July 21, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 128 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page H3596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  UNWELCOME TACTICS BY FEDERAL AGENTS

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I fear that people don't really 
appreciate what is going on in my hometown of Portland, Oregon, with 
the Federal interference, so let's put a face on it.
  Christopher J. David, a 53-year-old Navy veteran, graduate of the 
Naval Academy, college wrestler, was concerned about the Pinochet-type 
behavior of Federal officials in our community--uninvited, unwelcomed, 
and unprepared.
  He felt that their actions as Federal agents was in violation of 
their oath to support, uphold, and defend the Constitution, which our 
new colleague just accepted.
  When he asked officers how they justified what they were doing with 
their oath of office, he didn't get an answer; he got pepper sprayed. 
He was beaten. His hand was broken. He is facing surgery to install 
pins, screws, and plates.
  This is the face of the Trump administration's unprecedented 
interference in our community, taking a difficult situation and making 
it worse.
  Madam Speaker, I hope my colleagues will take a hard look at what is 
going on here, because the Trump administration is trying to overshadow 
its other failures with tactics like this. There is more on the 
horizon.

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