Russ Feingold: “Today I rise along with the Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Corzine, and the Senator from New York, Mrs. Clinton, and…”

“Today I rise along with the Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Corzine, and the Senator from New York, Mrs. Clinton, and others, to introduce the End Racial Profiling Act of 2001. This bill is a package of steps to eliminate racial profiling once and for all. Congress should protect the rights of all Americans to walk, drive, or travel on our streets and highways and through our airports free of discrimination. It is time for us to act. I am very pleased to be joined by a number of distinguished colleagues. I simply have to point out that I think almost minutes after Senators Corzine and Clinton were sworn in, they were already talking to me and Representative Conyers of the House about how we could introduce a strong bill to deal with this problem. I thank them and appreciate the strong work and support they have given. They have made significant contributions and have offered good ideas to strengthen the legislation. I also acknowledge our long-time leader on this issue, Representative John Conyers, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. He is introducing the companion bill in the House today. This is the third Congress in which Representative Conyers has introduced legislation on racial profiling. He has fought long and hard to educate the Congress and all Americans about racial profiling. Before he took on the issue, I don't think many of us knew what racial profiling was. I thank Representative Conyers for his tremendous leadership.”