Senate must do its job and passes the equality act without delay. I yield the floor. Across the country there has been a National Outcry for justice. For real changes and laws to address, Police Brutality and reflect the undeniable truth that black lives matter. This week should be our opportunity in the United States senate to come together, republicans and democrats to begin to fix our broken policing system. That is what so many people in big cities and small towns in oregon and every state across america are dem banding of us. But instead of allowing that kind of bipartisan, leader mcconnell is plowing ahead with the partisan business as usual on a bill that falls very short of what the senate to accomplis accomplish. I see my friend, senator scott ther distinguished senator from South Carolina on the floor, i want to make it clear that i have Great Respect for senator scott, he is an important member of the Senate Finance committee on which both of us serve, i appreciate every opportunity to work with him. And in fact, i think a fair number of people around the country like the work weve just done in the last few weeks on nonprofit organizations. We will be working together, i know in days ahead. Unfortunately the majority leader is given short to this debate on endingy systemic racism by putting forward some inadequate bill and essentially the other side to oppose it. Way you bring together both sides to address the Important National challenges. Let me take just a few minutes to talk about some of the specific shortcomings of the legislation that senator mcconnell wants to bring to the floor. For example, mr. President , and my colleagues, how can 100 senators not agree that chokeholds are wrong and ought toth be banned . Thats it my democratic colleagues and i have called for, a nation wide ban on chokehold. The republican bill does not take that same strong firm position. And in my view, you cannot equivocate when it comes to a reform as basic as abandoning the chokehold. Anything short of a ban creates loopholes for the use of a chokehold and that is the wrong way to go for our country. Second it still does not make any real accountability for policeig misconduct. It does not set up independent prosecution of police abuse it does not create National Standards for Law Enforcement it does not and qualified immunity. Those issues are right at the center of the challenge of reforming policing in america. They are the issues the American People want to see addressed head on. A lot of what the majority of the bill that senator mcconnells bill does in respect to Police Conduct is essentially collecting data. Nobody is protesting collecting data. But people are protesting on is they want to save lives. The senate ought to do better and make those real changes that improve public safety. Third, the extreme militarization of the Police Forces in recent years. It is actually an issue that goes back more than a fewe years. But the danger of the military mindset and domestic Law Enforcement was never more clear than when Trump Officials started talking, and i quote here, about dominating the battle space. Your president , our communities are not a war zone, are citizens are not enemy combatants. And our Police Officers should not be occupying forces. So why has the United States undergone this year long military mobilization on its own streets against its own people . It is long past time for this to end and for all of our communities to institute 21st Century Community policing policy. But the republican bill does either. Hat the truth is, senator does take a few good steps like establishing the duty to intervene in making lynching a federal crime. Those are issues that i and other democrats would like to work on with senator scott on a comprehensive bill but that is not what senator mcconnell has. My concern is if the senate takes up the mcconnell bill, it is just going to be business as usual under the republican leader. A short debate cut off arbitrarily, not enough votes and not enough improvements to the actual i just dont believe when millions and millions of americans are demanding more from more that business as usual is somehow acceptable that video of the murder of george floyd at the hands of police stirred a part of Americas National consciousness. There been peaceful protests in all 50 states over the last few weeks, calling for us to stamp out racial injustice. People of all ethnicities of all ages of all genders, it is been a rare display of common purpose and common engagement in america. As senators we have an obligation to respond to that call was something significantly better than business as usual. I note that senator scott wants to get there. I knowgu that my colleagues and i went to get there. I am proud to support senator booker and senator harris whove been doing outstanding issue. And i know that regardless of the outcome of tomorrows vote we are going to keep working. But as for this week, the senate would be wrong to just rush this process and check the box with a partisan process a partisan approach before shrugging it shoulders and moving on to the task of dealing with our judges i am going to vote, mr. President i urge my colleagues to do the same and i yield the floor. Senator from minnesota. Mr. President i rise today and thank my colleagues from oregon i also thank him for his work on the voting bill. We just had a discussion with senator blunt about that and while we did not agree on the bill there is discussion that is ongoing and we have possibly another covid package which we really believe we need to. On working on some funding issues for the state as we look at more and more balancing from home thats how important that is and i went to thank him for his leadership on that issue. I brought up your home state in a speech an hour or so ago and the work that oregon has done ballots at home. And i actually think i use the number of percentage of fraud as. 00001 or Something Like that to show with the president said is not true weveta actually had many states across the country including utah a big success with voting from home. Mr. President i rise to down another matter and that is to urge the senate to consider meaningful comprehensive legislation to make systemic changes to our Justice System that will save lives and the black community, save lives in all community of color that have experienced injustice for far too long. I am deeply concerned the bill on the floor this week failed to meet this moment. It has been nearly one month george floyd was murdered and my state we all watched as evaporated before our eyes. It was a horrible thing. People who watched it whether they were in Law Enforcement, whether they were regular citizens that saw it, and it hit home to many of them for the first time. And many of them sadly for many, many times before that how in truly unjust and immoral this is. His death was horrifying and inhumane galvanized nationwide movement for justice. As members the United States senate we have a responsibility to respond to that call with action and that means when you have systemic racism that you must address this with systemic change. Some of that is happening in our state and local government that is a good thing. But that also must happen here. Is not just just an issue for one city or one state my home state or its not an issue just at the local level there is a lot of work that needs to be done at the local level that has been acknowledged by mayors and Police Chiefs across the country but its also important work that we must do here. I was proud to join my colleagues in introducing the justice and policing acts led by senators booker and harris makes comprehensive changes to the Justice System there long overdue. These include Police Officers being held accountable for misconduct reforming Police Practices and improving transparency will be good for our nation for the justice and policing acts will help surround more tragedies like those we have seen to prevent murders. It is why it supported by groups like the naacp the Leadership Conference of human rights in the National Urban league. The house is expected to pass the bill this thursday. And then, it comes over here. But instead of taking of that bill, the justice and policing acts, senator mcconnells brought a different bill to the senate floor. The justice act. But my problem with ithe is despiteds the name and a lot of the words we are hearing on the other side, it does not get us to where we need to be. In this moment is people are still marching and demanding more from change, we cannot confront these urgent issues with half measures or equivocation. I haveat serious concerns this bill does not respond to the nationwide call for justice. On like the justice and policing act that is going to pass the house, the bill we are considering here in the senate lacks Critical Reforms topr strengthen pattern and practice investigation reform thats urgently needed after we all saw the video of the Police Officers standing right next toh whether george floyd pinned down, pinned to the ground. I call on the department of justice with 26 other senators to conduct a fullscale investigation into the patterns and practices of the Minneapolis Police department and any bill which could sitter has the authority and the resources they need to conduct at their own investigation. By the with our call his still gone unheeded during the Obama Justice Department Time period, 25 of these cases pattern and practice investigations were brought. During the trump justice tDepartment Time. Just one unit of the Springfield Massachusetts department went through a pattern and practice investigation. I do not know what more proof you need than the fact of the video and the fact there were other officers standing nearby the fact we have called for this with 26 senators but still we await any final word from the Justice Department. They have informed us that they are still looking at this but in the meantime, our Human Rights Department in the state of minnesota is stepping in to fill the void. I dont think that is the ideal way to dode it. You would like a Justice Department that has experienced during this period but our state Human Rights Department stepping in and conducting its own practice investigation. A bill on the floor fails to help states conduct their own investigations as i just mention to address systemic problems in culture training and accountability at Police Departments like what the Minnesota Department of human rights is now conducting. And by the way with the proper resources and the proper experience, former Justice Department and the like this is one way to handle some of this in addition to the Justice Department. At a time our Justice Department has failed to take up these investigations, this provision that the need justice and policing act is even more critical. We must also take action to put it and practices that unnecessarily put peoples lives at risk. I worked with senator jill brandon senator smith of my state on the justice and policing act to ban federal Law Enforcement officers from using chokehold and other net restraints and to prohibit states from receiving federal ending unless they have attacked law receive their federal funding we have used this method inav the past and there is significant funding attached to it, states will react to the on the floor this week from our republican counterparts only ban certain types of chokehold those that restrict airflow but not blood flow and only in certain situations. This does not go to the point we needed to go to get the systematic change we need in our criminal Justice System. And critically does not include necessary changes to hold individual officers accountable for misconduct like making records of misconduct public. Real change comes with accountability and as drafted the republican build is not provided. That is why it is opposed by civil rights and criminal Justice Groups and why the attorney for george floyd family in my had the honor of speaking with his family, he has said this bill is in direct contrast to the demands of the q people. Go from here . What we can start by calling up the bill that will be coming over from the house. We can start by agreeing to Work Together, lets have a bipartisan process developed with the bill based off the bill we will be coming over from the house. As a member of the Judiciary Committee i have seen what happens is we Work Together to get something done we passed the First Step Act of the vote of 87 to 12 bully reached across and doing something not dishabille for love platitudes or studies but actually doing something. Which is what the people are calling out for now. And by the way, there are a lot of good Police Officers out there. Including those who work around us. And when you put strong standards in place they meet those standards that is to allow that conduct that we saw on that video to go without national changes it would be just to say its just this incident minnesota which of course is being prosecuted by attorney general. That is how you could resolve it if he thought it justne happened once and it just happen to one state. But we know that is not true, my colleagues, we know that is not true that is why this is so important to take action and pass an actual bill. We already started this process the senate Judiciary Committee we had a hearing on this issue we had testimony and Law Enforcement officers across the country and i heard a lot of agreement among many of those who testified not all of them but many of them support for banning chokehold, establishing a National Policy these are policed creating a public database of misconduct and having independent investigations of Police Involved destined coming i push for job and not have the Police Department that the officer works for investigating the conduct. Thatas is strong as i said so publicly years ago. There are areas where weme can find agreements but we have to mean it turned chairman graham said he hoped the Judiciary Committee would consider whats being proposed and come up with something in common what we start with the bill that we coming over from the house. The bill that has been sponsored in the u. S. Senate by booker and hairspray to instead leader mcconnells after consider a bill that was drafted and their caucus but without the input of so many of us that have seen firsthand the damage that has been done here. He is then moving that bill about in the Judiciary Committee consider it. Fails to make the kind of meaningful change we need in our system. This is a moment for urgent action but its also a moment for fundamental change. If we respond to all of those people out there and the family of george floyd who i got to meet and sat across the pew from it that memorial service. If we respond with silence then we are complicit. If we respond as was been suggested with dominance and by waving a bible in front of a church for photooptical, then we are monsters. But, if we respond with action, meaningful action, hecolleagues that we are at lawmakers and that is with the people of our state sent us to do. Thank you, mr. President i yield the floor. Mr. President. Senator from michigan. Mcpherson want to thank my friends are minnesota for ongoing and this is one of those issues be greatly appreciated and need your voice so thank you for the past month, americans in all parts of our country in all walks of life have once again been marching for the cause of justice. They are raising their voices and raising the nays of those killed by police ready graves, rhianna taylor, george floyd, ryszard brooks, americans are not margin because of politics, they are not marching because they want the senate to pretend to address this issue and hope it goes away, americans are not margin because they want more studies and reports, no. Americans through all walks of life young and old, people of all backgrounds, religions and nationalities are marching because they are sick and tired of learning more nays. They want the people who represent them here, in this chamber to finally confront this deadly serious issue with the seriousness it d deserves. His timely meet their expectations in this historic moment it really is mr. Present a historic moment. Its a historic opportunity for all of us to come together. To it is past time to do something to stop the violence. It is time to come together and do Something Big and consequential. That is going to take all of us to be able to do that. Just think about the big things we have been able to get done in the past decade or so. I am not trying to m equate this current moment. I know we know how to do other big things. Mr. Present we do things across the aisle we work across the aisle will want to get things done. When i think about passing a farm bill, fiveyear farm bill loud people said we could not get it done, all of the different interest the families and Food Assistance its for farms and ranchers in solon ive had some of. We kept on working in a bipartisan way and we got a bipartisan bill that was good for farmers and families good for the environment, good for our economy. And in fact, we passed it with an 87 to 13 vote which is the most votes we ever got ever in the United States senate for farmville. Police violence and systemic racism that is behind it deserves at least, at least the same bipartisan effort we give the farmville. In t much the same way the senate came together across the aisle and got comprehensive reform done. That only happened because people sat down together with different views, republicans, democrats, and work to the complicated issues that were standing in our way. And got it done and the United States senate. Police violence and the systemic racism behind it, deserve at least that same bipartisan effort. More recently there was the cares act, democrats and republicans work day and night to come together in an agreement on the mostns effective way to meet the needs of americans during the sun precedented health and economic crisis, which by the way we need to do again because we are not done. Police violence and the systemic racism behind it deserve at least that kind of effort. This is a huge, huge crisis that poles of the very soul of america. In this issue certainly deserves the best of all of us right now. The best of what we can do. Systemic Racism Police by men up the same kind of bipartisan effort we have focused on other issues that have not had the lifeanddeath consequences of this issue. The people who are marching, they are crying out for justice deserve a serious response at a serious moment. Leader mcconnell needs to take this issue seriously and support a bipartisan process instead of just moving to a week, flawed, republican bill just to pretend that he try to do something. The house of representatives here they are passing a bill this week. Sending it over to us. A serious bill and im proud to be a cosponsor of the Senate Version with our leaders, senator booker, senatoris harris. They are serious blow passing the justice and policing act. Senate democrats are serious, Mitch Mcconnell and senator report this is the moment, this is the moment for us to be serious together. To address this in a big, profound, systemic way. Eric Michael Freddie rhianna george ryszard and all of those who are no longer with us. As well as all of those marching, marching, marching, and speaking up deserve nothing less than our best at this moment. They deserve a serious bipartisan effort. That is what i supports, that is what my democratic colleagues support. Now it takes sitting down and listening to each other. It takes working out differences. But that is the only way change happens. And we are willing to put in whatever time and effort it takes to make that happen. And that is what we are going to continue to fight for. Thank you, mr. President , yield the floor. Soda metal president. Senator from wyoming back i come on the floor today on the eve of what should be a good routine vote for United States senate. Tomorrow the senate is scheduled to vote on a motion to proceed to the Justice Reform legislation that we ought to be considering in the United States senate. Its important to find out what that means by this is not a vote on passage of the bill. Its not about to amend the debate
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