TAXPAYER FIRST ACT OF 2019--Continued
Floor Speech
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Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, something is happening in America. People across our country and in my home State of Michigan are coming together for the cause of racial justice in a way that we have not really experienced in a generation.
From Holland, to Bad Axe, to Marquette, to Detroit, people of all ages and faiths and backgrounds have been marching together, singing together, praying together, and kneeling together. In one voice, people are demanding change, imploring our Nation to finally be that place where all men and women are truly created equal. Unfortunately, we know that, far too often throughout our history and even today, our Nation has failed to live up to our highest ideals.
Eight minutes forty-six seconds--that is how long a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on the neck of George Floyd, an unarmed, handcuffed Black man lying on the pavement. For 8 minutes 46 seconds, George Floyd pleaded for his life. He said, ``I can't breathe.'' He cried out for his mother. He suffered. Then he was silent.
Millions of Americans watched the video in shock and horror. Why didn't the officer just lift his knee off of Mr. Floyd's neck? Why didn't he just lift his knee up for just a minute--just lift it up? Why didn't one--just one--of the other officers push his knee off of Mr. Floyd's neck?
What is happening in America that someone--let alone police officers--thought this was OK? Of course, we know it was not OK. It was not OK. It was a crime. It was murder.
Watching those images has awakened something deep in the souls of Americans across the country. We know that racial disparities in every part of our society--from healthcare, to housing, to jobs, to education, to the air we breathe and the water we drink--have existed in our country since its very beginning. We have known for a long time that experiences with the police are different for Black Americans than for White Americans. Yet, despite all of the other times, this time-- this time--there the violence was, right in front of us, in a way that people have decided cannot and will not be ignored.
There is much to do. For each of us, we have a personal journey--a personal journey to take concerning our own behavior with one another, and then we have a public journey to take together, to change laws and policies and work together toward the day when what happened in Minneapolis and across our country never happens again. That is the goal of the Justice in Policing Act. I am honored to cosponsor it, and I want to thank my friends Senator Booker and Senator Harris for leading us in this introduction.
The Justice in Policing Act takes important steps to improve transparency by collecting better and more accurate data on police misconduct and the use of force. This will help ensure that problem officers aren't simply getting a job with a police department in another city or State to avoid being held accountable for their previous actions.
The legislation improves police training and practices by ending racial and religious profiling, requiring officers to receive training on racial biases, banning no-knock warrants in drug cases, limiting the transfer of military-grade equipment to police departments, and banning chokeholds like the one that ended George Floyd's life. It finally makes lynching a Federal crime--something that I would have thought we would have done a generation ago. It makes important changes within our criminal justice system to hold police officers and departments accountable for their actions.
This legislation is not about defunding the police. It is not about defunding law enforcement. It is about funding the right kind of law enforcement, the kind of law enforcement that protects all of our neighborhoods and the people who live in them; the kind of law enforcement that officers I know in Michigan--including in my own family, across Michigan--do every day; the kind of law enforcement I know the majority of police officers believe in.
In short, this legislation is about treating people as professionals, with high standards, and expecting them to meet those standards. In any professional setting, including law enforcement, we should expect high standards and accountability for meeting those standards. We have a right to expect the best from our police officers.
Firing dozens of bullets into a Louisville apartment under a no-knock warrant, killing a 26-year-old emergency medical technician and aspiring nurse who grew up in Michigan, did not meet the high standards we have a right to expect. Breonna Taylor deserved the best from our police. She did not get it.
Shoving a 75-year-old man at a protest in Buffalo hard enough that his head cracked open while hitting the ground, creating a pool of blood, and then watching officer after officer walking past him without offering any help does not reflect the high standards we have a right to expect. Martin Gugino deserved the best from our police, and he did not get it.
Kneeling on the neck of a man who is lying on the ground for 8 minutes 46 seconds, as he cries out for his mother and the life leaves his body, is not meeting the high standards he had the right to expect. George Floyd deserved the best from our police. He did not receive it.
The U.S. Senate needs to pass the Justice in Policing Act now. I would love it if there was strong bipartisan support. Wouldn't that send a wonderful message across our country if we could do that?
However, holding law enforcement to high professional standards is only the first step in becoming the Nation we all want to be. Racism has been with us since slaves were brought on ships to this country. It is an immoral thread that is woven deep in the fabric of our Nation's history.
It is simply not enough to end racial inequalities in policing because the inequalities in our society don't end there. The pandemic has shone a brutal light on this truth.
Our Democratic caucus released a report on April 30 that showed that Black Americans are more than twice as likely as White Americans to die from COVID-19, and in some communities, this disparity is even greater. In Michigan, 14 percent of our citizens are African Americans. Yet African Americans make up 41 percent--41 percent--of the deaths from COVID-19. It is not hard to see why, if you look. Because of generations of structural racism, Black Americans are less likely to have health insurance, more likely to have preexisting health conditions and higher risks for Black moms during labor and delivery, more likely to be exposed to air pollution because of where they live, and less likely to live in housing where social distancing is even possible.
Black families also face challenges in accessing healthy food. While around 12 percent of American families overall are food secure, we know that more than 22 percent of African-American families are food insecure--more than one out of every five families.
At the same time, in this health crisis Black Americans are more likely to be the ones working on the frontlines--these are the frontline jobs that can't be done at home--even though their children are home from school or childcare because they have had to close. They have more costs, but they are on the frontlines, and they are the ones still working. In fact, 41 percent of our essential workers are people of color. The majority are women. That is exposing them to both COVID-19 and now layoffs.
While more than 12 percent of White Americans are out of work, nearly 17 percent of Black Americans have lost their jobs so far. No single piece of legislation, no matter how good, is going to solve these systemic issues all at once. We know that, but our continuing actions can do that, if we are aware and our eyes are open and we are paying attention and we are doing the best we can on everything that we do.
That is why we need to pass the Heroes Act, passed by the House, as soon as possible. It has been weeks now since the House took action, and it is critically important that we get that done. This bill gives premium pay to our frontline workers, so we are not just applauding them. That does not pay for their childcare while they are working or for food or for keeping a roof over their own heads. We need to provide hazard pay, premium pay, for the people who are working when we have the luxury of working at home. The House bill extends unemployment benefits that are critical, strengthens emergency paid leave, and offers food and rent and mortgage assistance to families who need it.
That is why it is so important to pay attention every time legislation comes to the floor and that we evaluate through the lens of how this affects everyone. How does this affect the poor? How does this affect communities of color? Are we doing everything we can to make sure we are not adding to the racial disparities or economic disparities that have lived with us for way too long?
Senate Democrats, looking at every piece of legislation, paid attention on the Paycheck Protection Act, and we were successful in amending it to ensure that minority-owned businesses and underserved communities would receive the same business help and the same access to capital as majority-White businesses.
It was a real fight to get that done. It was a struggle. It should not have been. When people say racial disparities are in the past, I say it is right here, right now. When we look at moving forward on legislation, we need to see who is helped, who is impacted, is it fair, and does everybody have a fair shot?
Today, once again, we see in Georgia why it is outrageous that Mitch McConnell has been blocking a vote on the Voting Rights Advancement Act that the House passed 187 days ago. It was 187 days ago that they passed a bill to restore the Voting Rights Act, with no action here in the Senate. This needs to be passed immediately. It is another piece of what is happening in terms of the racial inequality in this country.
Racial disparities are not in the past. Racism is not in the past. We are seeing it every day right in front of our eyes. Now is the time to keep our eyes open. Now is the time to lift America up to the best we can be. We need to pass the Justice in Policing Act, and we need to pass the Heroes Act to put people ahead of profits in this pandemic and close the gaps in investments in our communities that have created the racial disparities we see today in every part of our society and in every community, and we need to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act right now. That would be a great thing to get done this week.
There is not much happening on the Senate floor right now. It would be great if we could come together and all stand behind something as basic as making sure that everybody fully has the right to vote in this country.
One of George Floyd's high school friends, Jonathan Veal, remembered that on their last day of 11th grade, George turned to him and said: ``I want to touch the world.''
George Floyd has touched the world. He has touched the hearts of people around the world. His horrific murder has inspired a worldwide movement against systemic racism and police brutality. I know that is cold comfort for his family and his friends who are missing him so much.
It is time for us--all of us--to set high standards for law enforcement and the quality of life we want for all of our families. It is time to hold each other accountable to live up to our highest and best ideals as Americans. George's last breath cannot be the last word.
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