‘Squad’ Democrats Tlaib and Bush defend voting against resolution honoring law enforcement: ‘Republicans are the Party of Insurrection’
Jack Birle
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Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) defended their votes against a resolution to honor police officers for “National Police Week.”
The two “Squad” members said in a joint statement on Tuesday that “health and safety” are their top priority but that the resolution was to “advance Republicans’ false narrative around supporting law enforcement.”
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“Let us be clear: the health and safety of every one of our community members — including our first responders — is a top priority for us. But this resolution is not a referendum on support for the safety of first responders. It is a document intended to advance Republicans’ false narrative around supporting law enforcement and gaslight the public about where they stand,” the statement read.
The two congresswomen also highlighted Republican reactions to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, as reasoning for their claims of the GOP’s “false narrative,” and they argued that “Republicans are the Party of Insurrection.”
“Let’s not forget that Republicans are the Party of Insurrection. It was Republican politicians who enabled January 6th by peddling lies about the election. And it was a mob that supported these Republicans that stormed the Capitol and violently assaulted law enforcement officers — and these same Republicans chose not to show up and join us and our colleagues earlier this year at a bipartisan commemoration in support of the Capitol Police officers who died due to the events of January 6th,” the statement said.
“Far from supporting law enforcement, Republicans are using their majority to actively target agencies that try to uphold the law and hold them and their cult leader Donald Trump accountable for their criminal behavior,” the statement continued.
Bush and Tlaib then argued that Republicans should support legislation that they claim would “invest in communities, prevent violence, and move us closer to genuine public safety for all.”
“If Republicans cared about public safety, including the safety of law enforcement officers, they wouldn’t be enabling insurrection, passing hypocritical messaging bills, and holding our economy hostage so they can ram through their unpopular agenda that disinvests from our communities. They would be taking up legislation like the People’s Response Act and the many other proposals that our Democratic colleagues have put forward that would invest in communities, prevent violence, and move us closer to genuine public safety for all,” the statement concluded.
The two Squad members were the only two representatives who voted against the resolution, with 215 Republicans and 198 Democrats voting for the resolution. The remaining 20 representatives did not vote on the resolution.
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The resolution recognized “law enforcement officers across the United States in the pursuit of preserving safe and secure communities,” and it expressed “condolences and appreciation” to the families of fallen police officers, among other things.
“Today, as National Police Week begins, we continue to show our full support for our police officers by saying thank you to everyone who wears the badge. Our nation is blessed to have the bravest, most professional, most capable police officers in the world,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said at a press conference after the resolution passed.