On the recordJune 25, 2020
As a senior member of the Committee on the Judiciary, as an original cosponsor of the legislation, and the author of several of its key legislative provisions, I rise in strong and enthusiastic support of H.R. 7120, the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act of 2020, which marks a defining turning point in our country. By the millions, Americans have taken to the streets in protest to affirm that no longer will the people of this country tolerate or acquiesce in horrible policing practices that include excessive and unnecessary uses of lethal force that has diminished community trust of policing practices across the country and has angered and terrified communities of color who are overwhelmingly and disproportionately its innocent victims. Mr. Speaker, the horrifying killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 by a Minneapolis police office shocked and awakened the moral consciousness of the nation. Untold millions have seen the terrifying last 8:46 of life drained from a black man, George Floyd, taking his last breaths face down in the street with his neck under the knee of a police officer who, along with his three cohorts, was indifferent to his cries for help and pleas that he `can't breathe.' It direct response, for the past several weeks civil protests against police brutality have occurred nightly in cities large and small all across the nation.…
