Cory Booker: “Thank you. Mr. President, I thank Senator Harris for her partnership and leadership on this bill. I also thank my…”

“Thank you. Mr. President, I thank Senator Harris for her partnership and leadership on this bill. I also thank my colleague and my friend, Tim Scott from South Carolina, for his leadership and partnership on this legislation. As Senator Harris just said, this is not the first time we have come down to the floor of the U.S. Senate to implore this body to recognize lynching for what it is--bias-related terror. It is not the first time we have come down to this body to try to right the wrongs of history. After numerous attempts--dozens and dozens--during the height of lynchings in the United States, this body failed to act. This body did not stand up to protect American citizens and condemn the horrors of lynching. In December of last year, as Senator Harris and I were standing here, this body actually made a historic decision. It was a profound moment, an emotional moment. They made the decision to pass the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act by unanimous consent--no opposition. After a long, painful, and shameful history of this body, the U.S. Senate finally voted unanimously to make lynching a Federal crime. Unfortunately, the bill was not taken up in the House before the end of the last Congress. So we are here today with the hope and expectation that for the second time this body will make history by passing Federal anti-lynching legislation and that, for the first time in history, this bill will actually become the law of the land.…”