U.S. Senators took to the floor on Thursday afternoon after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) was shoved out of a Homeland Security news conference, pushed to the ground, and handcuffed by the FBI.
"We have a constitutional obligation to provide oversight to the executive, a constitutional obligation to ask questions, to make inquiries, a constitutional obligation to check and balance the authority of the executive," Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said from the Senate floor.
"And so here we saw before our eyes a senator in their district, in their state asking questions, and we see him being shoved out of a room. But it did not stop there. Shoved to the ground, shoved onto his belly, and have his arms pulled behind his back. This should outrage every United States Senator."
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) similarly spoke out, her voice shaking as she confessed she was near tears.
"I have come to this floor often to speak out, to be angry, to be a voice for my people. I have never come this close to having tears in my eyes, as I speak to both sides of this aisle, about this horrendous incident that occurred," said Murray.
"We are a democracy, but we can lose that democracy. It can be gone, unless all of us speak out and forcibly reject what happened to United States Senator, and to send the message that in this democracy it is just, it is right, it is part of our responsibility to speak up, to ask questions, and to be able to have the knowledge we need to represent the people that we come here for," she added.
"We use our voices, Mr. President. We use our votes, Mr. President, to be a part of this democracy. Not violence," Murray continued. "When violence is done by someone representing this administration, in a forceful way, against a United States senator, how does anyone of us go home and tell our constituents that they can be part of a democracy, speak out about what they believe in? This is so wrong."
See the clips of the speeches below or at the link here.
- YouTube youtu.be
- YouTube youtu.be
