Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank Congressman Jeffries for his leadership, and I thank the Speaker, I am sorry that we were walking across the…”

“I thank Congressman Jeffries for his leadership, and I thank the Speaker, I am sorry that we were walking across the floor, and we may not publicly say it, but we thank you for your clarification, and to my good friend on the Judiciary Committee, Judge Gohmert, who has engaged in the issues of the criminal justice system. We are grateful for your knowledge on these issues. I want to leave two points behind as we clarify how we can move forward and recognize crises, but yet not be overcome by such. Might I thank the former mayor of New York for his provocativeness, but say that I disagree with some of the interpretation of why officers are in the African American community. A statistic does say, in fact, that over 2005 to 2012, a white police officer used deadly force against an African American person almost two times every week. That does not have to be because we know there are broader ways of addressing these questions, so let me say to you why there is such ire about what happened to Michael Brown. As I started out in my remarks about the grand jury system, it is one that raises the fact question, and if the fact question is not answered, why were his hands up? Why was he shot these many times? Then you go to a jury of your peers. It is a criminal justice system that no matter what color, creed, race, or religion you are, abiding by the Constitution, you can clearly say a question has been raised, and justice needs to answer that question. Mr.…”