WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) spoke on the senate floor about the rise in crime in Louisiana and across the country.

Key excerpts from his remarks include: 

“In my state, and in my city of New Orleans, we have seen a 136 percent rise in homicides, a 101 percent rise in shootings and a 194 percent rise in carjackings.

“And this is not just a Louisiana and New Orleans problem.”

. . . 

“This is no coincidence. For almost two years now . . . some people in positions of authority in our country have been calling to defund the police, to dismantle the police and they have been disrespecting the police.

“Many of our public officials, not all of them, but some happen to be mayors in major cities, they believe that cops are a bigger problem than criminals.”

. . . 

“We also have prosecutors—district attorneys—not all of them, but too many of them, who live by the motto ‘Hear no evil, see no evil, and prosecute no evil’—and we can now see the result of that attitude. It’s an anti-law enforcement attitude, Mr. President.”

. . . 

“The American people want and deserve better.

“What should we do? Number one, we have to empower our cops.”

. . . 

“We need to empower those that abide by their oath because they’re the ones keeping our communities safe.”

Kennedy’s full remarks are available here.