Cuellar Criticizes Most House Dems on D.C. Crime Bill and Calls for Increased Penalties, Won’t Say D.C. Is Safe
On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) discussed being carjacked in D.C. and stated that D.C. should increase its penalties for carjacking while noting that he was one of the minority of House Democrats who voted to kill D.C.’s attempts to decrease carjacking penalties. Cuellar also responded to a question on whether D.C. is safe by saying that “Washington’s about two or three times more dangerous” than cities along the border like Laredo, “and we certainly see it now.”
Host Jesse Watters asked, “Is D.C. safe, Congressman?”
Cuellar responded, “I’ve always said when I talk about the border that there is an immigration crisis there. But I would say that when you look at the numbers of murders, rape[s], assaults at the border, let’s say, Laredo, TX, I’ve always said that Washington’s about two or three times more dangerous, and we certainly see it now. I’ve got three brothers that are peace officers, one is a border sheriff. I’ve always supported law enforcement. I think it’s important that we support law enforcement, because a society without law and order is not a society.”
Watters then asked, “A lot of the people in your party are not supporting law enforcement. I mean, that’s pretty obvious. What’s the deal?”
Cuellar answered, “Well, I think a lot of Democrats do. There are some that have a different opinion. I can speak about myself. I don’t believe in defunding the police. I voted against what the Washington, D.C. Council did to lower penalties. I think that’s [the] wrong direction. I was one of [31] Democrats that we don’t feel that you affect crime by lowering the penalties. You ought to increase the penalty. And I agree with the police chief that said, if you’re going to keep dangerous people, you’ve got to lock them up and keep them there, and that’s the way you’re supposed to do it. You’ve got to show law and order, otherwise, you’re going to have people running around with guns right now.”
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