Political Quotes

“this afternoon, we heard a lot of rhetoric. I would like to now deal with some reality. As so often happens, the reality is different from the rhetoric. Since I last spoke on the Senate floor in the wake of George Floyd's murder, the American people's calls for justice and accountability have not diminished. Fortunately, they have grown stronger, and rightfully so. Even since then, our Nation has had to confront yet another needless killing of an African-American man, when an Atlanta police officer shot Rayshard Brooks twice in the back when he was fleeing from officers. Now, I know from my own experience in law enforcement that nobody can dispute that police officers have incredibly challenging jobs. No one will dispute that they are faced with difficult, split-second decisions that impact life and death, but that difficulty does not excuse the fact that something is deeply wrong in our country. It does not excuse the fact that people of color have disproportionately suffered from police misconduct. People of color disproportionately are profiled by police, are stopped by police, are arrested by police, and are victims of excessive force at the hands of police. Confronted with the killing of George Floyd, millions of Americans are demanding we do better as a nation. They recognize that longstanding societal prejudices and biases and have created a law enforcement culture and broader criminal justice system that perpetuates these prejudices and biases.…”