Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today, the family of Tyre Nichols will celebrate the life of a 29-year-old man who was brutally killed by police earlier this month. In the wake of this tragedy, we have heard the predictable renewed calls for police reform legislation here in Congress, something that we attempted not that long ago. In the summer of 2020, Senators from both parties introduced police reform bills after other high-profile tragedies like the George Floyd murder. Senator Tim Scott, on our side--the Senator from South Carolina--led those efforts. I was proud to work with him in crafting something called the JUSTICE Act, which would reform, retrain, and restore trust in America's police officers, something that I believe is very important. This package of bills included a number of initiatives to improve accountability and transparency and deliver real change to our communities across the country. I remember, after the George Floyd murder, I asked my friends, the mayor of Houston and the mayor of Dallas, if they would assemble a group of community leaders so that I could better understand what the relationship was, particularly between communities of color and the police in those cities. It was pretty eye-opening.…”