Mrs. Murray thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , it has been 17 mr. President , it has been 17 mr. President it has been 17 days since Minneapolis Police murdered george floyd, 90 days since police in louisville kentucky killedur brown a tailor who would have turned 27 just days ago and 109 days since ahmad arbery was killed by armed white residents in south georgia. These are just some of the most recent examples of the senseless repeated killings of black people in our communities including by m police in that he led to massive outpourings of anger and grief that we have seen on display across the country. The protests are not only about the unjust tragedies, they are also about sandra bland, mike round, i. T. Auntie anna jefferson, walter scott, orlando costello, i anna stanley jones, tamir rice, as well as manny ellis, and shea taylor from my home state of washington. The countless people, black people and people of color the vast majority whose names we dont know whose lives
I stand in strong support and solidarity of my good friend from south carolina. Five years ago and that bible study and then to pull out a gun and shoot nine people. Mr. President , you and i not long after attended one of the funerals in charleston south carolina. C any other city in america were not have dealt with it the way charleston did. They did that with love. And because of his time in the black leaders in that town and then to overcome that tragedy. Five years ago tim scott and then we ended up in the same place we are now doing absolutely nothing. How many more black men will have to die in america for this body to stop playing politicsle with race . Its very clear to me working on Justice Reform was 75 billion into the most economically challenged communities in our t country because of tim scott and President Trump the historically black colleges and universities are stronger today because the President Trump than ever the time to act is now to stop playing politics stop p
Maintenance of National Parks and other federal land open to the public. Senators are now working on amendments to the bill. No votes are scheduled yet, but work is expect today continue to next week. Now to live coverage of the u. S. Senate here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. 1mighty god, thank you for your great and precious promises. You have promised to keep a record of our pain. You have promised that no weapon formed against us will prosper. You have promised to supply our needs and to surround us with the shield of your blessings. You have promised to keep us from stumbling or slipping. Lord, you have promised that nothing can separate us from your love. You have promised to do for us more than we can ask or imagine. Great and precious are your promises. Give our lawmakers confidence in your promises, as they face these tumultuous times. Sustain them with your
Congressional side i understand some part of what too many have experienced. This Police Reform legislation, the justice act, we have opportunities to say not only do we hear you, not only do we see you, we are responding to your pain. We in america believe justice should be applied equally to all of our citizens with no exceptions. When we see exceptions it is our responsibility to do something about those exceptions in this legislation helps us get there. I say to my colleagues on the other side, received a letter from senator schumer saying there are five things about the justice act that did not meet their principles. My response is a simple one, lets have five amendments on those things. If we can get the votes of these two sides of the chamber we should include that in the legislation. I met with other senators on the other side, more than 5 things we need to have a conversation about so lets include an amendment for every single issue you have. Did not stick around for that meet
Not have dealt with it the way Charleston South Carolina did. We dont talk about it very often. Tim scott was there, and because of that mayor, the time they had with each other they move forward and overcame, and and how many black men, and stops playing politics with race. 75 billion going into the most economically challenged country because of tim scott, donald trump and, eight black colleges and universities are stronger today because of donald trump than they have ever been. Mister president , the time to act is now, stop pandering to the Democratic Base and get something done. This was never intended to be a end all but a platform for constructive debate and here we are with two Democratic Senators to start the debate. I yield back. Thank you, senator perdue. There is a scripture in the bible in the book of ezekiel chapter 33 around verse 6, a watchman on a wall, there is danger coming. Very important job. A watchmans job is to say there is danger coming. I had that conversation