Death of Tyre Nichols

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BOWMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the CBC for putting together this Special Order hour.

I just want to start out by saying this is not just a CBC issue. We need the Tri-Caucus to be involved in this issue, and we need the Tri- Caucus to be speaking out on this issue.

We also need action and courage from the Senate in terms of stopping the unnecessary killing of Black people throughout our country.

Tyre Nichols should be alive. Trayvon Martin should be alive. Breonna Taylor should be alive. Atatiana Jefferson, Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald--they all should be alive. Michael Brown, Eric Gardner, on and on and on and on.

Police brutality in our country is a disease that needs to be cured. It is rooted in historical racism and systematic oppression in our country.

This has to stop. Federal legislation needs to be implemented to stop it.

One of the things we are asking for is simple accountability; that is all. We support law enforcement when they are doing the right thing, but when they commit a crime, they should be held accountable. They are not above the law.

What is really painful is taxpayer money pays the salary of law enforcement.

Taxpayer money pays the pensions of law enforcement.

Taxpayer money pays for the settlements when law enforcement is sued in court.

Taxpayer money pays for the lawyers.

Cities go into debt using bonds to pay settlement claims. There is a billion-dollar industry of police brutality that comes out of the pockets of taxpayers.

If we are going to reach the ideals of our democracy and our Constitution, we need to stop the unnecessary killing of Black people in our country.

I will close with this: It is not just policing; it is the overall system of mass incarceration. We incarcerate more, and there are disproportionately more Black and Brown people in our country.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source