On the recordJune 16, 2020
Before the good Senator from Illinois speaks, I just want to, if I may, express my gratitude to the two colleagues who just spoke. The Senator from Virginia, who has been a champion on these issues when he was a Governor and now as a U.S. Senator, has been in the Senate much longer than I have. I have a lot of love for the history that he knows of his own State and the fact that he knows that that history of injustice has to be confronted. My mom did sit-in events in Charlottesville, VA, when she lived in DC, where I was born, and she went out to help integrate lunch counters in his great State. The fact that he is on this bill and he is a leader on these issues is extraordinary to me at this important time--and doing it in such a unifying way. I am grateful for that. I wanted to just say to the Senator from Maryland, I am newer to the Senate, and he has components of his bill that, after challenges in Baltimore with Freddie Gray, he helped to lead and write. It is not a partisan thing that he is calling for. There have been many Republicans who have come out and say this idea that you will profile people because of their race or religion is anathema to the very ideals of the Constitution. It is so obvious on its face.…
