The Russians did interfere.

The Mueller report said that opposition research was illegal.

I believe this is an urgent moment. And this bill, which I am now leading on the Senate side, is the beginning of an important process.

These injustices do not just cause injustice for African Americans. It enforces a deep injustice in our Nation as a whole.

We as a Nation must address this persistent inequalities, or we will never fully achieve the strength and the possibility.

I also want to just reiterate that Congressman Al Green was here, and he is a great champion.

The stain of slavery was not just inked in bloodshed but in the overt state-sponsored policies that fueled white supremacy and racism and have disadvantaged African Americans economically for generations.

The Federal Government should pay because the Federal Government was deeply complicit in housing segregation and redlining.

I am concerned about those who have been left behind, the masses of African American descendants of slaves who are mired in hopelessness and despair in communities of crime, violence, poverty, and racism.

And I would note that the Capitol was built with slave labor. And because of the work of Representatives Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Zach Wamp, the new Visitors Center is named Emancipation Hall in recognition.

I urge Congress to pass H.R. 40 as a first vital step on the path to acknowledging and accounting for the history of race-targeted discrimination and wrongdoing.