Title: A resolution urging the development of a strategy to counter the rise in violent crime across the United States.
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
This resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should work with Congress to develop and execute a strategy to counter the rise in violent crime across the country by reinforcing strong criminal justice policies, by laying blame on the perpetrators of violent acts, and by securing the southern border.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 636 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 636

  Urging the development of a strategy to counter the rise in violent 
                    crime across the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 16, 2022

 Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Barrasso, Mrs. Blackburn, 
   Mr. Boozman, Mr. Braun, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Cotton, Mr. 
 Cramer, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Daines, Ms. Ernst, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. 
  Hagerty, Mr. Hoeven, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Johnson, Mr. 
   Kennedy, Mr. Lankford, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Portman, Mr. 
   Risch, Mr. Romney, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Sasse, Mr. Scott of 
  Florida, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Tillis, Mr. 
 Wicker, and Mr. Young) submitted the following resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Urging the development of a strategy to counter the rise in violent 
                    crime across the United States.

Whereas rising crime, especially violent crime, in the United States poses a 
        threat to the national interest, as well as to the safety and security 
        of individuals, communities, businesses, law enforcement officers, and 
        the rule of law;
Whereas, for the purposes of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation, violent crimes consist of offenses that involve 
        force or the threat of force, namely--

    (1) murder and non-negligent manslaughter;

    (2) forcible rape;

    (3) robbery; and

    (4) aggravated assault;

Whereas violent crimes are occurring every day in major cities across the United 
        States in part due to progressive prosecutors declining to charge 
        violent offenders and certain bail reform policies allowing dangerous 
        criminals back into society;
Whereas released offenders go on to commit more violent crimes and inflict more 
        terror and death on other individuals in the United States;
Whereas rising violent crime destroys families and should be combated by 
        criminal justice systems that prosecute the offenders as offenders, and 
        not as victims;
Whereas the murder rate in the United States rose 30 percent between 2019 and 
        2020, the largest single-year increase in more than a century;
Whereas there was a 59 percent increase in murders of police officers in 2021;
Whereas, as of April 1, 2022, 101 police officers had been shot this year, 17 of 
        whom were killed by gunfire;
Whereas at least 16 cities in the United States set murder records in 2021;
Whereas organized retail crime threats in 2020 cost retailers an average of 
        $720,000 for every $1,000,000,000 in sales, and 69 percent of retailers 
        surveyed in 2021 had seen an increase in organized retail crime in 2021;
Whereas organized retail crime threatens the safety of retail workers as 
        organized crime groups, gangs, and individuals use weapons other than 
        guns, such as mace chemical spray and Taser stun guns, to rob and 
        assault hard-working retail employees;
Whereas rising violent crime in the United States can be directly correlated to 
        a surge in illegal immigration at the southern border of the United 
        States and a surge in the sale, distribution, and consumption of illegal 
        drugs;
Whereas, in December 2021, 178,840 illegal immigrants were apprehended 
        attempting to cross the United States-Mexico border, the highest total 
        for December in the history of the Department of Homeland Security, and 
        a 142 percent increase from December 2020;
Whereas more than 2,500,000 illegal immigrants have been caught attempting to 
        cross the United States-Mexico border since January 2021, with more 
        apprehended in the 3-month period from November 2021 through January 
        2022 than in all of fiscal year 2020;
Whereas 461 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the southern border in December 
        2021 alone, enough to kill more than 30 percent of the United States 
        population;
Whereas drug cartels have overburdened Border Patrol resources by surging 
        illegal immigrants into strategic locations so that the cartels can 
        traffic narcotics and other contraband into the United States 
        undetected;
Whereas violent crimes related to illegal immigration and the illegal drug trade 
        must stop for the sake of the sovereignty of the United States and the 
        safety of the people of the United States;
Whereas, with overdose deaths at an all-time high, every State is a border 
        State, as the flow of illegal drugs from the United States-Mexico border 
        puts all States at risk regardless of proximity to the border;
Whereas securing the southern border and ensuring the safety of citizens of the 
        United States is one of the most important responsibilities of the 
        Federal Government;
Whereas the current Administration's alleged violent crime reduction strategy is 
        actually a gun control strategy and wrongly puts lawful gun owners and 
        dealers at the center of enforcement efforts instead of focusing on the 
        criminals perpetuating violence, insecurity, and fear across the United 
        States;
Whereas the same gun violence reduction strategy unfairly puts the blame for gun 
        violence in major, Democrat-run cities and States on neighboring States 
        with lower crime rates; and
Whereas violent crimes can only be combated if the Department of Justice, the 
        Department of Homeland Security, other law enforcement agencies, and the 
        private sector work together: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the President 
should work with Congress to develop and execute a strategy, drawing on 
the multiple instruments of power and resources of the United States--
            (1) to counter the rise in violent crime across the country 
        by reinforcing strong criminal justice policies, by laying 
        blame on the perpetrators of violent acts, and by securing the 
        southern border; and
            (2) to coordinate with Federal, State, and local agencies 
        and authorities to--
                    (A) implement the strategy; and
                    (B) exhort all those agencies and authorities to 
                strengthen their approaches to combat the violent crime 
                epidemic within the country.
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