Political Quotes

“I thank the distinguished chair for yielding and for his great leadership. Madam Speaker, we have a national problem here in America of police violence, police brutality, and the police use of excessive force. It requires a national solution. That is why Congress should pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Here in America, every Black mother and every Black father has to have the talk with their child about what to do when approached by the police because any encounter can turn deadly, not because of criminal conduct but because of the color of their skin. Just ask the family of Amadou Diallo, the family of Sean Bell, the family of Eric Garner, the family of Tamir Rice, the family of Walter Scott, the family of Oscar Grant, the family of Stephon Clark, the family of Breonna Taylor. Just ask the family of George Floyd, who narrated his own death for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and called for his mama. It is a difficult conversation. I had to have the talk with my two sons, and I knew what to say word for word because my father had the same talk with me decades ago, and nothing has changed. So all of us in this Chamber, whether you are a Democrat or Republican, should want to make sure that people like our good friend and colleague Cedric Richmond shouldn't have to have the same talk with his beautiful Black son, 6-year-old little Ced. We have an opportunity to change things today, and that is what we should do.…”