System. That is what so many people in big cities and small towns in oregon and every state across america are demanding of us. But instead of allowing that kind of bipartisan discussion, leader mcconnell is plowing ahead with the partisan business as usual on a bill that falls very short of what the senate ought to accomplish. I see my friend, senator scott, the 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 note the work weve just done in the last few weeks. On nonprofit organizations. So we will be working together, i know, in the days ahead. Unfortunately, the majority leader is giving short shrift to this debate on ending systemic racism by putting forward an inadequate bill and essentially daring the other side to oppose it. Thats not the way you bring together both sides to address big, Important National challenges. And 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 colleagues, how can 100 senators not agree that choke holds are wrong and ought to be banned . Thats what my democratic colleagues and i have called for. A nationwide ban on choke holds, period. Full stop. The republican bill does not take that same strong, Firm Position and in my view you cant equivocate when it comes to a reform as basic as banning the choke hold. Anything short of a ban creates loopholes for the use of choke holds and that is the wrong way to go for our country. Second, this bill doesnt create any real accountability for Police Misconduct. It doesnt set up independent investigations or prosecutions of police abuses. It doesnt create National Standards for Law Enforcement. It does not end qualified immunity. Those issues are right at the center of the challenge of reforming policing in america, and they are the wishes the American People want to see addressed headon. A lot of what the majoritys bill, senator mcconnells bill does with respect to Police Conduct is essentially collecting data. Nobody is protesting collecting data. What 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 our Police Forces in recent years. Its actually an issue that goes back more than a few years, but the danger of a military mind set in domestic Law Enforcement was never more clear than when Trump Officials started talking, and i quote here, about dominating the battle space. Mr. President , our communities are not war zones. Our citizens are not enemy combatants. And our Police Officers should not be occupying forces. So why has the United States undergone this years long military mobilization on its own streets against its own people . Its long past time for this to end. And for all our communities to institute 21st Century Community policing policies. But the republican bill does not do that either. The truth is senator scotts bill does take a few good steps, like establishing the duty to intervene and 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 put on offer this week. My concern is if the senate takes up the mcconnell bill, it is going to just be business as usual under the republican leader. A short debate cut off arbitrarily, not enough votes and not enough improvements to the actual bill. I just dont believe when millions and millions of americans are demanding 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 had 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, all genders. Its been a rare display of common purpose and common engagement in america. As senators we have an obligation to respond to that call with something significantly better than business as usual. I know that senator scott wants to get there. I know that my democratic colleagues and i want to get there. Im proud to support senators booker and harris who have been doing outstanding work on this issue. And i know that regardless of the outcome of tomorrows vote, were going to keep working. But as for this week, the senate would be wrong to just rush this process and just check the box with a partisan process, a partisan approach before shrugging its shoulders and moving on to the task of dealing with more farright judges. So i am going to vote against cloture, mr. President. I urge my colleagues to do the same. And i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from minnesota. Ms. Klobuchar mr. President , i rise today and thank my colleague from oregon and also thank him for his work on the voting bill. We just had a discussion with senator blunt about that. And while we didnt agree on the bill, there is discussion thats ongoing about as we head into another covid package possibly which we really believe we need to on working on some funding issues for the states as we look at more and more balloting from home and how important that is. And i want to thank senator wyden for his leadership for so long on that issue. I brought up your home state in a speech about an hour or so ago. And the work that oregon has done with ballot by home. I think ballot from home. Actually i think i used the number of percentage of fraud as point 0000001 or Something Like that to show what the president said is not true, that weve had actually in many states across the country, including utah, big success with voting from home. Mr. President , i rise today on 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, save lives in the black community, save lives in all communities of color that have experienced injustice for far too long. Im deeply concerned that the bill on the floor this week fails to meet this moment. It has been nearly one month since george floyd was murdered in my state. We all watched as his life evaporated before our eyes. It was a horrible thing. People who watched it, whether they were in Law Enforcement, whether they were just regular citizens that saw this and it hit home to many of them for the first time. And many of them sadly in the African American community for many, many times before that, how truly unjust this is and how immoral this is. His death was horrifying and inhumane and it galvanized a nationwide movement for justice. As members of 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 it with systemic change. Some of that is happening in our state and local governments. Thats ap good thing. Thats a good thing. But some of that must also happen here. This is not just an issue for one city or one state. My home state. Or is it an issue just at the local level. Theres a lot of work that needs to be done at the local level. And that has been acknowledged by mayors and Police Chiefs across the country but theres also really important work that we must do here. I was proud to join my colleagues in introducing the justice in policing act led by senators booker and harris which makes comprehensive changes to our Justice System that are long overdue. These reforms including Police Officers being held accountable for misconduct, reforming police practices, and improving transparency will be good for our nation. The justice in policing act will help prevent more tragedies like those we have seen to prevent murders. It is why its supported by groups like the naacp, the Leadership Conference for human rights and National Urban league. The house is expected to pass the bill this thursday. And then it comes over here. But instead of taking up that bill, the justice in policing act, leader mcconnell has brought a different bill to the senate floor. The justice act. But my problem with it is despite the name and despite a lot of the words that were hearing on the other side, it doesnt get us to where we need to be. In this moment as people are still marching and deman demandg change, we cannot confront these urgent issues with half measures or qirve indication equivocation. I have serious concerns that this bill does not respond to the nationwide call for justice. Unlike the justice in policing act that is going to pass the house, the bill we are considering here on the senate lacks Critical Reforms to strengthen federal pattern and practice investigations. A reform that is urgently needed after we all saw the video of the Police Officer standing Police Officers standing right next to each other with george floyd pinned down, pinned to the ground. I have called 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 that we consider should make sure the Civil Rights Division has the authority and what the resources they need to conduct a thorough investigation. By the way, our calls have still gone unheeded. During the Obama JusticeDepartment Time period, 25 of these cases pattern and practice investigations were brought. During the trump Justice Department time period, just one unit of the springfield, massachusetts, department went through a pattern and practice investigation. I dont know what more proof you need than the fact of the video and the fact that there were other officers standing nearby, the fact that 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 thats the ideal way to do it. You would like a Justice Department that has experience doing this in other jurisdictions but our state Human Rights Department is now stepping in and conducting its own pattern and practice investigation. The bill on the floor fails to help states conduct their own investigations, as i just mentioned, to address systemic problems and culture training and accountability of 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, they are gleaning from former Justice Department officials 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 is in the justice in policing act is even more critical. We must also take action to put an end to practices that unnecessarily put peoples lives at risk. I worked with senators gillibrand and senator myth of my state on provisions in the justice in policing act to ban federal Law Enforcement officers from using choke holds and other neck restraints and to prohibit states from receiving federal funding unless they have passed laws to ban these practices, to receive certain federal funding. We have used this method in the past, and if there is significant funding attached to it, states will react. The bill on the floor this week from our republican counterparts only ban certain types of choke holds, those that restrict air flow but not blood flow, and only in certain situations. This does not go to the point that we needed to go to, to get the kind of systematic change we need in our criminal Justice System. And critically, the republican proposal does not include necessary changes to hold individual officers accountable for misconduct like making records of Police Misconduct public. Real change comes with accountability, and as drafted, the republican bill does not provide it. Thats why it is opposed by civil rights and criminal justice groups, and it is why the attorney for George Floyds family and i had the honor of speaking with George Floyds family he has said that this bill is, quote, in direct contrast to the demands of the people, end quote. So where do we go from here . Well, 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 to develop the consensus bill that we need based off the bill were going that will be coming over to the house. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, i have seen what happens when we Work Together to get something done. Thats how we passed the First Step Act which passed the senate with a vote of 8712 by reaching across the aisle but actually doing something. Not just a bill full of 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 ones that work around us. And when you put strong standards in place, they meet those standards. But to allow that conduct that we saw on that video, to go without national changes to our policing would be just to say well, its just this incident in minnesota, which, of course, is being prosecuted by our attorney general keith ellison. Thats how you could resolve it if you thought it just happened once and it just happened in one state, but we know thats not true, my colleagues, we know thats not true. That is why this is so important to take action and pass an actual bill. We already started this process in the Senate Judiciary committee. Last week, we held a hearing on these issues. We heard testimony from local leaders like st. Paul mayor Melvin Carter and Law Enforcement officers from 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 choke holds, establishing a national use of force policy. These are Police Chiefs. Creating a public database of public misconduct. And ensuring independent investigations of policeinvolved death, something that i pushed for in my former job. You cannot have the Police Department that the officer works for investigating this conduct. That is wrong, as i said so publicly years ago. There are areas where we can find agreement, but we have to mean it. Chairman graham said at the hearing that he hopes the Judiciary Committee could consider what has been proposed and, quote, come up with something in common, end quote. Well, we start with a bill thats going to be coming over from the house, the bill that has been sponsored in the u. S. Senate by senators booker and harris. Instead, leader mcconnell is asking us to consider a bill that was drafted in their caucus, yes, 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 directly to the floor instead of letting the Judiciary Committee consider it. I think that fails to make the kind of meaningful change we need in our system. This is a moment for urgent action, but it is also a moment for fundamental change. If we respond to all those people out there and the family of george floyd, who i got to meet and sat across the pews from at that memorial service, if we respond with silence, then we are complicit. If we respond as the president has suggested with dominance and by waving a bible in front of a church for a photo op, then we are monsters. But if we respond with action, meaningful action, colleagues, then we are lawmakers, and that is what the people of our states sent us to do. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from michigan. Ms. Stabenow first i want to thank my friend from minnesota for her ongoing leadership on so many issues, and certainly this is one of them. We greatly appreciate and need your voice. Mr. President , for the past month, americans in all parts of our country and from all walks of life have once again been marching for the cause of justice. They are raising their voices and raising the names of those killed by Police Violence. Eric garner, michael brown, freddie gray, breonna taylor, george floyd, rayshard brooks. Americans arent marching because of politics. They are not marching because they want the senate to pretend to address this issue and hope it goes away. Americans arent marching because they want more studies and reports. No. Americans from all walks of life, young and old, people of all backgrounds, religions, and nationalities are marching because they are sick and tired of learning about more names. They want the people who represent them here in this chamber to finally confront this deadly serious issue with the seriousness it deserves. And its time we meet their expectations in this historic moment. This really is, mr. President , an historic moment. Its a historic opportunity for all of us to come together. Its past time to do something to stop the violence. Its time to come together and to do Something Big and consequential, and thats 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. And im not trying to equate this current moment in the seriousness, but i know we know how to do big things, mr. President. You and i know that. We do big things across the aisle. We work across the aisle when we want to get things done. When i think about passing a farm bill, a fiveyear farm bill, a lot of people said we couldnt get it done. All of the different interests, the interests of families and food assistance, the interest of families for farms and ranchers and so on. I had my doubts at some of those times. But we kept on working in a bipartisan way, and in the end, we got a bipartisan bill that was good for farmers and our families, good for our environment, good for our economy. And in fact, we passed it with an 8713 vote which is the most votes we have gotten ever in the United States senate for a farm bill. Police violence and systemic racism that is behind it deserve at least, at least the same bipartisan effort that we gave the farm bill. In much the same way, the senate came together across the aisle and got comprehensive Immigration Reform done. That only happened because people sat down together, different views, republicans, democrats, and worked through the complicated issues that were standing in our way. And got it done in 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 worked day and night to come together in agreement on the most effective way to meet the needs of americans during an Unprecedented Health and economic crisis, which, by the way, we need to do again because were not done. Police violence and the systemic racism behind it deserve at least that kind of effort. This is a huge, huge crisis that pulls at the very soul of america. And this issue certainly deserves the best of all of us right now, the best of what we can do. Systemic racism, related Police Violence certainly deserve at minimum the same kind of bipartisan effort we have focused on on other issues that have not had the lifeanddeath consequences of this issue. The people who are marching and who 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 weak, flawed republican bill just to pretend that he tried to do something. The house of representatives is serious. They are passing a bill this week, sending it over to us, a serious bill. Im proud to be a cosponsor of the Senate Version with our leaders, senator booker, senator harris. But they are serious about passing the justice in policing act. Senate democrats are serious. Mitch mcconnell and Senate Republicans must be serious, too. This is the moment, this is the moment for us to be serious together and address this in a big, profound, systemic way. Eric, michael, freddie, breonna, george, rayshard, and all of those that 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. Thats what i support. Thats what my democratic colleagues support. We know it takes sitting down and listening to each other. It takes working out differences, but thats the only way change happens, and we are willing to put in whatever time and effort it takes to make that happen, and thats what were going to continue to fight for. Thank you, mr. President. I yield therus and testing. The border wall and the economy