Scalise: We Have the American People's Back

House Republicans Working to Make Cities Safer

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), and Congressman Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) to discuss the work House Republicans are doing to make American cities safe again, despite Democrats prioritizing their hatred of President Trump over the protection of their own citizens. Leader Scalise highlighted legislation the House Oversight Committee is taking up to combat soft-on-crime measures in DC. Additionally, Leader Scalise touted the NDAA on the House Floor this week, which will strengthen America's national defense and bolster President Trump's Peace Through Strength agenda.

Click hereor the image above to view Leader Scalise's full remarks.

On House Republicans strengthening our military:

"This is another busy week in the Republican Majority House, where we're going to continue to do the people's work. It's so important that we get the National Defense Authorization Act passed, where we come together and debate the priorities of our nation's defense.And if you look at this bill, and I think [Whip] Tom [Emmer] did a great job of talking about some of those important reforms that are in the bill, some of the important priorities, we're giving a pay raise to our troops, our men and women in uniform, to continue to address something that Chairman Rogers has been focused on for a long time, and that is to increase morale and to focus on making sure we're taking care of our men and women who take care and defend our freedoms here and abroad.

"We're going to continue to allow President Trump to have the tools that he needs to show peace through strength around the globe as he's doing.The only reason he's been able to get so many peace accords with other countries is because he has the military might to back it up. You don't ever want to have to use it, but if you don't have it, the bad guys around the world see that weakness, and they've exploited it in the past. When we've had weak leaders, like we did with the previous administration, the bad guys around the world took advantage of that. It doesn't just hurt America. It hurts our friends and our allies all around the world. So it's critical that we refocus our military on its main mission.And part of that refocusing means getting rid of a lot of the wokeness in the military that used to be there. And this bill continues to advance those efforts."

On the House Oversight Committee taking action against DC's soft-on-crime policies:

"Something else you're going to see here in the House tomorrow, the Oversight Committee is going to be taking up all the DC crime bills.We've talked about this in the past. You've seen it. You can walk around the city, and it's actually safer today because of President Trump's action, bringing in National Guard troops. But we've seen and identified many flaws with DC ordinances. When people complain about the revolving door of crime, why is it that some young kid can come and commit a carjacking at gunpoint and walk free the next day? It's because that's what the ordinances in DC allow. They actually allow soft-on-crime measures, so we're reversing that.

"We're going to be bringing bills through committee tomorrow and ultimately to the House floor in the weeks ahead, where we will make DC safe again. We will get rid of all of these ridiculous laws and limitations on law enforcement. No cash bail. Right now, if you're under 25, you can be treated as a 14-year-old if you commit a violent crime. Crimes at gunpoint, you can walk free the next day if you're under 25 years old, which, by the way, are the ages of most of the violent criminals here in DC, and so you wonder why there's a revolving door. We, as House Republicans, are going to address it. I call on every Democrat to join with us and give up their defund the police soft-on-crime mantra. We'll see if they finally listen to what the voters of this country want.I'm not holding my breath. Luckily, we're going to do it on our own if they're not going to join with us. But we're going to show the American people that we're not going to sit idly by."

On Democrat governors defending criminals:

"You see President Trump talking about making other cities safe. And the Whip talked about Governor Walz. You see Governor Pritzker. You see so many other governors trying to defend criminals, trying to criticize President Trump for stopping murders in their own cities. Those governors should be working with President Trump to figure out ways to stop murders. If Governor Pritzker, instead of trying to come up with tweets to criticize President Trump, he could deploy the National Guard himself in Chicago and stop the seven or eight murders every weekend if he cared about it, but he doesn't. They want crime to continue. They want to continue defunding the police and try to have it both ways. President Trump is tired of that game because he's tired of watching people be hurt. There's no reason for this violent crime wave that we see in so many cities. So we're going to continue to have the President's back and, frankly, have the American people's back. Regardless of their party, regardless of what city they live in, everybody deserves to be safe. And Republicans are going to continue to push policies to help put that in place."