Booker and Tuberville discuss ‘fund the police’ move in late-night vote-a-rama drama



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The Alabama Republican has sought to publicly declare Senate Democrats on “police funding” with a budget amendment that would freeze federal funds from any municipalities that would have funded their police services. It was an amendment to the $ 3.5 trillion budget bill, forcing Democrats to vote for or against. (And that’s the type of thing attack ads are made of.)

“The awakened rhetoric of ‘funding the police’ is dangerous – it endangers our law enforcement and the safety of Americans. It must stop,” Tuberville said in a statement ahead of the vote.
Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, responded with a sarcastic Senate speech, narrated by CNN’s Ali Zaslav just after 1 a.m. ET:

Booker responded with a loud, animated and sarcastic speech in the Senate, calling the Tuberville amendment a “gift” for Democrats “finally once and for all” to end the “lies” that they want to fund the police.

“I’m so excited. This may be the culmination of this long, painful and torturous night,” shouted the New Jersey Democrat. “It’s a gift … because there are people who have said that there are members of this deliberative body who want to fund the police, much to my horror.”

He then called on his colleagues to “hide there” and vote for the amendment.

All senators present voted 99-0. (One senator, Republican Mike Rounds of South Dakota, abstained in the evening’s votes because his wife is undergoing cancer treatment.)

For what it is worth, the Tuberville measure is non-binding and is not promulgated. But it allows those 50 Democrats to respond to Republicans’ efforts to portray them as favorable to police funding – with a tangible vote saying they are not.

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