Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240712

Lord, inspire our senators to know that you are still on your throne working for the good of those who love you. Listen to our prayers and give us wisdom, courage, and integrity that will enable us to glorify you. We pray in your wonderful name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Grassley madam president. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask permission, one minute in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley too often americans are cynical about our political system when all they see legislative gridlock. Yet, iowans were able to set themselves apart working together on Law Enforcement reforms in the wake of George Floyds murder. Every step of the way the iowa process was fueled with input from the grassroots, including those who demonstrated peacefully. The republicanled state house and senate partnered with democrats to unanimously pass reforms in our state, and some of them historic reforms. Governor reynolds filed house file 2647 to bring additional accountability to iowas Law Enforcement officers. These are some of the things that they did. Creating stronger restrictions on the use of chokeholds by Law Enforcement officers. Improving the Law Enforcement decertification process to ensure that those who have been fired or resign after serious misconduct do not work in our state. Strengthen the authorities of iowas attorney general to prosecute officers whose actions result in the death of another, establishing annual antibiased and deescalation training requirements for our officers. We are working on some of these very policies at the federal level. Washington should follow iowas example and pass legislation to help correct wrongs and inspire positive changes in our communities across the country. Senator Lindsey Graham will be leading hearings today on this issue before the judiciary committee. Hopefully we can act. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell madam president. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell this week, like most weeks for a month and a half now, has brought a steady in contrast to the United States capitol. Over in the democraticled house of representatives, the lights are out, the doors are locked. Theres nobody home. With our country facing a once in a century pandemic and historic economic disruption, a major discussion of Racial Justice and all the other important businesses business we were already set to tackle before all of this, the speaker of the house has mostly kept his chamber on the longestrunning spring break in human history. Lots of talk about supposed priorities but few votes. Lots of partisan attacks leveled at republicans from a distance but little action. Over here in the senate the story has been very different. Were holding hearings. Were legislating, were confirming nominees. With precautions we are manning our posts for the country. Tomorrow the senate will begin considering the president s nomination of judge Justin Walker to fill a vacancy on the d. C. Circuit, the secondmost important federal bench in the country. As my fellow kentuckians and i can attest, judge walker is exactly the kind of individual our country deserves to have in such a role. He graduated from duke, assume cum laude assumey cum laude and then harvard law magnum cum laude and clerked on the d. C. Circuit for an impressive judge named Brett Kavanaugh and then on the Supreme Court. He is it a he has a reputation as a leading academic scholar of the law. The a. B. A. Rates him well qualified. He has quickly made a name for himself as a district judge. A few weeks ago when the mayor of louisville tried to cancel Easter Services with dispar yacht dispar at restrictions, judge walker won National Attention for his eloquent defense of religious liberty. This subject becomes more important by the way. The American People deserve to have strong respect for their religious rights including their religious exercise and conscience on one of our countrys highest courts. I look forward to continuing to detail our kentucky pride for judge walker as the week unfolds. And ill take great pride in voting to advance his nomination and to confirm him. But, first, madam president , the senate will pass the Great American outdoors act. It will be a big step in the history of our nations public lands and great news for their future. This bill is the product of a lot of hard work by many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle. It has two clear purposes. It will restore access and function to parks and facilities that have been neglected and it will secure a stable flow of resources to support recreation and conservation well into the future. Ive detailed in recent days just how Many Americans rely on our nations public lands from the guides and outfitters who cater to the Outdoor Recreation economy to the Restaurant Owners and gateway communities who welcome hundreds of visitors to the researchers who study Historic Sites and unique habitats to the hunters, anglers and sportsmen and American Families who explore millions of acres of open space. It is clear a bright Economic Future for mec is intertwined with this precious resource. So backlog maintenance and delayed upkeep is a real problem. Too often tough budgetary choices have left important facilities worn down and National Treasures inaccessible. Im proud that this legislation before us will tackle these critical missions, but, madam president , you certainly dont have to take my word for it. You can look to the list of no fewer than 60 cosponsors on both sides of the aisle or to the 80 senators who voted to advance consideration of the bill last week or you can you could sample from the ringing endorsements of an improsecutorive Cross Section of conservation advocates. Take, for example, the letter the democratic leader and i received from the last six former secretaries of the interior. Men and women who served under president s of both parties. They came together to tell us, quote, the great the Great American outdoors act will ensure a better, Brighter Future for nature and for all of us. Hundreds of advocacy organizations from the sierra club to the Fishing Association all approve the they say the bill will ensure that our parks and other public lands continue to preserve our nations heritage and recreation opportunities and local communities and economies will continue to flourish. Its not often that were presented with the opportunity to take overwhelming bipartisan action that will affect a monumental part of American Life for so many years to come. And the opportunity in front of us this week comes thanks to the dedicated work of several of our colleagues. In particular, id like to thank senator daines and senator gardner once again for their extraordinary leadership. I look forward to seeing their efforts across the finish line and i urge all members to join me in supporting this bill and securing our National Wonders for generations of americans yet to come. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h. R. 1957, which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 75, h. R. 1957, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986 to modernize and improve the Internal Revenue service and for other purposes. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer madam president . The presiding officer the democratic leader shp i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer madam president , yesterday the Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1 1964 does in fact prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation and gender identity. It was a landmark decision that represents a step forward, a big step forward on the long march to full equality for lgbtq americans. We salute that decision. Thats what the Supreme Court should be doing, moving us in a direction of equality and fairness. All too often it doesnt, these days so this was a refreshing breath of fresh air from that court. But the march, of course, is not over. Yesterdays decision welcome as it s. Reminds us that it is, reminds us that today, even in 2020 we havuch work left to do to advance the cause of justice and equality for all americans. Only a few days ago, our laws didnt clearly establish that you couldnt be fired by your employer simply because of who you are and who you love. So yesterdays decision is not the end of the fight. It was one step forward. If its wrong to discriminate against people because of who they love, because of who they are, if its wrong to discriminate against people on the basis of Sexual Orientation and gender, isnt it wrong to if its wrong to discriminate against people on the basis of Sexual Orientation and gender on employment, isnt it wrong on housing . Isnt it wrong on so many other issues . And thats why we need the equality act to pass. The decision is certainly not the end of the fight. Disparities in discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation and gender identity still exist in so many aspects of our live, education, housing, public credit, public spaces and services in many other ways. If its wrong to discriminate against people because of their Sexual Orientation and gender on jobs, on employment, its equally wrong in these other areas like housing and education. So we need to pass the equality act that brings that expands the prohibition of discrimination to many other needed areas. Today Senate Democrats will send a letter from our caucus to leader mcconnell urging him to schedule the equality act for a vote on the floor. The house passed it a year ago. Its been languishing in mcconnells legislative graveyard. And i would say to my republican colleagues, if some of the most conservative people around like judge gore sich, justice gorsich, Justice Roberts can come to the conclusion we should stop discriminating, where are you . The Senate Republicans always seem 30 years behind the times. On this issue for sure. I urge the leader, put the equality act on the floor now and lets extend what the Supreme Court did in terms of employment to so many needed other areas. Wake up, my republican friends. The times, they are a changing and discrimination against lgbtq americans should be over once and for all and should be the law of the land in every aspect of our lives. Now, another issue where the Republican Caucus seems to be behind. Since the killing of george floyd sparked nationwide protests, weve been pushing our colleagues in the senate to respond to our National Pain with collective action. This is a moment in American History, the great mass of our people are demanding change in the streets of our largest cities and smallest towns. Now is a moment to reach for real lasting, strong comprehension comprehensive change. We cannot make some changes around the margins so democrats drafted and proposed comprehensive Police Reform legislation last monday. The justice and policing act led by senators booker and harris. With four weeks to go in this current session, we have asked leader mcconnell to commit to a vote on the justice and policing act before july 4. We didnt say do our bill immediately. We asked our republican colleagues to commit to a debate on our bill before july 4, within the next four weeks. But so far we havent heard any indication from the republican majority that well take up comprehensive Police Reform this month. Last night a member of the Republican Leadership said the bill was unlike lay before july 4. Of course, leader mcconnell has also reportedly told his caucus that the senate was unlikely to do another covid relief bill until after july 4. When the it comes to Urgent National priorities, the republican majority is like a broken magic 8 ball that keeps saying, ask again later. Peaceful protests have continued for three weeks, and republican senators want to wait another month, maybe even longer, considering some to consider reform on the floor of the senate . The popular anger over longsimmering issues of Police Brutality and Racial Justice has reached the tipping point. Ness no reason to wait. Ness no reason there is to reason to wait. There is no reason to delay. Theyre playing the same political games that they played after Mass Shootings last summer. Why is it that when it comes to confirming rightwing judges who want to roll back the clock on health care and on voting rights, Senate Republicans always make time. But when it comes to making real chaplains to Police Departments changes to Police Departments, senate preexisting conditions are already making excuses. Democrats who support real meaningful change in our nations Police Departments will not rest until we achieve comprehensive and bold reform. Of course, were also still waiting for the Republican Senate majority to propose anything related to covid19. Only a few weeks ago, leader mcconnell said that another Coronavirus Relief bill was likely during the june work period. Once again, typical fashion of this republican majority, the deadline is slipped. Now we have no time to consider another covid bill before july 4. And this will have very real consequences for the american economy. Leader mcconnell is willing to blow through his own deadlines, but some deadlines will arrive whether the republican leader likes it or not. Whether he likes it or not, his inaction is creating some very steep cliffs for our economy and for the american worker. Funding for the very popular and bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program will run out on june 30. State and local governments need to finalize their budgets by july 4, and many of them will be forced to cut back on Critical Public Services without public support. The moratorium on evictions that we passed in the cares act expires on july 24. The emergency Unemployment Insurance we passed in the cares act expires on july 31. And k12 schools need over 150 billion and as much time as possible to safely reopen this fall. So leader mcconnell, republicans, there are at least five cliffs and many more we face if we dont act soon. The cliff of funding Small Business, the cliff of helping state and local governments, the cliff on evictions, the clifton unemployment the cliff on unemployment, and the cliff on the need for schools to reopen in september today leader mcconnell and i received a letter signed by over 100 economists and scholars, including two former chairs of the federal reserve, three former chairs of the council of economic advisors, two Nobel Laureates urging congress to pass another relief package commensurate with the 16 trillion hole in our economy caused by covid. At a minimum, these distinguished economists wrote, the bill should include, quote, continued support for the unemployed, new assistance to state and localities, investments in programs that preserve employeremployee relationships, and additional aid to stabilize demand. Sounds a lot like the heroes act, which passioned the house of representatives. Which passed the house of representatives but once again is sitting in leader mcconnells legislative graveyard. Economists are telling Senate Republicans to get off the mat and do something before it is too late. Governors from both Political Parties are pleading for aid. Even the chair of the federal reserve, jay powell, appointed by President Trump, is sounding the alarm about the need for another emergency relief bill. When will Senate Republicans finally get the message . When will they understand that unless we do these things, the economy will decline in the future, that millions who are unemployed, millions whose businesses are in jeopardy, millions who want to see schools open will not get what they need . We must act now. When will republicans in the Senate Finally get the message we need to act . I yield the floor. The presiding officer the majority whip. Mr. Thune our economy has taken a huge hit from the covid virus and we have a lot of work to do to recover. There are encouraging sciences. One of those has been the success of the Paycheck Protection Program. The pandemic has presented a particular challenge for Small Businesses who frequently have very limited cash reserves to draw on. Thats why, thanks to the efforts of senators rubio, collins and others, congress established the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans to Small Business to help them keep employees on their payroll during this crisis. So far more than 4. 5 million Small Businesses nationwide have received relief from this program and the majority of the loans have gone to the smallest businesses. Nearly 3 million of the 4. 5 million nearly 3 million of the 4. 5 million loans have been at 50,000. Many south dakota businesses have benefited including many seasonal businesses who have a limited time to make the money they need to survive s im very grateful to the thousands of bank and Credit Unions who process these loans under challenging circumstances during the pandemic. All told, millions of Small Business jobs have been saved and a lot of Small Businesses that might have gone under are hanging on thanks to this program. The Paycheck Protection Program is one of the reasons that the may jobs numbers were not as bad as expected. Instead of a net job loss, the economy actually gained jobs. Thats not to suggest that the may jobs report was rosy. Our Unemployment Rate is unacceptably high, to put it mildly. But the fact that we gained jobs is a positive sign. It is definitely a sneap the right direction and the paycheck protection helped us get there. Madam president , so far congress has provided 2. 5 trillion to respond to the coronavirus, including the almost 700 billion allocated for the Paycheck Protection Program. Thats a Staggering Amount of money, equal to roughly half of the entire federal budget for 2020. But these were extraordinary circumstances, and extraordinary action was required. However, democrats are now pushing for congress to rush another massive bill out the door. Madam president , its important to remember that every Dollar Congress has provided to fight the coronavirus has been borrowed money. Now, as i said, it is money that we needed to borrow. But its still borrowed money that will have to be repaid. Will reneed to provide more money to confront the pandemic and its effects . Probably. But we need to make sure that we are only appropriating what is really necessary. Rushing a 3 trillion bill through congress, as democrats want to do, before the 2. 4 trillion weve already provided has even been fully spent, is not a responsible way to go about providing additional relief. What we need to focus on is monitoring the implementation of coronavirus funding so we can identify where weve spent sufficiently and where we need to do more. The Paycheck Protection Program provides a good example of the strategy we should shall using. Congress provided nearly 350 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program when it was first created. Within a short time after the programs kickoff, however, it became clear that demand with as so great that we need need to provide additional funding. Thats what we did, providing an additional 310 billion in late april. Then just a couple of weeks ago, we passed another update to the program not additional funding, but a package of fixes to provide additional flexibility to Small Businesses. I proposed further refinement to the program that i Hope Congress will pass in the near future. While the program is open to selfemployed workers, which describes many farmers, in practice the programs guidelines have included i should say have excluded a lot of agricultural producers. Low Commodity Prices and a challenging planting season meant that many farmers had negative net income in 2019. Right now the programs guidelines exclude farmers or ranchers with a negative net income for last year. My legislation would allow more farmers to access the Paycheck Protection Program by allowing them to us a their 20 to use their 2019 net income. This is what we should be doing when it comes to additional coronavirus funding. The best way to make sure that we are spending taxpayer dollars wisely and not burdening our economy with more debt is to carefully monitor the implementation of the funds that we have already provided and use that information to guide further action. Thats what weve done with the Paycheck Protection Program. And thats what we should do with the other coronavirus funding that we passed and the other coronavirus programs that weve implemented. Its also important to that sometimes what is required is not additional money but other types of solutions, like the fixes that we passed to add more flexibility to the Paycheck Protection Program. Madam president , as we move forward, i will continue towork with my colleagues to respond to the coronavirus, and i will continue to do everything that i can to ensure that any additional money we spend is carefully targeted to the real needs with an eye to minimizing the burden that were putting on future generations. We owe younger americans nothing less. Madam president , i yield the floor. Mr. Durbin madam president . The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin thank you, mr. President. Thank you, madam president. Is there an urgent need for us to help america in this time of crisis . I think most people would agree there is. And as a result, the house of representatives more than six weeks ago passed legislation to continue to provide assistance to americans who are in need. Certainly that would include those who are unemployed. We created an unemployment benefit, federal benefit of 600 over the state benefit, expanded eligibility and the time that the benefit would be awarded and made it available across this country right at the moment when some 40 million americans were announcing that they had lost their jobs. And were unemployed. It was a helping hand that was long overdue and certainly made a difference in the lives of many families. I think its responsible for the fact that we did see welcome news last week that some two million americans have gone back to work. I hope that trend continues. But, in the meantime, of the 40 million who are unemployed, this helping hand of 600 a week from the federal government is essential. Its not exactly a windfall when you calculate t the federal benefit plus state benefit really comes up close to the average wage of most americans. It is not a major benefit that they could live off for any long period of time, thats for sure. But itest goes them through the crisis but it gets them through the crisis, we hope, in paying their rent, their mortgage, utility bills, providing food and clothing for their family. But heres the problem if you want to know if theres some urgency involved in Unemployment Insurance, consider the fact that on july 31, the program ive just described to you disappears. Do you think unemployment will disappear on july 31 . We should be so lucky. But we know better. Its going to take a while for us to get back on our feet as a nation. We have to stand by those who are unemployed in the meantime until they can get back to work and provide for their families. But unfortunately the program we created ends july 31. Is there an urgent need to extend it in some form . I believe thats obvious to virtually everyone. I cant understand why senator mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, doesnt feel this sense of urgency. In his home state, as i do in my home state of illinois, right across the river. We have common areas, downstate illinois and kentucky are somewhat similar in their economies and i know there are people that need a helping hand i hope senator mcconnell will consider him them that whether hand but not just in this area. This also was included in the heroes act, an extension of cobra benefits. If you are working for a company that provides Health Insurance, you provide part of the premium, they pay the other parliament you lose jury job but want to continue that Health Insurance plan. Under cobra, you can if you pay both sides, employer and employee, on the premium. Average cost, about 1,700 a month. Under the bill n. A. S. Ed the house of representatives, there would be 100 coverage of the employers portion of the cobra premium during the period of your unemployment. That will is a helping hand most workers desperately need. Im sure they need it in the state of kentucky as they do in illinois. Theres an urgency if you dont have Health Insurance, isnt there . Were more conscience than ever about the need for good Health Insurance. I would hope that senator mcconnell will consider that when he decides whether or not theres an urgent need for us to pass the bill enacted by the house of representatives. In addition, theres a major portion of the house bill that provides assistance to state and local governments. We desperately need it across the nation. Hardly any state, county, or major city, even cities of modest size hasnt seen the cost of government go up as government revenues from sales taxes, for example, have diminished and the cost of government related to the covid19 crisis have increased. Appear helping hand to these state and local is consistent with what we did in the first bill, the cares act, and is desperately needed. What is the ultimate . I know what it is and most everyone does as well. There will be dramatic layoffs of state and local employees if we dont provide a helping hand from the federal government. These employees include teachers, medical personnel, Law Enforcement, and the like. If we want to ensure that we maintain the basic protections at the state and local, senator mcconnell should support the bill that has already passed the house of representatives. There is one major stumbling block when it comes to senator mcconnell taking up any measure to help our economy from this point forward. It was six weeks ago in april when senator mcconnell announced that he was drawing a red line that he wouldnt budge from and that red line said that we had to provide immunity from liability for businesses and others before he would even consider additional benefits for american businesses and families. We dont know exactly what the senator had in mind. He announced it on several occasions from the floor here that he wanted to put this immunity provision into any future package, but as of today we still havent seen it. Were still waiting. One of his colleagues, senator cornyn, from texas, and my colleague on the Senate Judiciary committee, has given several speeches on the subject. There was one that he gave on may 20, which i would like to refer to because its perhaps his longest statement and the longest republican statement on just what they had in mind. Senator cornyn said theres been a wave of covid19related lawsuits rolling in. He called it an avalanche of lawsuits. Went on to use other terms equally cataclysmic. He called it an investigation epidemic, a tidal wave of lawsuits, and he went on to talk about those as creating the need for us to provide some protection against lawsuits. Well, i decided to take a look at this avalanche, this tidal wave that weve heard about so much from senator mcconnell and senator cornyn. You see, theres a service which takes a look at every lawsuit filed in america to see what they are all about and they have a category of lawsuits related to covid19 and they give weekly reports on how many lawsuits are filed. So let us take a look at the avalanche of lawsuits that have been filed as of yesterday. Remember, two million americans have been diagnosed with the covid19 infection two million. Out of two million americans with covid19 infections and over 115,000 deaths as of yesterday, how many medical malpractice lawsuits do you think have been filed based on covid19 against health care workers, doctors, nurses . How many across the whole United States of america . Five. Five. Some avalanche. How many lawsuits have been filed by those who say theyve been forced to work in unsafe working conditions because of covid19 . Well, in this tidal wave, there have been 49 of those lawsuits filed. 49 across the entire United States. With you how by one Insurance Company against another Insurance Company as to liability under the insurance policy . 631. 516 lawsuits have been filed by prisoners because of what theyve alleged to be unsafe Living Conditions related to covid19 and 194 lawsuits challenging governments stayathome orders across the board. This doesnt strike me as an avalanche or tidal wave or some spate of frivolous lawsuits being filed. Part of the reason you learn in your first year of law school and tort law classes, before you can win a lawsuit, you have cau. What was it that caused your injury . How is that person responsible for your injury . Its difficult to prove in many lawsuits, and very difficult when it comes to an invisible virus as to what circumstances and what individual would be responsible to the fact that you became infected and are filing this lawsuit. Causation is hard. Heres what it really gets down to. I believe, and most people do, if a business or entity is really making a reasonable, goodfaith effort to protect employees and customers, that should be a defense to any lawsuit. So what would that consist of . We had a hearing in the Senate Judiciary committee three weeks ago, and the star witness on the republican side was a very impressive individual who represented the Convenience Stores of america. He was from the same state as senator cornyn, the state of texas. His name was mr. Smart. He came in and told the story about many facilities that he had, which were providing goods and services to the people of texas and how he was making a goodfaith effort to protect those who worked for him and those who did business in his establishment. He talked about plastic shields, he talked about hand sanitizers, he talked about spacing and distancing. It was really clear from the start that this c. E. O. From this major Texas Corporation was doing his best to protect the people who came into his business and his workplace. And i thought it was a good statement when he said on page seven of his testimony, and i referou to it if you would like to look at the Senate Judiciary committee testimony. He said his biggest problem was he didnt know what standard that he had to live up to. What was the proper thing for him to do from a Public Health point of view . He didnt know which way to turn . Was it the centers for Disease Control . Whats it the Occupational Safety and Health Administration . Was it the state of texas, some federal agency . He was begging us to give him a level to live up. I dont think that is unreasonable. I would like to be, if necessary, in court defending him saying this is a man who is trying hiss best in the Business Environment to be a responsible citizen both for her workers and his workers and for his customers. But he doesnt have a federal standard to operate by. Why dont we have a federal standard . Well, you point the finger of responsibility to the white his administration have refused to come forward with enforceable and inspectable standards that we can use to help those who are trying to protect others from Public Health exposures. Without that federal standard, Companies Like that one in texas really dont know where to turn. If osha came up with a standard and said this is what we expect in the workplacesnd you living up to that standard, i would say as an attorney who spent a little time in the courtroom, youve got a pretty Strong Defense going for you, first causation and if you have done what is reasonable to protect people. That is what it comes down to. Democrats and others dont argue that we should hold businesses to a standard of responsibility. We certainly dont encourage or defend frivolous lawsuits. But we dont want bad actors who are ignoring any standards or any responsibility to get away with murder. They should be held responsible and they should be reliable in terms of their own activity. Thats what it comes down to. So senator mcconnell is holding back assistance for state and local governments, money for hospitals, money for the unemployed because of this socalled red line when it comes to immunity. Listen, its human nature. If you say to businesses across the board, youre immune from lawsuits, im afraid some people will take advantage of that. They wont even try and people will get sick as a result of it or maybe worse. We dont want that to happen in this country. We want people to do the right thing, to protect themselves, their families, and to protect others, and in business to medicare sure they are protect in business to make sure they are protecting the public at large. If they live up to that standard, i think they have a good defense to any lawsuit. But so the called avalanche and tidal wave of lawsuits, five medical malpractice lawsuits after two million americans have been found infected by covid19 really tell the story. I would encourage republicans to finally produce and present to us the standard they want to make part of the law of the land. Lets see whats in it. Lets talk about it. And if youre willing to establish reasonable standards based on Public Health to protect the public at large, i want to be at the table. We can find common ground. But if youre saying we want immunity for these businesses. We the want to let them off the hook no matter what they do, even if they do nothing, im sorry, youve got a fight. We the want to mack sure that people across america that they have a reasonable expectation that when they go to work they will be safe and that those who want to do business with them have lived up to that responsibility. Madam president , i yield the floor. Mr. Durbin i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call the presiding officer the senator from new york is recognized new jersey, sorry. Mr. Booker is there a quorum right now . The presiding officer yes, there is. Mr. Booker request permission to vitiate the quorum. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Booker thank you very much. Just over a week ago senator harris and myself in partnership with many of the democrats in the senate and our Senate Leadership Chuck Schumer along with colleagues in the house, our Congressional Black Caucus and over 250 partners throughout the two chambers introduced the justice and policing act, a bill designed to take concrete steps to bring long overdue, long called for, much needed real accountability and transparency and oversight to policing in america. We introduced the bill in the wake of the killing of george floyd. Law enforcement officers in minneapolis along with what happened with Breonna Taylor in her home in louisville, the killings of other americans, names who are now known for the wretched, awful way in which they died. Eric gardner, michael brown, and so many others and so many whose names we do not know, all part of a system tt does not reflect our common values, does not reflect the highest ideals of this nation. In fact just the opposite. It reflects the darkness of our past and our present. It reflects racism and bigotry and not equal justice under the law. We are at a point in American History that is a crossroads where millions of americans, all 50 states, are engaging in some types of action of protests, whether its on social media platforms or in the middle of a pandemic out in the streets. And the choice we have right now before us as this body is in the face of americans from all background, races, religions, and parties are calling for reform, what will this body do. A lot of folks want to reduce the approaches that are coming forward as a republican or democratic approach. Im telling you right now this is not a choice between one side of an aisle or another. It is a choice between meaningful reforms in this moment or making symbolic gestures that will do nothing to save peoples lives. Its a choice between action and inaction. The bill that we are proposing is not new. These are reforms that have been put in place in some cities and some states. This is a real effort to hold policing in america accountable for egregious behavior. It will create transparency as sunlight is the best disinfectant to injustice. And it will also bring about an end to policies and practices that should be ended in our country, that have been called for by president bush in his first address to congress, an end to racial and religious profiling. We see, in fact, some of the more socalled controversial elements of this bill, like qualified immunity that conservatives and democrats on both sides of the aisle, folks from the cato institute, from clarence thomas. You see, conservative you see conservative organization to conservative organization say the obvious, that no one should be shielded from accountability when they are violating the civil rights of another americ american. We have a bill that calls for change, that will protect lives and practices that have killed americans, create accountability and transparency into departments, and make sure that no one in our country is above the law. This is not a time for half steps and half measures. It is not a time to nibble around the edges. Its not a time to find the lowest common denominator. Its not a time where so americans feel a metaphor cal need on metaphorical need on the neck of justice, for us to pull our knee half off of that neck and call it progress. No. This is a time for us to do what is right and necessary to end the kind of violence and murder and unaccountability that we see that is too endemic in our nation. And so this is the truth. The measures in this bill will pass. Congress will one day get this right. The provisions in justice and policing act i am confident that one day in this country will ban religious and racial profiling. I am confident that one day in this country we will ban choke holds. I am confident that one day in this country we will have a National Registry of police misconduct, of police use of force. I am confident that one day no one who murders someone in broad daylight, in front of cameras will be shielded from accountability on the federal level in our civil courts or in our criminal courts by impossible standards to meet. It is clear that one day we shall overcome what is now injustice, that this body will do the right thing. There will be a time in america where Mental Health issues will be treated with health care and not police and prisons. There will be a time inon will d with treatment and not police and prisons. There will be a time in america that the fragile within our society wont be further hurt and harmed by practices and prisons but will be elevated and cared for. I know this time is coming. But i believe that the time is now, that justice delayed is justice denied. If we do not act and claim this moment, this time, then we as a country are going to find ourselves here again. In my short life i have seen decades of this. I was born right after the coroner report calling out his ac reforms. In that time i watched rodney king get beaten and officers who did it be held unaccountable for their actions. This cycle is continuing in our country every day. There are so many cases that we dont see because we dont have transparency. They explode into the National Consciousness when somebody captures on videotape when we know is wrong but we have not taken the measures to stop it. Now is the time that we must act and not find ourselves here a month from now, a year from now, three years from now watching this awful cycle play over and over again. Listen to the American People, all 50 states, all backgrounds joining together in a chorus of conviction to put a stop to this nightmare. Now is the time. No half measures, no half steps, no diluted attempts, no fainting towards what should be done but not having the courage to boldly go in the direction that one day will pass but i believe one day should be today. Congress should act. I am so proud that im not alone in this position. Im so proud that there are others in this body that are joining with me with the same sense of urgency to get broad based reform done. And i see my colleague from oregon, one of the many champions for justice in this body, and im grateful now to yield to him. Mr. Merkley madam president . The presiding officer the senator from oregon is recognized. Mr. Merkley madam president , im honored today to join with senator booker and senator harris and so many of my colleagues to work to take this moment of National Outcry and turn it into an opportunity, a moment of national action. For weeks now in protests across our land, million, of fellow americans have been rising up and speaking out to demand justice, accountability, opportunity, and above all the equalitysed by our founderfounders 244 years ago. This latest movement may have been sparked by the senseless killing of george floyd, a black man at the hands of Public Safety officers. One officer sworn to protect and defend him knelt on his neck for nine minutes extinguishing his life. But this moment is about so much more. The pain and anger, the anguish that has burst forth from the hearts of black americans everywhere runs far deeper than a single tragedy. Pain borne ofs string of tragedies. The senseless kill, of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and of freddie gray, of michael brown, of Trayvon Martin, and more, so many more black, men and women who should be alive today. Of Rayshard Brooks shot in the back by a Police Officer who died this past friday night. It is a pain borne even before born even before we were yet a country, when more than 400 years ago traders kidnapped africans from their own land, brought them here to these shores, american shores, sold them, locked them into generations of brutal slavery. Treated not as people but as property. Changed, sold, whipped, raped, treated as something less than human. Our nation has never come to terms with this legacy. Theres no memorial on the national mall. Theres no truth in reconciliation commission. So still today americas gaping wound of racism bleeds pain and injustice and inequality continues to plague every system in our country. Too many black men and women have lost their livelihoods, their lives, their dignity to a Justice System rigged against them. Racial profiling, mandatory minimum, stop and frisk, acts of racial profiling and racially driven predatory actions. We entrust to our Public Safety officers vast power to serve their communities. But have we ensured that that vast power is exercised equally on behalf of all citizens . We have not. Too often forces, Public Safety force, Police Forces treat white citizens as clients and black citizens as a threat. That is systemic racism, and it must change. Its why im so proud to stand here in support of senator booker and senator harris sweeping justice and policing act reform bill. We need to hold officers accountable for their actions. We need to change the culture of policing in america. And this legislation is the right law at the right moment to begin to do that. No one should ever be profiled based on the color of their skin. Choke holds like the one that killed eric garner, must be a thing of the past. Noknock warrants like the one that ended with Breonna Taylor being shot in her bed, should no longer exist. When a Public Safety officer misuses the power of their badge that must be investigated, documented and penalized and the record of that abuse must be public. Accountability that goes hand in hand with the responsibility and the power that goes with wearing the badge. Never again should an officer who has been fired for abusing their power be able to go down the road and be hired by another department and be able to continue abusive practices in a new setting. Thats why i have a he advocated for a National Data of police misconduct. Thats why im so pleased that senator booker has included such a database in the justice in policing act. In 1968 the Kerner Commission was examining the source of the demonstrations a year before concluded bad policing practices, a flawed Justice System, unscrupulous Consumer Credit practices, poor and inadequate housing, Voter Suppression and other embedded forms of Racial Discrimination converged to propel violent upheaval on the streets of African American neighborhoods north, south, east, and west. Doesnt that sound familiar all too familiar here 52 years later, half a century later . One person testifying on the commission said, i read the report of the 1919 riot in chicago and its as if i was reading the investigative report on the harlem riot of 1935, the reporting of the investigating committee of the riot of 1943, the mccen commission. I must say its a kind of alice in wonderland with the same movie picture shown over and over again, the same analysis, the same recommendations and the same inaction. Thats why im standing on the floor in support of this act, because iio let the same not be said about this moment years from now. Today is a moment for a day of action, for greater investments in Affordable Housing and teachers for greater investments in black Business Owners and Early Education programs like head start. Its a time to ensure that every american truly has the right to vote, free from Voter Suppression and voter intimidation. This friday our nation will once again recognize and celebrate juneteenth, the day when slavery officially ended 155 years ago. Let this juneteenth stand as a day for all of us to reflect on the calls for justice crying out across our land. Now is the time to be agents of change. Yes, to listen to the voice of the people, to join with those who have taken to the streets and during the rubber bullets and the batons and the tear gas to stand up for whats right. Now is the moment to stand shoulder and shoulder with our fellow americans who have had enough of the suffering of inequality, of injustice so together we can help our nation live up to the ideal of a land where everyone, no matter the color of their skin, is treated with the dignity and the respect and the opportunity and the equality equal to all others. A senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from virginia is recognized. Mr. Kaine madam president , on saturday, i attended a rally for justice sponsored by two young women, one a high schooler and one a middle schooler, in my hometown. The rally was one of numerous marches and rallies that have occurred every day, sometimes multiple times a day, in richmond in the weeks after the horrific public murder of george floyd. Hundreds of people gathered in the maggie l. Walker plaza, a plaza named after a pioneering African American woman, business, and civil rights leader. They gathered in the plaza to hear from our citys young people. Many raised their hands when they were asked. They were graduates of this class of 2020, a class whose senior year was upended in midmarch and who face a future that seems frightening to many of them. I intended to listen. I used to be the mayor and governor and now a senator. But i attended to listen. I wasnt on the program and didnt ask to speak. I wanted to hear how our young people view this moment in time and what they are asking of us. What i heard in many different ways from speeches and artistic performances was no more politics as usual. No more politics as usual. No more Police Killings of people of color, no more empty promises of reform after each new policing outrage, no more Education System that downplays the reality of injustice in this country since its birth, no more educational content that also downplays the contributions of African Americans, indians, latinos and others to our nation. No more veneration of the confederacy in richmond, in virginia, or anywhere else in the unit states. This gathering, this rally had a lot of police there. The police were there trying to keep the crowd from spilling from the plaza onto the busy broad street where they would have been endangered by passing vehicles. Some of the attendees of the rally advocated to defund the police, bus others disagreed but others disagreed. Some asserted all cops are bad, but others disagreed. The rally was robust, it was raw, it was diverse, and it was respectful. It was the epitome the absolute epitome of peacefully assembling to petition government for redress of grievances contemplated by the first amendment. Just as my young activists urged in many different ways to end politics as accuracy i desperately want to politics as usual, ides brantley want to end apathy as usual. It is a chief guarantor of politics as usual. And as demonstrated on the streets of communities all across this country, im starting to be hopeful about the end of apathy as usual. These young people, they want action and results. And thats and they deserve it. Thats why im proud to join senators booker and harris and many others in supporting the justice in policing act of 2020. We need to ban choke holds. We need to ban noknock warrants, we need to ban racial and religious profiling. We need to hold Police Officers and Police Departments accountable for violent, reckless behavior. We need to promote better training and professional accreditation of Police Departments. Madam president , why do we demand that universities maintain accreditation to receive federal funds but make no such demand of Law Enforcement agencies . And we need to do much more within the criminal Justice System but also within all of our systems to dismantle the structures of racism that our federal, state, and local governments carefully erected and maintained over centuries. We know a little bit about this in virginia. The first African Americans entered into the english colonies in 1619. They were slaves. They had been captured against their will. There were no laws about slavery in the colonies at that time. The United States didnt inherit slavery. We created it. It got created by the Virginia Assembly and theological tours of other states. F other states. It was we created it. And we created it and maintained it over centuries. And in my lifetime, we had finally stopped some of those practices, but weve never gone back to undo it. Stopping racist practices at year 350 of 400 years but then taking no effort to dismantle them is not the same as truly combating racism. But im mindful of the challenge laid down by our young people. No more politics as usual. Its one thing to introduce a bill. We do that all the time here. So often the introduction of the bill is all that occurs, no committee hearing. No committee markup. No committee vote. No floor debate. No floor vote. No signature by a president. Merely words on a page and a the about who sat fault for nothing happening. Who is at fault for nothing happening. Thats been my biggest disappointment in seven and a half years in the senate. Unlike my service at the state and local levels where we took action and then engaged in healthy competition about who should get credit, in congress its too often a story of inaction and then an unproductive competition over who should be blamed for nothing getting done. Politics as usual. I pray that the engaged activism of our citizens has brought us to a new moment that will compel us to act in ways large and small in accord with the equality ideal that we profess to believe. This bill is a test of our resolve. And i urge my colleagues to meet the moment so that we can look our young people in their faces and tell them that we truly heard them. And with that, madam president , i yield the floor. Mr. Cardin madam president . The presiding officer the senator from maryland is recognized. Mr. Cardin thank you, madam president. It was 2015, shortly after the death of freddie gray in Police Custody in baltimore, that i was in sand town, the community in which freddie gray grew up, meeting with Community Leaders, many of whom i had known for many, many years. We had an honest discussion about how policing in baltimore had unfolded. I was surprised to hear that these Community Leaders who want safety in their Community Felt that they could not confide with the police because they did not want people from their community subjected to the discriminatory policing of the Baltimore City Police Police force. I had another meeting during that time with a group of african American Families. Every one told me the story of about how they feared, particularly when their young africa american sons went into the community because of the fear that they would be discriminated against, hurt by the police. That fear was real. So as a result of the freddie gray tragedy, we requested a pattern and practice investigation by the department of justice. And what was discovered during that investigation is that the policies of the Baltimore City Police Department zero tolerance to crack down on crime was used to profile the African American community. And in many cases, the Police Presence in the community provoked the violence and added to the harm of the people in the community. So i wanted to take this opportunity to thank senator booker and senator harris, for putting together a bill that we need to take up on the floor of the senate as quickly as possible, the justice in policing act. It contains many provisions that, quite frankly, should have been enacted well before now. The tragic deaths of george floyd, Rayshard Brooks just ones score the importance of us to act now just ones score the importance of us to act now. We need to debate these issues and pass legislation. Im grateful for senator booker, including two provisions that i filed as legislation in several congresses the end racial ani religious profiling act. I filed that bill a while ago. I think many of us remember the Trayvon Martin tragic loss, profiled by police because of the color of hisi3 skin. Racial profiling targets a class of americans for discriminatory treatment. Its not when you have individual information about a specific crime and indicators. Its when you target a community for special treatment. Its wrong. Its wrong because its against the values of america. Of equality and justice. Its wrong because it wastes resoces, which are so valuable to keep our communities safe. Its wrong because it turns communities against police. And if were going to hnforcemee community and police need to Work Together, not at ends. And its wrong because it becomes deadly. Too many innocent people have lost their lives because of discriminatory profiling. Its time for this practice to end in america. I want to applaud the Obama Administration because they took action at the federal Law Enforcement to make racial profiling illegal, but it still takes in local Law Enforcement. The legislation included in the justice in policing act would make that illegal. It would prohibit it, and it provides for ways to enforce to make sure that Police Departments comply with it. It also provides for training so Law Enforcement understands what racial profiling is all about. It also provides for us to get the data on so we know exactly what is happening at all levels of policing, whether its state, local, or auxiliary. The Leadership Conference on civil rights and human rights testified on the issue of discriminatory profiling last week, and i want to share some of the testimony of anita kupta when she testified. The equal treatment of all people, regardless of background, class or characteristic protects and preserves Public Safety. Discriminatory policing which targets people of color more often than others, has serious consequences not only for individuals and communities, but also for Law Enforcement and society by fostering distrust in Law Enforcement. Through policy, training, and practice, Law Enforcement agencies can work to prevent and hold officers accountable for discriminatory policing and reduce and mitigate its i margi. I want to thank her for her testimony and i want to thank senator booker for including those provisions that would end this practice in the justice in policing act. Theres a second bill that ive introduced for several congresses, the Law Enforcement enforcement trust and integrity act. It provides for rformancebased standards for Police Officers. It embraces acreditation standards based upon president obamas task force on 21st century policing. It does provide for training and oversight and proper investigations for those Police Officers that have crossed the line. It enhanced the pattern and practice discrimination cases so that consent decrease can be decrees can be effective in ending these wrong practices. Madam president , im pleased that these two provisions shall included in the justice in policing act and so many other important changes for reform and accountability in Law Enforcement, the noknock warrants, standards that we hold officers accountable who have lost the trust of the American People, the registry so that Law Enforcement can know by background checks whether particular applicants haeeve b involved in instances in other jurisdictions. All these are very, very important provisions that we need to act on and we need to act on now. Let us Work Together to guarantee equal justice under law and fulfillhe promise of our constitution in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice and assure domestic tranquillity. Let this nation finally guarantee equal justice under law. I yield the floor. A senator madam president ,. Mr. Booker before the good senator from illinois speaks, i want to suppress my gratitude to the two colleagues who just spoke. The senator from virginia has been a champion on these issues when he was a governor, and now as a United States senator has been in the senate much longer than ihuave. I have a lot of love for the history of knows of his own state and the fact that he knows that history of injustice has to be confronted. My mom did sitin movements in charlottesville, virginia, when she lived in d. C. Where i waorn and she helped to integrate lunch counters in your great state. The fact that you are on this bill and you are a leader on these issues is extraordinary to me at this important time and do it in a unifying way and im grateful for that. I want to say the senator from maryland, i am newer to the senate, and he has components of this bill that after the challenges in baltimore with freddie gray, you helped to lead and write the things that youre calling for to come out and say this idea that you will profile people because of their race or religion is anathema to the very ideals of the constitution. It is so obvious on its face, ive seen polling where upwards of 90 of republicans agree that we should not have people profiled based upon their race orion, and thats one of the ideals of this bill. If we look at the common views of this. But yet youve been fighting for this for years before for years, and im grateful to have you as a part of it. I want to be able to say this introduction to my senator, and i want to say it on the senate floor and for the record,a partner of mine on criminal justice reform. This whole system of policing and prisons and jails which has swept up millions of americans and their families and their children is despicable that we are the land of the free and incarcerate so many people, and your crackcocaine, powder cocaine disparities before i came to the senate has helped aleave the liberation of so Many Americans. Im grateful to you for this and id like to yield to the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin madam president. The presiding officer the senator from illinois is recognized. Mr. Durbin thank you, madam president. During one of his political campaigns Abraham Lincoln said to him youve reversed your position on an issue, changed on an issue. And Abraham Lincoln said its true. You see, id rather be right some of the time than wrong all the time. Well, i learned that lesson, as many of us have who serve in congress, when you vote for a measure and many years later have to reflect on whether it was the right vote. I voted for something called the war on drugs. It seemed like a sensible thing to do and many joined me, black and white members of the house of representatives. It was after the death of len bias, the maryland basketball star who overdosed and in a moment of panic over crack cocaine, we did something which would make a very clear public statement. The penalty for crack cocaine was going to be 100 times the penalty for powder cocaine. 100 times. Were going to let america know dont mess with crack cocaine. What a colossal failure it turned out to be. The price crack cocaine on the street went down instead of up. The number o users on the street went up instead of and we filled the prisons of america for the next ten years to a level we have never seen before primarily with African Americans who had been convicted of possessing and selling crack cocaine. I realized, and im sure many others did too, it was a big mistake. It washat failed at the expense of many people and their families and their lives. So ten years ago i started out to try to change it. 1001 standard in my mind was indefensible, didnt work, number one. Number two, there was no Scientific Evidence that crack cocaine was that much more dangerous than powder cocaine. So i set out to make it one to one, where it should be. And i ran into an adversary by the name of senator sessions from alabama. He didnt like the idea very much, my change. And after negotiation, long negotiations, we agreed to drop the standard to 18 to 1. I cant tell you the wisdom behind the number 18, but it was a compromise number. It changed a lot of things. Thousands of people in prison were able to leave early, and many had their sentences reduced. But it wasnt enough. We needed to go further, and it was clear when it came to mandatory minimums and three strikes youre out and all of the things that led to imprisonments which were almost impossible to describe, we needed another bill. I joined with senator mike lee, a very conservative republican in the senate, and we moved forward with the legislation, and others joined us as well. But we were stopped by one man who happened to be the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, chuck grassley. Grassley said i dont like this bill and came to the floor many times and gave speeches against the bill. So it became obvious to me if anything was going to happen, i needed to over chuck grassley. So i sat down with him and literally for one whole year negotiated changes in the bill, things i didnt want to give up, but part of the process to move us forward, and we came up with the first step act, and he proudly was the lead sponsor on it and i was the cosponsor, happy to be. And then we found an ally in the white house, jared kushner, who is open about the fact that his father spent time in prison and believed in refor the first. And one of the first people i went to was cory booker, then a new senator from new jersey, and said i want you to support this bill. Read it and tell me if you can. And you came back to me with several proposals. One of them was incarceration of juveniles that you wanted to make sure would be changed in america, and several other worthy suggestions we team was ultimatelybill and you successful, and to the surprise of everyone in washington, President Trump signed it into law, the first step act. So those who are skeptical that what were about here cannot result in legislation have ignored the obvious that is something that occurred in the last year or two, with this white house, with this president , with a republican majority in the senate, we did something significant, and we can do it again, and we should. What were talking about now with justice in policing is so obvious to the world. What has brought us to this point of this debat i think two things have brought us here. Maybe we didnt see them coming. Videotapes and d. N. A. Thats what brought us here, because its no longer speculation as to what happened in a parking lot. Its no longer conjecture as to what happened on the side of a curb in minneapolis. We see it. We see it, and we cant get the images out ofind. A knee on the neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, just in case that sounds like a short period of time, try kneeling, as senator king did at our moment of silence in the auditorium just a few weeks ago. Try imagining someones knee on your neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. George floyd lost his life in that period of time. I think the image that sticks with m not only that man begging for his life on the ground, but the image of the policeman who was being implored and begged by all the people around, take your knee off, let him breathe, and just looked with those cold, hard eyes as he took the life out of that man. That image is something that ill carry for the rest of my service and life as images from the wendys parking lot in atlanta, georgia. All of these things have brought us to the moment where i listened, senator kaine, when you talked about the rally you attended in richmond over the weekend. What a coincidence that you talked about the young people who organized it. In my home state, ive been to several rallies in the city of chicago by leaders in the community, religious and otherwise, but the meetings that ive attended that had the most impact on me have been organized by high school students. In my hometown of springfield, nikela henderson is a junior in high school. Shes a tall young woman, kind of rangey and doesnt look like the kind of person that would speak up for anythin her twin se decided to put together a rally at the state capital two weeks ago in springfield. 1,500 people showed up. No windows were broken, no curses were thrown around, nobody was throwing anything. They made it clear it was going to be a peaceful rally, all about black lives matter. Her lg achievement at your stage in life that you were able to do this. And i thought how unusual that it was a young woman, young African American woman who took on this role of leadership with others. This last sunday i went to jerseyville, illinois. I was telling senator booker about this. I dont know if there are many if any black families in this ta long time and i dont remember any. But they had a rally on the lawn next to the courthouse 4 00 on sunday afternoon, and i went down there because of another African American high school young woman who is named lalani davis. Lalani goes to high school about 20 miles away and she called for a black lives matter in jerseyville and ask i said i wouldnt miss it because she had done the same thing in edwardsville, another small town, had a rally. And when they started cruising with banners supporting difft cal candidates and the derision they were throwing at her, she said to these people were not going to be like that, not going to do that. This is going to be peaceful. Here are two African American women, 16, 17year olds. Theyre not looking for a headline, wouldnt know what to do with it and are kind of wide eyed by the people showing up. The people who showed up are by and large young people, black, there begging for freedom and liberty and washington, and why shouldnt we . Isnt it the reason we ran for these offices to address the issues of the day in our time . To take on the tough chores of finding compromise when it looks like its impossible . I think we can do this, and i i want to just recount one other thing before i yield the floor because i see others arriving here. It was about ten days ago that i asked the African American members of my staff to get on a conference call. We spend a lot of time on conference calls. There were quite a few of them on the call and i started talking about their experiences, and they were a little reluctant to volunteer much. And then the dam broke and one of them said set another one to say something, and it turned out to be one of the best conversations ive ever had with my staff. They told me some things which i needed to hear because listening is sometimes more important for a senator than speak, although i do a lot of speaking the and i can recall as so many of them described for me the very first time and they remember it and they remember who said it when they were called the n word. They remember it. And they each went through that experience on a playground, in a school, and im thinking to myself ive never had an experience in my life that was so profound as a moment as someone using a word against me. Another young woman said that her mother sat her down at a young age and said, listen to me. When you go into a store and buy something always ask for a receipt. And you put that receipt in the bag because someone will stop you, girl, and say you stole that and you can show them you paid for it. Youve got the receipt. I remember thinking my mother never gave me lesson. I wasnt going to be stopped at the door. Im white and this young woman was black. Time and again the stories they told reminded me the issue of racism is one that we have faced in this country, as you said, for over 400 years, when slavery came to our shores before we were even known as the United States of ameri the greed and rd slavery still challenges us to this moments. H that is sensible . I hope we can. When you look at the history of reconstruction, the black codes, jim crow, the great migration and everything that followed, you realize that we are still in the midst of this d are as wo it as any moment in American History and we have to face it and face it squarely an honestly. I think we can and must. Let me say one thing about the antilynching law. I read the history of the antilynching law in the United States congress, and im sure senator booker knows it well. A congressman from missouri, lionis din former prosecutor who was outraged by the east st. Louis race riots, my hometown, he introduced the antilynching law and managed to get it through the house and then it came over here and died in the senate. That measure has lanish in this cheample ever since chamber ever since. I thought to myself, lynching, what a terrible southern phenomenon. Boy am i wrong. I did a Little Research and study in history over the weekend. Saddened to learn i county, st. Claire county, on the bellvere square, an another was lynched in a town i represented for years . Central illinois and sadly other lynching that took place in other places in illinois. I learned the history of anna, illinois. I wont say it on the floor, nas racial connotations to it which i will share privately with others, there was a lynching of anna. It happened in the land of lincoln, it happened in the north, it happene my home state that i love. Its a reminder that hatred can be found everywhere, and its our job here with this bill to move forward and say to the good police, thank you for serving usw join us in making sure we dont have bad police. In your ranks you know the people who cannot be trusted with their badge and gun to use it responsibly. You know the people who shouldnt be policemen. Join us in making sure that you show real quality in the recruitment, training, and all of those serving in Law Enforcement. We need to do so much more and im sure theres much more that can be said. But i want to thank my colleagues booker and harris for bringing us to this moment. Ths beg tim scott, i dearly love as a colleague and as a person to join us on a bipartisan effort to do something historic at this moment. Dont believe we cant do it. Believe we can and do the right thing that will stand the test of time. I yield the floor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from maryland is recognized. Mr. Van hollen madam president , i want to begin my colleague, the senator from illinois left off, which is thanking senator booker, the senator from new jersey, senator harris, the c. B. C. , people protesting around thisn country for bringing us to this floor at this moment to demand urgent change. Im pleased to be join by my colleague from the state of maryland, senator cardin, across the potomac river, senator kaine and senator durbin from illinois. We are here, because like those millions of americans taking to the streets around the country, we understand that this is a moment when we must turn the pain into progress. We must transform the pain of George Floyds death and the unjustice deaths of so many other black americans unjustice death of so many black americans into deep and lasting change. We must bring the passionate pleas of the protesters across the nation to the floor of the senate to take action to root out systematic racism in all of its ugly forms. This is a deep ingrained problem and it is clear that tinkering around the edges is not enough. Systems embedded with racism need to be overhauled. The state in the form of the police cannot be allowed to continue unjustly taking t lives and liberty of black men and women. We must change the nature ofh policing. We need to change the culture. Here in the senate we must compel laws to change. The police, as an institution, are a reflection of the greater society, and we have an obligation to change all those institutions where we find ingrained racist practices, everywhere we find it. Since the nation stood horrified by the video of george floyd gasping for breath, crying out, i cant breathe, as his life was snuffed out of him with a knee to his neck. Other black men have senselessly died at the hands of police. By now we probably have all seen the video of Rayshard Brooks. He fell asleep in his car after drinking. He was then interviewed by police for over 20 minutes. If you havent watched that encounter, i urge you to do it. Because after that 20minute conversation, he with two bullets in his that encounter should never have ended that way. Not far from here in woodstock, virginia, we had another recent encounter that did not end in violence but exposed some of the racist assumptions that are too often wired into pole into socil responses. A black pastor, an air force veteran saw a man and woman dispos old refrigerator on his property. He told them to stop. The two were upset that the pastor would not let this refrigerator on his property. They grew irate. They went away and came back with three others. Then these five white people surrounded the pastor, began jostling him, taunting him, calling him names and saying they didnt give a darn about his life and the black lives matters stuff. So in defense he drew a gun, which he legally carried. Healled 911 to get the police to come. The police did come. They arrested and handcuffed the black pastor while the five white people continued to threaten and wave as the police took him away. Now, the sheriff in woodstock