Congressional Black Caucus

Floor Speech

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Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank Congressmen
Jeffries and Horsford for hosting this important Special Order. I
appreciate your leadership in organizing these important discussions.

We stand here tonight, once again, to talk about the ongoing and
systematic failure of our justice system. I am deeply disappointed at
last week's decision by the grand jury in Ferguson to not indict
Officer Darren Wilson. I share the feelings of frustration, anger and
disappointment by the recent decision.

And the protests that have spread across the country are a testament
to that frustration and anger.

How many more deaths like Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Oscar Grant--
one of my constituents--Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice will be tolerated
until America decides that black lives matter? How many more jail beds
will be filled by black and brown men and boys until we realize America
has a deep and long rooted systematic problem that must to be
addressed? The killing of Michael Brown has, once again, confronted us
with the systematic issues of racism and injustice that are endemic in
our society.

In a recently published op-ed in The Washington Post, Stacy Patton
writes: ``Black America has again been reminded that its children are
not worthy of being alive--in part because they are not seen as
children at all, but as menacing threats to white lives.''

Mr. Speaker, enough is enough.

Disparity and inequality continue at every level of our society--a
legacy born in the suffering of the Middle Passage, nurtured through
slavery and preserved with Jim Crow. Today, we see this in the form of
things like repressive voter ID laws, economic inequality, and mass
incarceration.

The African American poverty rate of 27.2 percent is more than two
and half times the poverty rate of white Americans. The 10.9 percent
unemployment rate among African American is nearly twice the national
average.

These statistics paint a clear picture of inequality in America yet
we continue to ignore these disparities. This cannot continue.
To quote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ``Law and order exist for the
purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they
become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social
progress.''

Mr. Speaker--the only way we can remove the dam is by addressing the
deep and long-rooted structures that continue to disproportionately
affect people of color.

And Congress is the body in which to do it. We were sent to
Washington by our constituents to address the issues facing our
nation--let's start working on the structural and racial biases that
pervade our institutions.

I applaud the President for calling for a $263 million spending
package to reform police departments. But much more work remains to
done.

We have a duty to pick up the banner carried by Rosa Parks, Martin
Luther King, and Medger Evers, to ensure that our children and our
children's children can live in a world free of ignorance,
discrimination and racism.

That is why we must pass legislation that will require the Department
of Justice to support training programs for police departments to
reduce racial bias and profiling. We need legislation and funding
programs that focuses on diversity hiring and retention of officers in
communities that need them the most. We need to pass legislation like
H.R. 5478, the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act, of which I am a
proud cosponsor.

As a nation, we have made progress against racism but we are
backsliding.

We are losing the prize that our forefathers and mothers fought, bled
and died to obtain and preserve. We must stand together--stronger than
ever--to raise our voices, march in the streets, and cast our ballots
demanding change. The soul of our nation is at stake.

The American dream of equality, freedom, liberty, justice and life
for all can and should be more than just words. It should be a promise
to all Americans, regardless of the color of their skin or where they
were born.

It should mean that for every mother or father, regardless of their
race or socio-economic status, that they can look across the dinner
table from their son or daughter and know that they can and will have a
better life than their parents. That they will be protected and judged
equally under the law. That their son or daughter will be at the table
again tomorrow night.

A world where justice for all is fulfilled.

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