On Monday, Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar was carjacked by three men at gunpoint outside of his Washington, D.C. apartment building just blocks from the U.S. Capitol, where he lives alongside “dozens of House” members. This comes after Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig was assaulted in an elevator earlier this year.
Let me be clear: no one deserves to be a victim of crime. My prayers are with Congressman Cuellar as he recovers from such a traumatic incident. But it’s no surprise that Democrats are experiencing the impact of their soft-on-crime policies that have run rampant in D.C. and across the country.
For most Washingtonians, Congressman Cuellar’s experience is just one example of the rising crime that is claiming thousands of victims annually in our nation’s capital. Carjackings in D.C. are up 109 percent, robberies are up 68 percent, theft is up 22 percent, and homicides are up by 38 percent over the last year as the city remains on pace for its deadliest year in two decades.
And this problem isn’t unique to Washington. Democrat-run cities across the country continue to struggle with skyrocketing crime. Nine out of the top 10 cities with the highest homicide rates are Democrat-run. During Biden’s first year in office, at least 12 major cities – all Democrat-run – set new homicide records.
Prominent Democrats like Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul have expressed support for pro-criminal policies like abolishing cash bail, lowering penalties for parole violations, and decriminalizing deadly drugs. Liberal district attorneys in cities like Los Angeles are coming under fire for prioritizing the rights of criminals over the rights of victims and putting violent offenders back on the streets.
Meanwhile, there have been over 6 million illegal crossings across our southern border since January 2021, leading to a rise in illicit fentanyl that has become the number one cause of death for American adults. Every state is now a border state, and those crossings represent just the ones who have been caught – how many more got away? It’s easy to see why six in 10 Americans feel less safe than when Biden took office.
Rising crime is a problem that is affecting Americans in communities across the country, and Democrats are out-of-touch with the mainstream. Elected Democrats are failing to uphold their most fundamental obligation: keeping the American people safe. The solution is simple. Elect Republicans.
The Republican Party is committed to securing the border, reducing crime, supporting law enforcement officers, and protecting public safety. While Joe Biden fails to stand up to the “Defund the Police” fringe of his party and refuses to back law enforcement when it matters most, Republicans are delivering results.
When 173 House Democrats voted against overturning DC’s far-left law that reduced penalties for crimes like carjacking, burglaries, and robberies, Republicans fought back – stopping the law in its tracks. During this Congress, Republicans in the House have passed bills to hire more border patrol agents, stop the flow of deadly fentanyl, raise pay for our military servicemembers, and honor our brave men and women in law enforcement.
The Republican Party is the pro-law enforcement, pro-border security, and pro-public safety party. While Democrats waffle, we know that we cannot allow crime to continue to wreak havoc on our nation’s cities.
There’s a reason that defund-the-police Democrats like Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, and Congressman Jamaal Bowman still hire private security to ensure their safety. And if they and members of Congress like Henry Cuellar still aren’t safe with their ample protection, how safe are you?
