On the recordJune 25, 2020
On this busy legislative day, I would like to focus my attention on both the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the Emergency Housing and Relief Act. The sickening police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery, Elijah McClain, and so many other Black Americans have rightfully brought our country to a place of moral reckoning that is long overdue. We must confront the harsh truths about racism in our country. Black lives do matter and changing our systems will take each and every one of us. This bill is a start. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act will end no-knock warrants, ban chokeholds, it will limit the transfer of military-grade machinery in local police forces, it will create a national registry to prevent the worst police officers from simply transferring to another police force when they have been found guilty of misconduct. The Justice in Policing Act is the reform that Americans are demanding to enact real change. This bill must be the starting point for negotiations with the Senate, not empty gestures from Senate Republicans or the White House. We are a country in desperate need of leadership, both to make the change needed for a civil society and to navigate the economic and health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle may choose to deny that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but we have seen in recent days that we are far from out of the woods.…
