Bill Pascrell: “``The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,'' Martin Luther King said. I want to thank…”

“``The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,'' Martin Luther King said. I want to thank Chairwoman Bass, Chairman Nadler, and Senator Booker for their leadership on this landmark piece of legislation. We stand here today at a great moral reckoning. For millions of Black and Brown Americans, our country is unequal. The traumatic murders of Black and Brown Americans by the very people and institutions meant to protect them make clear something needs to change. I watched the protests. I have heard the courage and cries for justice. I have marched. And today, we show that this House is listening. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is the largest reform Congress has undertaken in generations. It is no half measure but a full measure. The growing divide between our men and women in blue and the public they are sworn to protect is unhealthy for democracy. It is unhealthy for public safety. It is unhealthy for the brothers in blue, and I stand here as the co-chair of First Responders and Public Safety in Congress. It is time we make clear that Black lives matter and never forget it.”