Floyds, refusing to let up, get up even is the man beneath him beg for life and lost consciousness. Then he spent another 60 minutesen after hed fallen silent growing the number of witnesses to begged h him to see the obvious that the man under his knee was unresponsive. He was dying. As a mom there are not words to describe that gut wrenching feeling of hearing someone cry out forsoir their mother in a moment of such desperation. His death was unnecessary and heartbreaking it was a tragedy butyi horrifyingly is not an anomaly. From eric garner who told us six years ago he could not breeds, to merit rice never made it to his 13th birthday the senseless killing of unarmed black americans at the hands of Law Enforcement has become an all too common occurrence. The outrage in horror and anger to many people would appear to believe is normal. It is not. Let it we cannot let ourselves become numb to whats in front of us. George floyd was someone son with his dying breath called out for his motherhood previously passed away. He has a 6yearold daughter whos going to grow up without a father and know she too will face the same danger every day because of the color of her skin. Co they were built on the belief we are all created are equal we must fully realize we must all be treated equally as well. Its a long, long past time for action before countless others to we need relators that a listen for cries for help and give them a platform to be heard. But sadly, although unsurprisingly, donald trump is done just the opposite over the past two days. Trampling First Amendment rights by ordering federal Law Enforcement officers to stood in front of his photo disrespecting our troops, by using them to silent our neighbors and further divide our country. Donald trump may be our commanderinchief, but tear gassing Peaceful Protesters is not leadership. It is cowardice, threaten every military forces against americans exercising their Constitutional Rights is not president ial, it is tin pot dictatorial. In moments like these it is more important than ever to recognize the privilege many of us have. I will be forced to sit my daughters down and have the same talk with them that black mothers have with their children. Especially their sons about how to exactly move and speak when interacting with Police Officers, to preemptively reassure them they pose no danger. For the fundamental racism that mars the society that questions their rights just because a shade of their esskin. Or about the systematic biases that lead to many americans, including those in positions of power to unarmed black children than white adults holding semi automatic rifles i know i will never comprehend the fear every time they dare to walk to school, play on the playground or by some skittles while black. What i do know is the burden of all of this pain and trauma cannot fall in should not fall on those families alone. The responsibility, the work, the bending of the moral ark of the universe towards justice cannot just be put on the backs of the very people this entire time. The injustices in our country are not going away by themselves. They will not be solved if too many good, decent americans remain silent. We choose to avoid difficult realities in tough conversations, simply because those of us who have benefited from the privileges afforded by society, we have a duty been denied the same privileges for generations. I dont claim to have all of the answers. I do know we must do more. On a personal level, for me, that includes spending time with both of my daughters, discussing what true justice and equality means and how to practice it. Th so when they grow up to be Police Officers themselves, they dont reflectively treat black americans is more dangerous than anyone else so that when they see a black young man shopping the first thought would never be he is shoplifting. No matter what they do in life, they judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. My girls make just be five and two, but it is never too early for us to talk to our kids about treating others how you want to be treated. Our neighbors, our american brothers and sisters need more allies in this fight. Ai hope to raise two of those allies in my girls and today i hope to find 99 other allies and my colleagues in the senate. Each of us lucky to serve under this great capitol dome, to use this moment to fight for justice and accountability for those families like george floyd who had someone fruitlessly and needlessly stolen from them. S ive come to the floor today to request unanimous consent on senate bill 1938, the Police Training independent review act sprayed the second bill i ever introduced into this body more than three anyears ago. This a build would demand local Law Enforcement agencies change use of force policies that every american receives fair treatment under the law. Commonsense policy i believe laufers would welcome sold they can better protect and serve their communities. It would establish a new Grant Programs c estates can implement racial bias training at police academies, to help officers deescalate tense situations. It also encourage states with a transparent system with independent prosecutors, review force and prosecute officers who break the law they were entrusted to enforce. Because local prosecutors to have a bias. They rely on the same Police Departments to him in other cases which is why it is so critical that we let outside prosecutors do therc investigating and prosecuting of our Law Enforcement officers who do not follow the law themselves. For me, it comes down to this. We cannot let ourselves except in the United States of america, in the year 2020, black men are still being publicly executedin without judge or jury. For about nine minutes last monday, someones son, somebodys father, was forced to know he was dying, forced to beg for his life until he anymore. Bake george floyd cannot breathe anymore, so it is on those of us lucky b enough to still be here today, to still be breathing, to use our own, every breath we have two fight for the justice he was robbed of on that street in minneapolis last week. I know i will, and i hope every other american will join the. Thank you. Yield the floor. Mr. President person to make the senator from minnesota. Mr. President , i asked consent to finish my remarks before the vote. Without objection part. Mr. President i come to the floor today to honor a life lost, share in then grief of a family and a nation in pain and call for this body to take action to reform a system that has been broken for too long. George floyd, it should be a live today. But he isnt. He was murdered by police in my state. A death both horrifying and inhumane. But not unique. We literally saw his life evaporate before our eyes. The whole country, the whole world saw. We know that our community in minneapolis and across america are Africanamerican Community has seen this horror before. And has experienced injustice for far too long. They have had enough. They are angry, in pain and they are calling out forju justice. And i see the leader is here. I am waiting for leader mcconnell i want to hear your remarks. Theyve had enough they are angry and in pain, and they are calling out for justice. Senators, we cannot answer was silence. That would make us conflicted but we cannot answer with what the president called dominance, that would make us monsters. We cannot answer with using churches as props and bibles as props and inflaming violence. We must answer with action. That is what makes us lawmakers. For 13 years, and washington changes come inch by inch men we should be miles ahead. I pick that time because that is when i first got here. When i first started doing work on crack cocaine in the sensing disparity and ive seen changes but it is inch by inch. First there needs to be justice for george floyd. There needs to be criminal accountability to the fullest extent of the law. Minnesota attorney generals, Keith Ellison with him i work closely for years has taken over the investigation and the prosecution of the case. I have full faith and his conviction for justice in this case and beyond. Sweeping reform starts with accountability and this individual case. But it does not end. There. We all know that these officers work within a bigger fusystem. That is why i have called for a fullscale investigation into the patterns and practices of a racially discriminatory policing in the Minneapolis Police by the department of justice in addition to ongoing local, state and federal investigation. Senator smith and i, had a request with 26 senators asking the Justice Department to conduct what is called a pattern and practice investigation. This afternoon, the Minnesota Department of human rights announced that they are going to investigate the Police Department as well. The words engraved on the Supreme Court building, equal justice under law, we know have never really been true for millions of africanamericans, hispanics, American Indians and other minority groups. There is systematic racism at every level of our judicial system and that calls for systematic change. We must take action to and unconstitutional discriminatory policing across the country. We can start by making sure Police Misconduct is independently investigated and we hold officers criminally accountable when they break the law and break the trust that is needed between Law Enforcement officers and the people theyve sworn to protect. Belson aint strong federal requirements for state and local police to collect and report data on the use of force. Right now, a patchwork of local policies many allow local police to avoid accountability, make a far too difficult to identify and address patterns of discrimination in the Police Departments. Better data will help hold officers and departments accountable. Broader criminal justice reform. The standard for use of force. All of those things must change. As i mentioned we have done something we have passed the first when it comes to sentencing now we need to take the second step act to create incentives for states to just restore for nonviolent offenders and reform the conditions in state prisons and local jails. We note these conditions have gotten even worse during the coronavirus pandemic, earlier today we held a hearing in the Judiciary Committee about the continued injustice we are seeing in our prison system during this pandemic while some people, like paul manna four have been transferred to hope home confinement others like andrea who is serving 26 months for an nonviolent drug offense and had just giving birth while on a ventilator. Why customeren she was exposed to the virus. The question is someone like a pregnant woman of the preexisting condition, American Indian woman, who is they are in a nonviolent offense, why was she there in the prison system and paul manna ford gets out. We should also create a diverse and a bipartisan clemency advisory board, one that includes victim advocates and present an sentencing reform advocates that would look at these issues from a different perspective. We shouldhe strengthen postconviction reviews with conviction integrity units across the country. According to data from the National Registry of exoneration there are currently fewer than 60 conviction integrity units in the United States. Ct many of these are too weak to be effective. Attorney general allison and i have been you working with prosecutors in minnesota to set up a conviction integrity units in the twin cities with strong, strong standards for independence and transparency. This needs to happen nationally. And we shouldxp also expand postconviction sentencing reviews ensuring justice is not just looking back at a case to seeo if the evidence is right. Its also looking to see if the sentence is right in the situation. All of this, expanding our nation drug court something i have been leaning on in the senate for years, changing that conversation about drug and alcohol treatment, reforming the cash bail system. If there is anything that we, the u. S. Senate can do to eliminate injustice within our Justice System, we should do it, we should do it now. Talk is no longer enough. We know this pandemic is shed a light on the injustice weve already seen. Senator durbin who is here and i discussed the prison sentence today. We also see it in the number of people dying. In louisiana africanamericans a account for nearly 60 of deaths but 33 of the population. Inou georgia, study of eight hospitals found 80 of their covid19 patients were africanamerican. Yet, 30 w of the population, the workers on the front line, the people who are working not just in the hospitals, not just in the Emergency Rooms but in the Grocery Stores, driving the public transportation, they are getting this virus sometimes fatal virus at a much higher rates. This calls for not only the reforms i laid out and i have been advocating for for years, but it also calls for investment like jim clyburns plan to invest in underserved areas impoverished areas that fhave been that way for a long, long time. Senator booker is carrying that bill in the u. S. Senate. Martin luther king once said we are all tied in a single garment of destiny, whatever affects one of us directly affects all of us indirectly. That means in the long term and economy that works for everyone. With fair wages with childcare, with retirement savings, closing the wealth gap. They only have about a tenth of the Media Network right now. It means of Voting Rights the scene beside wisconsin were people were standing in the rain with homemade masks and garbage bags in the rain just to be able to vote risking their lives and help with the president of the United States could vote in the luxury of 1600 pennsylvania avenue so he could get a mall in ballot from palm beach florida. That is the split screen for you. That is why people are out peacefully marching. That is what they are angry about. It is Police Misconduct is the murder of george floyd its economicno longtime disparity is also the longtime suppression of the vote in the on fairness of all of this. This has been a devastating time for minnesota. But as George Floyds family who i had the honor to talk with at length this week and said, we cannot sing to the level of our oppressors and we. Must not endanger others during this pandemic. We will demand and ultimately force lasting change by shining a light on treatment that is horrific and unacceptable and by winning justice. That is what theyre talking about in minnesota today. That was the spirit i saw when my husband and i went to drop off food were hundreds of people where they are in thousands of bags of groceries because their Grocery Store in that neighborhood had been burned to the core because of their stores had been looted, not by the peaceful righteous marchers but the people who were hiding behind them. I will end with this. A few years ago i went to selma, alabama with representative john lewis like so many senators have done i stood there on the bridge where he had his head beaten in. I was in all of his persistencee resilience and his faith that this country could be better if only we put in the work. That weekend after 48 years, the right police chief of montgomerye handed his police badge to congressman lewis and publicly apologized on the behalf of the police for not protecting him 48 years before and not protecting his freedom marchers. I dont want to take 48 years for my city and my state to heal forha our nation to fix a Justice System that has been broken since it was built. I want justice now, the people of this country deserve justice now. Everyone has a role to play and coming back from these crises. Their protesters are shining a light on injustice of a push to the shadows were far too long. The frontline workers and volunteers are serving the communities they love. They are looking to all of us to deliver the reforms we have promised. Not just in speeches, not just in campaigns, but in reality. Not just for george floyd and his legacy should be so much more then more than those nine minutes. Or Jamaal Clarke or for briand a tailor, because we took an oath, we took an oath, colleagues we did not waive a bible in the air for a photo up, we placed our hands on that bible and we swore to support and defend the constitution of the United States. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The enemy we face now is racism. N the enemy we face now is injustice. I dont know what else to say because too many words have been said. And it may be, it is time to stop talking. Maybe it is time to start acting. It is time to get to work, it is time to do our jobs. Thank you, mr. President i yield the floor. Thank you, mr. President. I rise today with difficulty. And i admit, im like so many other americans hurtingig