Mr. Paul mr. President , i rise to ask expedited passage of h. R. 35, the emmett till antilynching act, as amended. I seek to amend this legislation not because ive i take it or i take lynching lightly but because i take it seriously. And this legislation does not. Lynching is a tool of terror that claimed the lives of nearly 5,000 americans between p 1881 and 1968. But this bill would cheapen the meaning of lynching by defining it so broadly as to include a minor bruise or abrasion. Our nations history of racial terrorism demands more seriousness from us than that. Dubois wrote in his auto biography about sam hose in injure 0 georgia that after the lynching the knuckles were viewed on display in a store . Mitchell street in atlanta. His liver and heart were even presented to the governor of georgia as a souvenir. Sickening, grotesque, the images of lynching. In 1931 raymond gun was lynched in murrayville, missouri. The spectacle drew a crowd of almost 4,000 people, including, if you can believe it, women and their children. In the tragedy of lynching, the author writes that one woman even held her little girl up so high so she could better see the victim who was, quote, blazing on the roof. Sickening and grotesque these images. In the summer of 1955, 14yearold till was visiting family in mississippi when he went to a store and bought some candy. While in there he was accused of flirting with a white woman appeared nor that offense, he was kidnapped in the middle of the night and bludgeoned so badly that afterwards his body was unrecognizable. He could only be identified by the ring he was wearing. After seeing her sons remains, his mother insisted on an open casket funeral so the whole world could see what the killers had done to her son. We must remember the murders of emmett till, raymond gun, sam hose and the thousands of others whose lives were destroyed by the barbarity of the lynch mob. But this bill will not do that. This bill would expand the meaning of lynching to include any Bodily Injury including a cut, an abrasion, or a bruise, physical pain, illness, or any other injury to the body, no matter how temporary. Mr. President , words have meaning. It would be a disgrace for the congress of the United States to declare that a bruise is lynching, that an abrasion is lynching, that any injury to the body, no matter how temporary, is on par with the atrocities done to people like emit till, raymond gun and sam hose, who were killed for no reason but because they were black. To do that, would demean their history and cheapen limping in our country. To be sure, the bill does not make lynching a new federal hate crime. Murdering someone on account of their race or conspiring to do so is now illegal under federal law. Its already a federal crime, and its already a hate crime. Hes right. We have had federal hate crime statutes for over 50 years, and it has been a federal hate crime to murder someone because of their race for over a decade. Additionally, murder is already a crime in 50 states. In fact, rather than consider a goodintentioned but symbolic bill, the senate could immediately consider addressing qualified immunity and ending police militarization. We can and must do better. That is why no one in the senate has been more involved in criminal Justice Reform than i have. No one has introduced more criminal Justice Reform bills. In my time in the senate, i have authored or cosponsored at least 22 unique criminal Justice Reform bills. I am acutely aware of the injustices perpetrated year in and year out in our cities. But reform needs to be more than window dressing. That is why im on the floor today to offer expedited passage, pass it today, the emmett till antilynching bill as amended. Lynching is a particularly vicious kind of murder and a federal law should treat it as such. For these reasons, the emmett till antilynching act should be adopted with my amendment which would apply the criminal penalties for lynching only and not for other crimes. Thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h. R. 35 which was received by the house. I ask unanimous consent that my amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer is there objection . A senator reserving the right to object. The presiding officer the senator for california. Ms. Harris the idea that we would not be taking the issue of lynching seriously is an insult, an insult to senator booker, to senator tim scott, and myself, and all of the senators past and present who have understood this is part of the great stain of americas history. To suggest that anything short of pulverizing someone so much that the casket would otherwise be closed except for the heroism and courage of emmett tills mother. To suggest that lynching would only be a lynching if someones heart was pulled out and produced and displayed to someone else is ridiculous. And on this day, the day of George Floyds funeral, on this day, a day that should be a day of national mourning, mr. President , in 2018, the Senate Unanimously passed bipartisan antilynching legislation which i proudly introduced with the only other black members of this body, senator cory booker and senator tim scott. It was a historic moment. It marked the first time in the history of our country that federal antilynching legislation had been passed by the United States senate. It passed again by unanimous consent in 2019. Senator paul is now trying to weaken a bill that was already passed. There is no reason for this. Theres no reason for this. Senator pauls amendment would place a greater burden on victims of lynching than is currently required under federal hate crimes laws. There is no reason for this. There is no reason other than cruel and deliberate obstruction on a day of mourning. On this very day, at this very hour, there is a Memorial Service to honor the life of george floyd who was murdered on a sidewalk by a Police Officer with a knee on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. George floyd pled for his life, called for his late mother, and said he could not breathe. The pain experienced not only by that man, that human being and his family and his children, but the pain of the people of america witnessing what we have witnessed since the founding of this country, which is that black lives have not been taken seriously as being fully human and deserving of dignity, and it should not require a maiming or torture in order for us to recognize a lynching when we see it and recognize it by federal law and call it what it is, which is that it is a crime that should be punishable with accountability and consequence. So it is remarkable and it is painful to be standing here right now especially when people of all races are marching in the streets of america outraged by the hate and the violence and the murder that has been fueled by racism during the span of this countrys life. And america is raw right now. Her wounds exposed, raw from the fact that in the history of our country, black people have been treated as less than human. I stood here with senator booker when we first proposed this lynching law, and we talked about the pain and the history of the pain of this issue in america. And the fact is that the country is raw because america has never fully addressed the historic and systemic racism that has existed in our country. And our bill in its current form is an opportunity, its an opportunity for this body to acknowledge the seriousness of this, to acknowledge that if someone places a noose over someone elses neck, why would you require that in addition their heart would be pulled out or their body pulverized to the point beyond recognition . Our bill is an opportunity to right a wrong and an opportunity for a reckoning in federal law, and we cannot pretend that lynchings are a thing of the past. Ahmaud arbery was a victim of a modernday lynching. He was murdered on february 23, 2020, just three months ago. Today we learned that someone heard one of the men who killed mr. Arbery used a racial slur after shooting him. He should be alive today, and his killers should be brought to justice. No longer should the crime of lynching go unpunished. No longer should victims and their families go without justice. And in closing, idab. Wells once said, quote, our countrys National Crime is lynching. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mind. It represents the cool, calculated deliberations of intelligent people who openly avow that there is an unwritten law that justifies them in putting pupil beings to death without complaint under oath, without trial by jury, without opportunity to make a dissent and without right of appeal. Our country has waited too long for a reckoning on this issue of lynching, and i believe no senator should stop the full weight of the law in its capacity to protect these human beings and human life. Senator booker and i are working on a comprehensive bill to address this tragedy at the heart of the national day of mourning, and i object to senator pauls efforts to weaken our legislation. I yield the floor. The presiding officer is there objection to senator pauls request . Mr. Booker reserving the right to object, mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for new jersey. Mr. Booker thank you very much, sir. I want to thank senator harris for her words, and i want to thank her as the lead senator on this bill. I want to thank her for her partnership and leadership. I also want to thank senator tim scott from South Carolina who has shown extraordinary commitment to this legislation as well. I want to thank on the house side, i want to thank bobby rush, a former black panther. I want to thank him for his leadership and generational commitment to Racial Justice in america. I also want to recognize the tireless advocacy of erica good afternoon taylor who is an actual relative of emmett till and the founder of mamie till mobleys foundation. She was here the last time this bill was before this body. Shes dead now. And i know she is looking down and hoping that we dont disappoint her. Mr. President , in february of 2019, this body did something historic. And i dont mean to be emotional. Im raw this week. But i i stood here with kamala and we wept. We talked about the hundreds of years over a century, excuse me, of effort to pass legislation brought up and defeated time and time again in this body by avowed segregation ists and how proud i was that in a time when partisanship is high in this country, we gathered together in one voice. 100 senators to pass this exact same bill because there are good people in this body on both sides, and we were correcting a wrong of history. And nobody in this body needs a lecture on lynching and how horrible it is. Everybody in this body abhors racism and believes that this violence is unjust. There are friends of mine here. Unanimously we passed that legislation. We made history on this floor. And this is why im confused, because this bill has been passed unanimously, and here we are on a day of a Memorial Service for another person whose murder was condemned by people on both sides of the aisle. I have sat where you have sat, mr. President , and watched the differences between the republican leader and the democratic leader. I dont go back that long in this body, but i have watched harry reid and Mitch Mcconnell and Chuck Schumer disagree so deeply time and time again, but god, we came together and passed the bill unanimously. Mitch mcconnell let that bill come to this floor, didnt try to block it. And my colleague over there, rand paul, was one of the first hands i shook on this senate floor. He is my friend. And everything he said about his commitment to criminal Justice Reform, it is right. One of the first bills i wrote here i wrote with rand paul. And then he went further. At another time like this when america was raw, when another black man unarmed was shot, he went as far in Time Magazine to stand up and talk openly about the propublica. Data about a black man in america being 100 times more likely to be shot by the police as white. He said and he is shaking his head, if i may recognize, he said there must be something going on here if there is that much. So i do not question i could could i do not question the sincerity of his convictions. I have had too many conversations with him to question his heart. But i am so raw today. Of all days that were doing this. Of all days that were doing this right now, having this discussion when, god, if this bill passed today, what that would mean for america that this body and that body have now finally agreed, because i know when congressman white, the last black person to serve in congress before the fall, the godawful fall of the backlash after reconstruction fell, he gave this famous speech where he talked about the phoenix will rise, that one day black people will serve in this body, and here we are in the Senate Making history, the first time three African Americans have even served together, republican and democrat, and we all came together leading on kamalas bill. And theres something about us that we knew there was something more than the legalistic issues that my colleagues wants to bring up, that we are a nation that needed this historic healing. And if we pass this, it would not only do something substantive to make a difference on the books of the american federal system, but, god, it would speak volumes to the racial pain and the hurt of generations. I do not need my colleague, the senator from kentucky, to tell me about one lynching in this country. Ive stood in the museum in montgomery, alabama, and watched African American families weeping at the stories of pregnant women lynched in this country and their babies ripped out of them while this body did nothing. I can hear the screams as this body and membership can of the unanswered cries for justice of our ancestors. Every one of us is sensitive to that anguish, to that pain, as is the senator from kentucky. And this week, the senator from kentucky mentioned the colleague justin amash. I want to tell my colleagues on both sides of the aisle he is one of only four congressmen of the 435 to vote against the antilynching bill. That means this bill was supported by the leader of the democrats, the speaker of the house. It was supported by the leader of the republicans, the whip of the republicans, the whip of the democrats. 400plus votes supported this. Yet my colleague thinks that this bill is wrong. If this bill is wrong, then the Republican Leadership of the house is wrong. If this bill is wrong, then the democratic leadership of the house is wrong. If this bill is wrong, 99 senators are wrong. If this bill is wrong, then the naacp is wrong. If this bill is wrong, then the Lawyers Committee for civil rights is wrong. If this bill is wrong, then the urban league of america is wrong legal organizations, civil rights organizations, democrats and republicans. Tell me another time when 500plus congress people, democrats, republicans, house members, and senators come together in a chorus of conviction and say now is the time in america that we condemn the dark history of our past and actually pass antilynching legislation. And not one man and i do not question his motives because i know his heart. One man, one man is standing in the way of the law of the land changing because of a difference of interpretation. This doesnt talk about bruising someone. Its a difference of interpretation. Does america need a win today on Racial Justice . Does the anguished cries of people in the streets ive had children break down with me this week wondering if this would be a country that values their lives as much as white peoples lives. Ive had to explain to grown men this week that theres still hope in america, that we can make change in america, that we can grow and heal in america, that we can make this a more perfect union. Well, today is a day we can do it. One thing, one member to yield for once like he did in february of 2019, yield for one day and give america this win. Let us pass this piece of legislation today of all days. Lets give a headline tomorrow or something that will give hope to this country that we can get it right. It may not cure the ills that so many are protesting about, but, god, it can be a sign of hope. So, mr. President , i object to this amendment. I object. I object. I object on substance. I object on the law. And for my heart and spirit and every fiber of my being, i object for my ancestors. The presiding officer objection is heard. Mr. Paul mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for kentucky. Mr. Paul i think its important to know and to let the record show that ive been working with senator bookers office for three months on the amendment to this bill, that im willing to have unanimous passage of the bill today. But i think its incredibly important that we get this right. A woman in new jersey, a black woman in new jersey assaulted three jewish women and slapped them. It was terrible, and shoe uttered and she uttered racial epithets about this issue women. She was charged with third degree aassault, up to a year in prison. She was then charged with a hate crime in addition to that that would be four years in addition. So we do have to get this right. If slapping someone and hurling a racial epithet can get you ten years in prison, this is exactly what weve been fighting about in criminal Justice Reform, that we set up a system we didnt Pay Attention to the penalties, and all of a sudden things we didnt intended happened. So we have to be smart about this. Im willing to pass the bill today as amended, which would simply say not that you even have to harm someone. You have to attempt to harm them. But it has to be an attempt to harm them. So all of the discussion about bruising while trying to lynch someone, yes, thats attempted murder. It wouldnt be covered by this bill. Nothing in the bill would prevent the prosecution of heinous behavior. Thats what its intended for. What im frying to do is to what im trying to do is make sure we dont get unintended consequences. We fought the battle about mandatory minimums for a decade now because we tie up people in sentencing that makes no sense. Ten years for slapping someone would be an abomination, and it could happen to anyone. Do we want a black woman who slapped three jewish women in new jersey get ten years in prison . If there was a group of them its now conspiracy to lynch. We have to use some common sense here. We should not have a tenyear prison sentence for anything less than at the very least an attempt to do bodily harm. The statute lists what bodily harm is, but it could still be an attempt. It doesnt mean you actually have to have it. But what it would preclude is somebody shoved somebody in a bar, and they fall down and they have an abrasion, and they say he did it because of a racial animus towards me and you have a tenyear penalty. Thats not right. So all of us here are advocates on the same side of criminal Justice Reform. We all have argued on the same side that the law is screwed up and its incarcerated too many people unfairly. Thats what im trying to prevent here. So the thing is i understand the emotions. You think i take great joy in being here . No. Im a sponsor of 22 criminal justice bills. You think im getting any good publicity out of this . No. I will be excoriated by simpleminded people on the internet who think somehow i dont like emmett till or appreciate the history of emmett till. Ill be lectured to by everybody. Ive got no right to have an opinion on any of these things, i should be quiet. I have worked in an honest way with senator bookers office for three months on this bill. We have gone back and forth. We gave them some language. They came back to us and said it wouldnt work. I said what about this . And we havent gotten any more responses. We havent gotten responses in a month or more. The thing is now theyre litigating in the press and trying to accuse me of being in favor of something so heinous that it makes my skin crawl, makes me sick to my stomach to even read the accounts of what happened. We also ought to be fair and honest about this. Lynching is illegal. People who say there is no federal law against lynching is not telling the truth. The law says if you kill somebody and you have racial animus, under the hate crimes statute, it is illegal. You cant do that. Its also illegal in all the states. This bill does not make lynching illegal. For all the discussion of that, this bill creates a new crime called conspiracy to lynch. Oh, yeah, im for it. If theres a crowd, lets arrest the whole mob. All four policemen should be responsible for what happened to mr. Floyd. But the thing is, is when we do that, we have to be careful that we dont then put a crowd of people in where someone pushed into someone or someone slapped someone. There has to be justice. People are chanting justice. Justice has to have a brain and has to have vision and cant be hamstrung into something that could give someone ten years in prison for a minor crime. This is a very minor attempt. Everything we left in here, we have worked with senator bookers office to make sure it is inclusive. They came back and said what about attempted . We said lets change the language. So we have in there attempt to cause seriously bodily harm so there can be no injury. But someone will have to have a discussion of whether there was an attempt, an attempt that looked like it would be serious. I think slapping someone isnt. But under the current statute as is, people say nobody will ever do it. Maybe, but were putting it on the books. The mandatory minimums have kept people in jail for decades. There are people in life for nonviolate crools. Crimes. Im asking for a very minor change. Ill pass it right now. Im completely out of the way. Im for the bill. Im asking unanimous consent to pass the bill today with one amendment that just says lets be careful not to arrest people for slapping someone or not to arrest somebody who pushes into someone and get them ten years in prison. This isnt about someone trying to kill another person or someone attempting bodily harm. Those people would be included in this language even if they did not have a mark on the person. But if they were rounding them up, tying them up or throwing a rope over a tree thats attempted murder and still be included in this bill even without a mark on them. What we have to preclude and trying to preclude is the bill doesnt get used for the wrong purposes. Were on the same side about who we want to punish and who we should prevent. And were also on the same side on the symbolism of this, but we cant pass laws that do exactly what all of us have said is wrong with our penal system, all the unintended consequences. There is one here, and i ask in a very polite way, and ive been asking for three months for one small change, and ill let the bill go today, on this change, if we have it. The changes have been out there. Theyre not brandnew. They have been in senator bookers office for three months, and weve tried to, as hes had objections, work with him on his objections. So i would ask unanimous consent once again to pass the bill as amended. Book. Mr. Booker mr. President. The presiding officer is there objection . Mr. Booker reserving the right to be 0. The presiding officer the senator for virginia new jersey. Mr. Booker thank you very much, mr. President. This is a bill thats already passed this body. The same bill, same language. There was no objection then. Only four members of the house of representatives objected. Same bill, same language. Ive heard this objection. We disagree with this. The truth of the matter is whats being proposed is not just opposed by me, but our republican colleagues who are sponsoring this bill in this body oppose these corrections as well. In addition to that, changes to this bill now would send it back to the house of representatives. This is a tactic that will send this bill back over to the house where again it would have to be voted on. This idea that somehow someone would be brought up on lynching charges for a slapping is absurd, especially as you see how hate crime legislation, how difficult that is even to prove. And so i am deeply disappointed by the objections weve heard that were not made manifest last year in 2019, but somehow seem to be stopping it in 2020. And so i object with this prediction, we as a body will correct historic ills and pass lynching legislation through this body, through the house of representatives one day in this one day in this nation this s legislation will pass and perhaps it will wait until i am not here or senator paul is not here unless he goes back to 2019. What side of history will we be on. I pray the president signs legislation against how historic that would be. That i am telling you right now this celebration will come. This moment in American History will come. The frustrating thing for me, when this country hungers for common sense, racial reconciliation and acknowledgment of our past and looking to a Better Future this will be one of the sad days the possibility was halted but as we all know from great leaders republicans and democrats all have, how long will it take and the simple answer is not long because the true crust of the earth will rise again. Not long because the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice. We will pass this legislation and that members of this body, the ones to do it. I objected. Objection is heard. Thank you, mister president. Before my colleagues access the chamber, i want to acknowledge your words, thank you for the passion, the emotion, words that i think all of us as members of the senate should hear, reflect, and respect. I want you to know that i am thankful i was here to personally we can read words, like it is when we have the ability to hear and to feel those words that their true meaning comes out and i appreciate and thank you for that. During thursdays session, Mitch Mcconnell started the day by talking about the passage of revisions to the paycheck protection program. He and other members paid tribute to those killed in Tiananmen Square and the protests around the us