WASHINGTON – Today in the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on crime and restore law and order in communities across the country, including by deploying National Guard troops to Chicago, Illinois, where Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies have led to the city becoming a hotbed for violent crime and murder. Excerpts are below, and video can be found here.

CORNYN: “On what legal basis would a governor or mayor say, ‘We’re going to deny or prevent a federal law enforcement agent from enforcing federal law?’ What would be the legal basis for them to do that?”

BONDI: “You know, Senator, there is not one. And as I stated, there were 571 homicides in Chicago last year, and that’s why right now Director Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche are on their way to Chicago.”

“If I was a TdA member, if I was the Sinaloa cartel narco-terrorist, you know where I’d go? Chicago, because they’re not enforcing the law.”

“If these Senators aren’t going to vote to open our government, to let these people – our people – work with paychecks, they’re going to do it anyway, whether or not the locals are cooperating with them. We’re going to be there protecting all Americans in this country.”

CORNYN: “Seeing what the response has been by local officials here in Washington, D.C., seeing how the public here, who visits here as tourists from Texas and elsewhere, how they are welcoming this federal law enforcement presence, it strikes me as a stark contrast between what we’ve seen in places like Chicago, and I just don’t understand how elected officials who are sworn to uphold the law and the Constitution of the United States could take the position that, ‘No, we don’t want a safer community in our major cities that have a high level of crime like Chicago.’ Doesn’t it strike you as bizarre?”

BONDI: “Senator Cornyn, I don’t understand it either because we’ve been working hand-in-hand right here in D.C. with Mayor Bowser.”

“I’ve truly never seen a partnership like that in my career, and it’s working together, and that’s what Illinois is refusing to do. And I wish these Senators, you know, I wish Senator Durbin would condemn the Governor of Illinois and have him work with us like we’re doing now in Memphis.”