Killings of other americans names are now known for theched come awfully i in which they died. Eric garner, Michael Brown so some others whose names we do not know, all part of a n system thas not refls not the high side use o in fac it reflects the darkness of our past our president reflects racism and equal justice under the law. We aret in American History that is theca crossroads,mericans all 50 states, are engaging in some types of action of protest whether its on social media platforms or in the middle of the pandemic out in the streets. And the choice we have right now before us as this face of americans of all lot of folks want to reduce the approaches that are coming a democratic approach. Ill tell you right now this is not a choice between one side of an aisle or another. It is a choice between meaningful reforms in this moment are making symbolic gestures that will do nothing to save peoples lives. Its a choice between actio are proposing is not new. These are reforms that have been put in place in s some states this is a real effort to hold policing and america accountable for egregious behavior. It will create transparency a sunlight is the best disinfec bring about an end to policies and pshould be ended in our that was called for by president bush and his first address tond into r fact, some of the more socalled controversial elements ofhis bill by qualiats on both sides of hour folks from the cato institute, from clarenc use conservative organizations after conservative organization say theco obvious that no one should be selded from accountability when they are violating the civil rights of another american. We have a bill that calls will protect lives and practices that have killed americans, creator accoun and transparency in departments and make sure that no one in our country is above the law. This is not a time for half steps and half measures. It is not a time tw nibble around the edges. Its not a time to find the lowest common denominator. Its not a time where so manyneed on t for to pull our knee happened off the neck and call progress. No. This is time for us to do what is right and necessary to end the kind of violence and murder murder and unaccountability we see that is to endemic in our nation. And so this is of the will congress will one day get this right. The provisions injustice policing act im confident that when the inli this country will ban rel profiling or im confident one day in this country we will ban chokehold. Im confident that wendy in this country we National Registry of Police Misconduct, af force tone day no one who murdersnt of cameras will be shielded from accountability on the federal level in our civil courts are in our criminal courts are impossible standards to me. It is clear that one day we shall overcome what is now injustice. That this body will do the right thing. There will be a time in america were Mental Health issues will be treated with healthcare and not police and prisons. There will be a time in america thatiction will be treated treatment and not police and prisons. There will be a time in america that the fragile within our society will not be further hurt and harmed by practices and prisons that would cared for. I know this tim is i believe justice denied. If we do not act and claim this nt this time, then we as a country are going to find ourselves again. In my short life i have seen decades of this. I was born right after the corner report calling out these practices demandingeforms. In that time i watched rodney king beating and officers who did it ber held unaccountable for their actions. This cycle is continuing in our country every day. There are so many cases that we dont see because we dont have transparency. We know is wrong but we have not takenhe the measures to stop it. Now ist the time that we must act and not findrom now id hear from now, three years from now awful cycle put over and over again. Listen to the American People, all 50 states, all backgrounds together in a course of conviction to put a this nightmare. Theime, no half measures no half steps no diluted towards what should be done but not having the courage to boldly go in the direction that when they will pass but i believe one day should becongress should act im sohis position. Im so proud that there are others i this body that are joining with me with the same sense of urgency to get broadbased reform done. And i see my colleague from oregon one of theus body and im grateful now to yield to him. Madam president . Is recognized madam president im honored tod join with is and some of my colleagues this moment of National Outcry entered into an opportunity, a moment of national action. Weeks now in protests across our land millions of fellow americans have been rising up in speaking out to demand justice accountability opportunity and above all the by our years ago. Have beearked by the senseless killing floyd a black man advance of public o safety officers. One officer sworn to protect and defend in no on his neck for nine minutes extinguishing his life. But this moment is about so much more. The pain and anger the anguishhets of black americans everywhere runs are deeper on a single tragedy pain born of endless string of tragedy. The senseless killings of Breonna Taylor, ahmaud arbery, eric garner and tamir rice and sandra bland of gray, miael brown of trayvon and more, so many black, men and today. Ofar Rayshard Brooks, shot in the back b who diedri this past writing night. It is a pain bven before we were yet the country when more than 400 use go traders kidnapped africans from their own lands brought them here to these shores, american shores, sold them, locked them in generations of brutal slavery treated not as people as property chainedol with, raped, treated as something lessthan human whipped. Our nation is never come to terms with this legacy. Theres no memorial on the national mall. Theres no truth in so still today americas gaping wound of racism leads pain and injustice and inequality continues plague every system in our country. Too many black men and women have lost their their lives their dignity to a Justice System rigged them. Racial prong mandatory frisk acts of actions. We entrust to our p safety officers vast power to serve their communities. Have we ensure that that vast power is exercised equally on behalf of all citizen often forces, Public Safety forces Police Forces treat white citizens as clients and black citizens as a thr that is must change. Its why im so proud to stand here in support of senator booker and senator harris sweeping justice and policing ac reform bill. We need to hold officers acble for their actions. We need to changen the culture of po and legislation is the right law right moment to begin to do that. No one should ever be profiledsed on the color killed eric garner must be a thing of the past. The one that ended with Breonna Taylor being been shot to death in her bed shoul longer exist and under justice and policing act these will be gone. And when a Public Safety offer misuses the immense power of his or her badge that misuse must be be document, must of that abuse must be public. That is the essence of accountability goes hand in hand the responsibility and the power that goes with wearing the never again should an officer who is been fired for abusing their power be able to go down the road and be hired by another department and be able to continue abusing pra setting. Thats why advocated for National Database of Police Misconduct to achieve outcome, and why i a booker is a database in the justice and policing act. In 196 before concluded that policing practices applaud Justice System, unscrewed with consumer creditou practices housing high anna palmer Voter Suppression and other cultural and better forms d converge on the streets of riaf American CitiesNorth South East and west. Doesnt that alltoofamiliar here to get two century later, one perso testifying on the commission said, i r report of the 1919 right in chicago and it was asnvestiga the harlem riot of 1935. The reporting and investigating committee of the riot of 43, the report of the cone commission ofn canada to members of thisce commission, its the with moving picture showed over anda;ver again the same analysis the same recommendations and the same today is a moment for a day of action for greater investment in a formal housing indecent communities, in schools and teachers iin community is for Good Investments and business owners, Early Education programs like head start. Its a time t a control he has the right to vote free from Voter Suppression intimidation. This friday our nation will once again recognize and celebrate juneteenth. The day when slavery official entered in this country 155 years ago. Let this juneteenth stand as a day for all of us to reflect on the calls for now is time to be agents o yes, to listen to theth voice of the people, to join with those have taken toee the streets entering the rubber bullets b and the baton and that your g w stand up for whats right. Now was the moment to stand shoulder and shoulder with our fellow americans without enough ofring of inequality, of the injustice so together we can help our nation live ue ideal of a land where everyone no matter the color of their skin is treated with a dignity t and respect and the opportunity and the equality, equal to all others. Recognized. Madam president i attended a rally for justice sponsored by two young women one highschooler and one a middle schooler in my hometown. The rally was one of numerous marches and rallies that occurred every day sometimes a day in richmond in the weeks after the horrific public murder of george floyd. Hundreds of people gathered in the Maggie L Walker plaza named after pioneering africanamerican woman business and civil rights leader. They gathered in the placid to hear from our cities young pe when asked if they were graduates of this class of 2020, a class whose senior to heao face a future frankly seems very, very m. I attended the listen. I used to be the mayor and governor not a sender by attended as a neighbor to listen. Listen. As the program and they didnt ask to speak. I wanted to hear how our y people view this moment in time, and what they are asking of us. What i heard in many different ways from speeches and artistic politics as usual. No more politics as usual. No more Police Killings the no more empty promises of reform after each new policing outrage. No more Education System that downplays the reality of injustice in this country since its birth. No more educational content thatp also downplays the contributions of African Americans indians latinos and others to our nation. No more veneration of the confederacy in richmond,n in virginia or anywhere else in the United States. Olthis gathering this rally had a lot of police there the police were there trying to keep the crowd from spilling from the plasma onto the busy broad street when he wouldve y passing vehicles. The rally advocated to defund the police but others disagreed. Some asserted all cops are bad but others disagreed. The reality the rally was robust raw diverse and it was the epitome the absolute the pick me up peacefully assembling to petition government for redress of grievancesor contemplated by the fi just as my young activists urged in many different ways to in politics as usual i desperately want to end apathy as usual. Apathy of the citizenry is a cheap guarantor of politics as usual. And then the Tremendous Energy demonstrated by these richmond errors and demonstrate on the streets of communities all overss this country im starting to be hopeful about the end of apathy as usual. These young people, they want action and resultsy and that they deserve i to join senators barker, harris, and many others in supporting the justice and n policing act of 2020. We need to ban chokehold. When he did then noknock warrant. We need a banned racial and religious profiling. We need to hold Police Officers and Police Departments accountable for violent reckless behavior. We needfessional accreditation of Police Departments. Rt madam president why do w we demand that universities maintain accreditation receive federal funds but make no s demand of Law Enforcement much more. Within the criminal Justice System also within all of our system to dismantle that this structures of racism thats our fede local governments maintained over centur virginia. The first africanamericans in the english colonies came to virginia in 1619. A been captured against their will but they landed in colonies that didnt have slavery. There were no laws about slavery in the colonies at that time. States didnt inherit slavery from anybody. We created it. Virginia genoa summit and country by the court s colonial america forced fugitive slave laws. We created it and we created and maintained it over centuries. In my lifetime we have finally stopped those practices but weve never gone back to undo it. Stopping racist practices at your 350 or 400 years but then taking the entle them is not the as truly combating but unmindful of the challenge laid down by our young people. No more politics as usual. Its one thing to introduce the bill. We do tha so often the introduction of the bill is all that occurs. No committee hearing. Committee markup. No committee vote. No floor debate. No floor vote. No aday story. And then possibly a blame game about who ipening. Thats been my biggest disappointment in 7 2unlike my service of the state and local levels we took action and it engaged in healthy competition at who shoul credit in congress it is too nathen an unproductive competition over who should be blamed for nothing getting done. Politics as usual. I pray that the engaged activism of our citizens has brought us to aus new moment that will compel us to actn way small in accord with it equality ideal that we profess to our resolve, and i urge my so that we can look our young people in their faces and tell them that we truly heard them. With that, madam president i yield the floor. Madam president . The senator from maryland is recognized. Thank you madam president. Ou it was 2015 shortly freddie gray in Police Custody in baltimore that i was in the c community in which ready grew up, meeting with Community Leaders any of them ive known for many, many years. We had an honest discussion about how policing in baltimore had unfolded. I was surprised to hear that these Community Leaders who want safety in their Community Felt that they could not confide with the police because they did not want people from their committee subject to do that discriminatory i had another meeting during that time with a group of africanamican families. Everyone told me the they feared, particularly when their young africanamerican sons went into the community because of the fear they would be discriminated the police. That fear was real. So as a result of the freddie gray tragedy w we requested a a pattern, a practicest of investigation by the department of justice. And what was discovered duringtigation is that the policies of the Police Department zero tolerance to crackdown on crime was used to profile the africanamerican community. And in many cases the Police Presence in the community provoked the violence. An added to the harm of the people in the community. So i wanted to take this opportunity to thank senator booker and senator harris for putting together a bill thatloor of the senate as quickly as possible for the justice and policing act. It contains many that quite enacted well before now. The tragic deaths of george floyd, Rayshard Brooks just underscore the importance for us act now. We neehese issues, and we need to pass legislation. Im grateful for senator booker including two provisions that i filed as legislation in several congresses. The interracial religious profilingt act. While ago many of us remember the trayvon in tragic loss profile by police because of the color of his skin. Racial or religious profiling targets a class with discriminatory treatment. Its not when you have individual information that a specific crime is an indicator of its when you target a community for special treatment. Its wrong. Its wrong because its against the values of america of the quality and justice. Its wrong because it wastes resources which are so valuable to keep our communities safe. Its wrong because it turns communitiese. Against police him and if were going to effective Law Enforcement the community and police need to Work Together not at inns. And its wrong because it becomes deadly. Too many innocent people have lost their lives because of discriminatory profiling. It this practice to end in i want to applaud the Obama Administration because they took action that federal Law Enforcement to make racial profiling ill but it still takes place in local Law Enforcement. The legislation include included in the justice and policing act would make that illegal. It would prohibit it and it provides for ways to enforce to make sure the Police Departments comply with the. It also provides for training so Law Enforcement understands what racial profiling of all about. R it also provides for usxactly what is happening at all levels of policing whether state local or auxiliary. The Leadership Conference on civil rights and human rights testified on each of discriminatory profiling last week and i want to share some of the testimony of when she vanita gupta. The equal treatment of people because of background protects and preserve Public Safety and builds legitimacy in police, people of color were often than others have serious consequences not only for individuals in communities but also Law Enforcement and society by fostering distrust in Law Enforcement. Through policy, training and practice lawag enforcement revent an old officers accountable foricing. And reduce impact on marginal communities. Ent and thank senator booker for including those provisions that would end this practice in the justice and policing act. Ed theres a second bill that ive introduced for several congresses Law Enforcement ntegrity act. It provides for performancebased standards for police it embraces accreditation standards based upon president obamas task force on 21st century policing. It does provide for training and oversight, and proper investigations for those Police Officers have crossed the line. It enhanced the pattern andes that consentl2 be effective in epractices. Madam president i am pleased that these provisions are included in justice and policing act, and so many other important changes for reform and accountability in Law Enforcement, the noknock warrant, the standard that will officers accountable who have lost the trust of the American People the registry so the Law Enforcement can know by background checks whether a particular applicant has been involved in instances in other jurisdictions. All of these are very, verysi important provisions that we need to act on, and we need to act on now. Let us Work Together to guarantee equal justice under law and fulfill the promise of our constitution in order to form a more perfect domestic tranquility. Let this nation finally guarantee law. I yield the floor. Madam president before the good senator from illinois speaks i just may, just extras by credited to the two colleagues whole juste. The senator from chapman on this issue since a cover and now as it senator. I have a lot l of love for the history that he knows ofi state and the fact he knows that history of injustice has to be confronted. My mom did live in charlottesville, virginia, and shweta segregate integrate lunch counters in your great state and the fact that youre and you are a leader on these issues is extraordinary to me at this important time and doing grateful for that. I wanted to say the senator from maryland i am newer to the senate and he has components of this bill that after the challenges in baltimore with the freddie gray you helped to lead and right and the same thing youre calling for to come out and say this idea that you will profile people because of their race or religion is anathema to the. Very ideals of the constitution. It is so obvious when, on its face ive seen pulling upwards of 90 of republicans agree that weig should have people profiled based upon the race or religion, and thats one of the ideas of this bill. As we look at the common views of this budget youve you been fighting for this for years before for years. Its grateful, im grateful to b have your part of it and and i just want to be a blue say to the introduction to my senator and want to sit on the senate for and for theord, to senator durbin has been a partner of mine on criminal justice refor of policing and prisons and jails which i i swept up millions of americans and their families and their children is despicable that we are the land of the free and incarcerate so many people, and yo cocaine powder cocaine disparity. Before even came to the senate has helped to lead to the liberation some africanamericans. Im grateful that you are on this bill and with that i would like to yield to the senator from illinois. Madam president . The democratic with is recognize. Thank you madam president. I think the senator from new jersey. During the course when his political campaigns in rent lincolns opponent said to him you switch your position. He reversed your position on an issue. You change on an issue. Abraham lincoln said, you see i would rather be right some of the time than wrong all of the time. I learned that lesson as many of us have who served in congress and you vote for a measure and many years later,xfter reflect and what it was the right vote. I focus on the called the war on drugs. It seemed like a sensible thing to do do in many join me, black and white members of the house of representatives. It was after the death of len bias a maryland basketball star who overdosed in the moment of panic over crack cocaine we did something which was going to just make it ver clear public statement, the penalty for crack cocaine was going to be 100 times the penalty for powder cocaine. 100 times. Were going to let america know mess with crack cocaine. What a colossal failure it turned out to be. The price of crack cocaine on down instead of up. The number of users on the street went up instead of down, and of america over the next ten years to a level weve never before i merrily with africanamericans within convictedea of selling crack cocaine. I realize and im sure many othersmi did it was a big mistake. It was an experiment that failed at t the expense of many people and their families in their lives. So ten years ago i started out to try to change it. 100 to one statement in my mind was indefensible, didnt work, number one. Number two there was no Scientific Evidence that crack cocaine was that much more dangerous and powder cocaine. Sigh set out to make it one to one where it should be. And i ran into an adversary by the name of senator sessions of alabama. He didnt likech the idea very much my change, and after negotiation, long negotiations, we agreed to drop the standard to 18 to one. I cant tell you the wisdom behind the number 18 but it was a compromise number. It changed a lot of things, thousands of people in prison were able to leave early and many had their sentences reduced. Reduced. But it wasnt enough. We needed to go further and it was clear when it came to mandatory minimums and three strikes youre out and all of the things that led to imprisonments in whier bill. Ih joined with senator mike lee a conservative rep forward with the legislation. And others joined us as well but we were stopped by one man who happened to be the chairman of the Senate JudiciaryCommittee Chuck grassley. He said i dont like this bill. Came to the fore many times and gave speeches against the bill. So it came obvious to me if anything was going to happen i needed to win over chuck grassley. Systat done within and literally for one whole year negotiated change this bill. Things i did want to give up the part of the process to moveh the First Step Act and he probably was the lead sponsor on was the cosponsor happy to be. And then we found an ally in the white househner who was s opened but the fact that his father spent time in in reform, and we put together at the First Step Act. One of the first people i went to was cory booker, then a new sanded from new jerseyan said i want you to support this bill. Read it and tell me if you can. You came back to me with several proposals. One of them was incarceration th of juveniles that you want to make sure we changed in america. Several other worthy suggestions we incorporate in theth bill and he became part of the team. And the team was ultimately successful and to the surprise of you in washing President Trump signed into law the First Step Act. Those who are skeptical that we are about here cannot result in legislation having ignored the obvious that something occurred in the last year or two with this white house come with this president come with a republican majority in the senate, we do something significant and a we can do it again and we should. What were talking about now with justice and policing is obvious to the world. What has brought us to this point in this debate . I think two things have brought us here. Maybe we didnt see that coming. Videotapes in dna. Thats what brought us here. Its no longer speo what happen in a parking lot. Its no longer conjecture as to what happened at the sight of the curve in minneapolis. We see it. We see it and we cant get the images out of our mind. On knee on the neck for a minute and 46 seconds just in case that sounds like a short time, try kneeling as senator kaine did at a moment of silence in the auditorium just a few w weeks ago. Try imagine someones knee on your neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Well george floyd losses like in that period of time. I think the image that sticks with me is not only that men begging for his life on the ground but the of the policeman who being implored and begged by all the people around take your knee off. Let him breathe. The look with those cold hard eyes as he took the life out of that man. That image is something i will carry for the r rest of my service in life, as images from the wendys parking lot in atlanta georgia. All of these things have brought moment when we realize something must be done. The meetings ive attended that had the have been organized by High School Students in my how many hometown. And shes tall and rangy and didnt look like theyll do this she and her twin sister. No curses were thrown around this was a peaceful rally all about black lives matter. I told her its an amazing achievement at your your stage in life that it was a young woman, a young africanamerican woman who look on the role of leadership with others. This last sunday i went to jersey illinois i was telling senator booker about this. And i dont know if they had a rally near the courthouse 4 00 in the afternoon. I went down there because of another africanamerican high school young woman who, named lalani davis. Lalani goes to high school about 20 miles away and she called for a black lives matter rally and asked if id come. I said i wouldnt miss it because shed done the same thing in another small town at a rally and started cruising with banners supporting different political candidates and all the derigs throwing at her, she said that those people to do that this is going to be peaceful. I respect her so much for that. Here are two 16 17yearold young africanamerican women who are true leaders and inspiring in their humility. Theyre not looking for a headline. Theyre wideeyed by those showing up. The people showing up white, black, brown people coming there, begging for freedom and liberty and hoping we can do something in washington and why shouldnt we . Isnt it the rea we ran for these office toss address the issues of the day in our time to take on the tough finding compromise when it looks like its impossible . I think we can do this and i know that we must. I want to just recount one other thing before i yield the floor as others are arriving here. It was about 10 days ago that i asked the africanamerican members of my staff to get on a conference call. We spend a lot of time on Conference Calls and the requests on the call and i started talking about their experiences, and they were a little reluctant to volunteer much and then the dam broke and one of them said something that led another one it say something, and it turned out to be one of the best conversations ive ever had with my staff. They told me some things which i needed to hear because listening is sometimes more senator than speaking although i do a lot of speaking. And m them described the very first time and they remember it and they remember who said it when they were called the nword. They remember it. And they each went through experience on a playground in a school and im thinking to myself i never had an experience in my life that was so profound that i remember it to this moment someone use ago word against me. Another young woman talked about the fact that her mother sat her down at a young age, and said when you go into the store and when you buy something, you always ask for a receiptment you put it in the bag and you can show it to them and youve got the receipt. My mother never gave me that lesson she never had to. I was never going to be stopped at the door. Im white, and this young girl was black. Time and again, the issue of racism is one weve faced in this country as youve said over 400 years when slavery came to our shores before we were known as the United States of america, to this day, a the greed and racism behind slavery still challenges to this moment. Can we come up with an approach thats sensible . I hope we can. When you look at the history of codes, jim crow the great migration and everything that followed you realize that were still in the midst of this debate. Were as drawn to it as any moment in American History and we have to face it and face it squarely and honestly. I think that we can and i think that we must and let me say one word about the antilen muching law. I read about the history of the antilynching la you law in the United States congress and im sure senator booker knows it well. A congressman from missouri he was not africanamerican he was a white congressman, a veteran of world war i, and former prosecutor just outragedby the east st. Louis riots, its my hometown outraged by the riots he introduced the antilynching laws and managed to get it through the senate through the house, rather and came here in the senate and died and this measure has languished in this chamber since. And i thought to myself lynching what a terrible southern phenomena, boy, am i wrong. I did a Little Research and studied history, over the weekend. Saddened to learn that my home county st. Clair county on the Belleville Square an africanamerican was lynched. Another in decatur, illinois a town that i represented for years in central illinois. And sadly, other lynchings that took place in parts of illinois that you might not have guessed. I learned the history of anna illinois i wont say it on the floor because i dont want it in the record, but unfortunately the name anna has racial connotations to it ill share privately with others and anna lynched in illinois. It happened in the land of lincoln, it happened in north, happened in my home state that i love and its a reminder that hatred can be found everywhere and its our job here with this bill to move forward and say to the good police and making sure to join us and make sure we dont have bad in your ranks you know who cant be trusted with the badge and join us to make sure you show quality in the recrueltiment, training review of those serving in Law Enforcement, recruitment. Im sure theres much more that can be said, but i want to thank my colleagues booker and harris bringing us to this moment. This is our moment, i would beg tim scott whom i dearly lleague and person to join us in a bipartisan effort to do something historic at this moment. Dont believe we cant do it believe we can and do the right thing that will stand the test of time. I yield the floor. Madam president. Senator from maryland is recognized. Madam president , i want to begin where my colleague senator from illinois left off, which is thanking senator booker senator from new jersey senator harris cbc, people protesting around this country for bringing us to this floor at this moment to demand urgent change. Pleased to be joined by my colleague from the state of maryland senator carden across the potomac river, senator kaine and senator durbin from illinois. Were here because like the americans taking to the streets around the country, we understand this is a moment when we must turn the pain into progress. We must transform the pain of George Floyds death and the unjust deaths of so much other black americans, into deep and lasting change. We must bring the passionate pleas of the protesters across the nation to the floor of the senate to root out systemic racism in all its ugly forms. This is a deep ingrained problem and it is clear that tinkering around the edges is not enough. Systems embedded with racisoverhauled. The states in the form of the police cannot be allowed to continue unjustly taking the lives and liberty of black men and women. We must change the nature of policing. We need to change the culture, here in the senate we must change laws that compel changes in culture, but let us remember that the police as an institution, are a reflection of the Greater Society and would he have an obligation to change all of those institutions where we find ingrained racist practices, everywhere we find it. Since the nation stood horrified by the video of floyd gasping for breath crying out i cant breathe as his life was snuffed out of him, with a knee to his neck. Other black men senselessly died at the hands of police. By now weve probably all seen the video of Rayshard Brooks. He fell asleep in his car after drinking. He was then interviewed by police for over 20 minutes, if you havent watched that encounter, i urge you to do it. Because after that 20minute conversation he ended up dead with two bullets in his back. That encounter should never have ended that way. Not far from here in woodstock, virginia we had another recen did not end in violence, but exposed some of the racist assumptions that are too often wired into Police Responses and into societal responses. A black pastor an air force veteran, saw a man and woman disposing of an old refrigerator on his property. He told them to stop. The two were upset that the pastor would not let them dump this refrigerateor on his property. They grew irate. They went away and came back with three others and then these five white people surrounded the pastor began jostling him, taunting him, calling him names and saying they didnt give a darn about his life and the black lives matter stuff. So in defense he drew a gun which he legally carried. He called 911 to get the police to. The police did come. They arrested and handcuffed the black pastor while the five white people continued to threaten him and wave as the police took him away. Now, the sheriff in woodstock has apologized and the proper charges including hate crime charges filed against those who trespassed and harassed the pastorment, but that initial response tells you what you need to know. And those are the kind of encounters that black men and women face everywhere in this country on a regular basis. North, south, east and west. It reflects the same impulse of the woman in central park new york who was asked by a black man and bird watcher enthusiast to obey the law, to leash her dog. Instead, she called the police on him to tell them that an ing her life. Fact that she would likely be believed. The same ingrained in racist im resulted in five black youth now known as the exonerated five, but who were locked up and spent years and years in prison after being falsely accused of the brutal assault in that same central park in new york. Its the same racist narrative of one of the First American films, the birth of a nation showed by Woodrow Wilson in the white house. You can draw a Straight Line madam president , from slavery to jim crow legal segregation, institutionalized racism to the death of george floyd and lack americans. So will not be enough. Calling for more data and transparency is necessary, but it will not be enough. We have to take up and pass the justice in policing act want to thank senator booker and harris and Congressional Black Caucus for leading this effort. The Supreme Court yesterday had an opportunity to take up and change the doctrine of qualified immunity. They chose not to. Its allowed police and other officials to act with impunity. There must be consequences for unjustly depriving citizens of life and liberty. The changes called for in the justice in policing act are necessary to individuals, to protect communities, and to protect all those Police Officers who uphold their oath to protect the communities that they serve. The police are the agents of the state. So Holding Police accountable and requiring justice in policingirst step. We must also confront the other manifestations of systemic racism. And the institutions and societal norms that allow them to continue and we must dismantle them with the same deliberate actions that ingrain them in the first place. Tinkering with the system will not be enough. We need dramatic reforms in our criminal Justice System. We have less than 5 of the worlds population, but 20 of its prison population something that the senate from new jersey has spoken about often, as have my colleagues. We need to change that. That is a stain on our country. We need to get rid of the private prison system that gives some operations financial incentive to propagate a system that locks so many up. We know that covid19 disproportionally killed people of color we need to address that from covid19 to mortality. President trump celebrated the fact that the may Unemployment Rate was 15 . I mean thats nothing in and of itself to celebrate. It means millions and millions of americans are out of work through nofault of their own, but he neglected to mention that the black Unemployment Rate went up in that may report because we have deep inequities in our systems of income and wealth. We have deep inequalities in our school systems. Title one is persistently underfunded by over 300 billion excuse me 30 billion every year. Think about 2. 1 trillion dollars were spending to help the economy from going underwater in this short period of time. My goodness we could spend 300 billion over so years, to fully fund title one. Weve seen continued discrimination in housing and the department of housing and urban development thats got to advance fairness. So,madam president , we have a lot of work to do in this country. We have a lot of work to do in the United States senate. This is a moment of reckoning for this country. Another one. This time lets not allow it to pass. And lets start, lets start right now by taking up and passing the justice in policing act. Act. But that is just the start. We have so much more work to do to build a truly more Perfect Union and live up to the promise of equal rights and equal justice and equal opportunity and really ensure that we have equal justice under law, which, of course is ensconced above the Supreme Court of the United States. Madam president , lets get to work lets do it now. I yield the floor. Madam president. Senator from minnesota is recognized. Madam president , i come to the floor today because it is time to end systemic racism with systemic change. So im calling on my colleagues to work with us to immediately bring the justice in policing act to the floor. I think senator booker who is here with us today. And senator harris for their work on this bill. As well as the house members who are leading in the other chamber. We must pass this bill and we should do it immediately with bipartisan support. George floyd should be alive today, but he isnt. He was murdered in my state. He was murdered in my city. He was murdered on videotape so the whole world could see it. The whole world saw as his life evaporated before our eyes. Our nation has been left in pain grieving marching and demanding justice. His murder has galvanized a nationwide movement both for george floyd and the communities of color across america that experienced injustice far too long not just injustice at the hands of the police, but also economic injustice, educational injustice, and if anything these last few months this pandemic has shed a big magnifying glass, put it on top of whats been happening for way too long. And as we grieve this loss we have work to do in our own state, and that is justice in this particular case including accountability for the officers involved manipulate min attorney general keith ellison, who i have known for many many years. I am very sure that he will have full faith and has forever in his conviction for justice and he is pursuing this case against the officer. But as lawmakers we must also make systemic change. We cannot answer our nations call for justice with silence. That would make us complicit. We cannot answer with what the president called domination. That would make us monsters. We must answer with action. That is what makes us lawmakers. Since ive come to the senate 13 years ago, ive watched as change has come inch by inch and i see senator durbin with us today, who led the effort on changing the disparity on crack cocaine. He was af the Judiciary Committee when he led that work. I see senator booker here and both of them as well as a number of us worked on the First Step Act. That is was important to reduce sentencing for nonviolent offenders, but again, its inch by inch. We must move by miles. There is systemic racism at every level of our Justice System and it has taken far too long to right these wrongs. And its on us in congress especially on those of us who have worked in the system. Mayors prosecutors, attorney generals those of us that have seen what is happening. Have a special obligation to make this change. We took an oath as senators. We didnt wave a bible in the air for a photo op. We placed our hand on that bible and swore to support and defend the constl enemies, foreign and domestic. That enemy we face right now, it is racism it is injustice. This is not a time for half measures and equivocation. It is a time for real change and swift action including holding Police Officers accountable for misconduct and violence changing Police Practices and making our Justice System more transparent. There are a lot of good Police Officers out a lofficers. But they are brought down just as our entire community is when you have someone make Derek Chauvin commit the murder that he did. When they watched the videotape, they feel like we feel. And thats why this bill is so important, the justice in policing act. This comprehensive legislation changes federal law so officers can be held accountable for misconduct and increases that transparency and improves police training. First, accountability. The justice in policing act will hold officers accountable for misconduct and violence by changing the federal use of force standard from reasonable to necessary. So that force is only used when necessary to prevent death or serious injury and it requires states to adopt similar standards if they want to receive federal funding. Changing the standards is not some legalese word it will change life. A drop in force can be the words whether a prosecutor can prove a case against a Police Officer or not. People ask, whats happened around the country with some of these cases, some of these blatant things that people recently have seen on videotape in my state, castillo in a neighboring jurisdiction to minneapolis, look what the standards are, lawmakers have control over these standards and even when a case like that was prosecuted with excellent prosecutors who did their all, they were not able to get a guilty verdict. Look at the standards. In addition to improving the way that individual officers are held accountable for misconduct the bill holds Police Officers accountable because we know there are systemic changes that are needed needed Police Departments. I have called on the department of justice along with 26 of my colleagues to hold a full scale investigation into the minneapolis Police Department. We have waited weeks for a response. Under the Obama Administration 25 of these pattern and practice investigations were brought. Under the Trump Justice Department just one unit of one department in springfield, massachusetts was examined. Now, just as i headed to the floor here we got a letter from the Justice Department that they did not commit to this investigation. They said they were going to continue to look at the evidence. Meanwhile, the governor of minnesota and the states Human Rights Department has had to fill in. They are conducting their own investigation. And i have faith that they will do the right thing, but again, this should be coming from the Justice Department. We know that minnesota is not the only state as recent events have shown us that has experienced misconduct from the police and have experienced a pattern and practice that need to be ain, we await that investigation from the department of justice. After what we saw on the video, it is not warranted in this case to have such an investigation . I would ask the Justice Department under donald trump and under william barr what facts would warrant an investigation if not these . In addition to improving the tools to hold police accountable, we also need to ensure that there is transparency so we can once again build trust with our communities. What does this mean . Well it means that we have officers that actually get in trouble in one department and then go to another department and no one knows what happened. It means that the public does not have access to information about serious issues of misconduct that are held tightly within city departments and city archives in some place, when in fact its a matter of life and death for the people of this country and of course we need wholesale changes to the way policing happens. I worked with senator smith and gillibrand to include provisions in the bill to require states to ban the use of choke holds in policing to receive certain federal funding and ban them overall. This would be an important change that actually would help with prosecutions across the country if this practice was actually banned. George floyds murder at the hands of Police Officers was horrific and inhumane and sadly, as we know not the first or last time a black man was taken uniform. We must stop this cycle of violence to get something done. We have an opportunity to make real change here. And if leader mcconnell refuses to bring this bill to the floor, he and his colleagues who support him, are on the wrong side of history. In the words of George Floyds family who i have the honor to speak with we will demand and ultimately force lasting change by shining a light on this and by winning justice. Ill conclude with this a few years ago, like so many of my colleagues i went to selma, alabama with representative john lewis. I stood there on the bridge where he had his head beaten in. I was in awe of his persistence, his resilience and his faith that this country could always do better. That weekend, after 48 years, the white police chief of montgomery handed his police badge to congressman lewis and he publicly apologized on behalf of the police for not protecting congressman lewis and the freedom marchers 48 years before. I dont want it to take another 48 years for my city to heal. I dont want it to take another 48 years for my state to heal or for this country to heal or for our nation to fix a Justice System thats been broken since it was built. I want justice now. The voices you hear from across the country, they want justice now now. It is time we deliver and not just in platitudes. It is time we act and not just talk about acting. This is our moment. This is history, so lets make history. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. Epublican senator tim scott is scheduled to brief reporters on his Police Reform bill. That News Conference is scheduled to start shortly and well have live coverage here on cspan2. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] more on this mornings News Conference with republican senator scott. This from cnn. Com. Republicans are rallying around the plan being presented by senator tim scott. Its expected to be introduced this morning, but democratic counterparts are already saying the g. O. P. Approach is too slow. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell dismissed the more wide ranging democratic proposal as typical democratic overreach. Both sides are feeling pressure to get some sort of legislation on the books soon possibly before the two week july 4th recess. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] good morning, thank you for coming out this morning and let me just say to