Interrupting the supply of fentanyl is an international matter. It is beyond the effective control of cities and states. Destroying this supply chain must be taken more seriously. Congress must take aggressive actions that force China to stop making and shipping ingredients for this poison.

I also support re-defining fentanyl in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to have the same legal classification as heroin. H.R. 467, the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) of Fentanyl Act would have done that. This law also would have given researchers the ability to conduct necessary research by streamlining the registration process. H.R. 467 passed in the House by an overwhelming vote of 289-133. But Shontel Brown voted against it. I would have voted for it. Her vote did not show sufficient concern about the fentanyl problem.