Schumer Floor Remarks On The Killing Of George Floyd, The Need For Bold Action On Systemic Racism And Demanding Leader McConnell Put A Law Enforcement Reform Bill On The Senate Floor Before The Fourth of July

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the killing of George Floyd, the need for bold action on systemic racism and demanded Leader McConnell to put a law enforcement reform bill on the Senate floor before the Fourth of July. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

One week ago today, a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota knelt on the neck of an African American man named George Floyd, pinning him to the ground for over eight minutes as he plead for his life. The officer callously refused to heed those calls, standing up only after Mr. Floyd was unresponsive. Mr. Floyd was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Eight minutes—eight minutes—he was pinned there.

Today, eight days later, our nation is reeling. Reeling over the injustice and senselessness of George Floyd’s death. Reeling over the memory of Ahmaud Arbery, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, and Eric Garner and the unimaginable number of innocent lives that were taken in similar circumstances. Reeling from centuries of racial injustice, a legacy as old as the nation itself, and one that haunts us to this day.

It took two and half centuries and civil war to finally end slavery in America. One hundred years more until the descendants of those newly freed men and women could finally enjoy the full rights of citizenship. Even today, slavery is still with us, its terrible legacy and evil effects felt in real and discernible ways, every single day.

When the French historian de Tocqueville visited America in the 1830s, he was amazingly prescient. He predicted that the United States would become a great nation, the greatest in the world, even though we were a fledgling country compared to the great powers of Europe. But he also said that the one thing that could doom our nation was racism and racial prejudice. His words ring true today.

The racial disparities in our criminal justice system have been on full display, but these disparities permeate not just the criminal justice system but all of society. There are glaring racial disparities in health care and housing, racial disparities in income and in wealth, in the boardroom and at the ballot box, on our streets and in our schools. These disparities have been with us for a very long time, but COVID-19 has placed a magnifying glass on them. Perhaps most evident and immediate, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to infect and kill African Americans at a disproportionate rate. We are confronted by the all-too-often fatal consequences of those disparities on a daily basis.

So George Floyd’s killing touched off justified protests and demonstrations across the country, driven by Americans of every age, color and creed who are distressed and upset, frightened and angry by the America they see, and feel compelled to change it. The overwhelmingly peaceful protests do honor to the generations of Americans who have stood up and sat in – and shouted at the tops of their lungs – in the urgent mission to make American a more perfect union. The small minority who exploit the moment for violence and mayhem are wrong and do not advance the cause of justice. But I would note that while over 4,000 protesters have been arrested in the past week, only 1 of the 4 police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd has been arrested. While that statistic does not excuse the violence we have seen, it certainly helps to explain the frustration and anger right now.

There is accountability when everyday citizens and protestors violate the law but that same accountability is too often lacking when law enforcement violates the law. And we have to fix that.

We must work to bring accountability to police departments so that bad actors are not shielded from culpability and the many officers who do the job the right way are incentivized and rewarded.

We must reform our laws and our police practices so that events like George Floyd’s killing are far less likely in the first place. There are many examples of departments that have made strides at improving community relations, transparency, and accountability while reducing unwarranted violence and racial bias. We need to build on those best practices and get all our police agencies to adopt them.

We must invest in the services and programs necessary to deal with issues unrelated to law enforcement, such as housing and mental health, rather than asking police officers to be responsible for addressing all of our society’s challenges.

And there are many ways to address the broader disparities in our society—the systemic racism and injustice that follows America around like a shackle—in our laws, our customs, and in too many of our hearts.

We have to make progress on these issues. Right now. Not later. Not next year. Not after the next George Floyd. But right now.

Senate Democrats will be confronting and addressing all of these issues this week and many of my colleagues will prepare legislative plans of action. We will listen to experts on these issues and our constituents who face these challenges on a daily basis. Be sure of this: we will propose and push for bold action.

Leader McConnell, however, will decide whether or not the Senate will take any of that action. At the moment, he has reserved the floor of the Senate for the confirmation of several right-wing judges, many of whom will become part of the very problem we’re now discussing: a justice system that doesn’t work for everyone. A biased system.

These are judges who are pre-selected specifically because of their antipathy to voting rights and civil rights and criminal justice balance and fairness. Time and time again the Republican majority has confirmed judicial nominees who pledge loyalty to an ideological doctrine that would exacerbate the very inequalities that have been laid bare in recent weeks and months. Leader McConnell is doing that this week once again.

At this delicate time, the Senate should lead on these issues rather than aggravate the problem. Leader McConnell should commit to put a law enforcement reform bill on the floor of the Senate before July 4th.

There shouldn’t be hearings on President Trump’s wild conspiracies about the 2016 election or a month of right-wing, anti-civil rights judicial nominees. As the COVID pandemic continues to rage and Americans are taking to the streets to express their anger at police violence and racial injustice, the Republican majority in the Senate must focus on the national crises at our doorstep.

Today, just today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is expected to release an estimate of the damage to our economy caused by the pandemic. If current trends continue, the CBO predicts a jaw-dropping $16 trillion reduction in economic growth over the next decade. $16 trillion. 40 million Americans are currently unemployed. Where is the urgency from Senate Republicans to address the economic catastrophe in our country? A catastrophe that, like police violence, will disproportionately affect African Americans and other Americans of colors and working class Americans. We should address both these issues, COVID and police violence, this month—not spend time on fringe conspiracy theories, not spend time on putting right-wing judges who have shown no sympathy to civil rights and racial justice and harmony on the floor of the Senate.

This is a moment that cries out for leadership, for compassion, for sympathy, for understanding, and for action. For our leaders to bring us together instead of letting events tear us apart.

But the leader of our country, the President of the United States, struggles—struggles—to summon even an ounce of humanity in this time of turmoil. The president has reacted to the pain and anger in the country by playing politics and encouraging police to be tougher on protestors, by bragging about his re-election prospects and his personal safety inside the White House. A presidential tweet invoked a Miami police chief, who, in 1967, encouraged shooting black people during riots. The president seems unable even to address the issues that the protests are about, unwilling, unwilling even to speak to the nation about racial justice.

Unfortunately, none of this is remotely new with President Trump. A few years ago, President Trump told law enforcement officers not to worry about injuring suspects when arresting them. His administration stopped investigating state and local police departments for racial discrimination and repealed restrictions on police departments obtaining military-style weapons. The president’s policies have worsened racial divisions in our country. His rhetoric has consistently inflamed them. Either the president is too afraid to lead or is simply incapable.

But all of us, right now, have to engage in the difficult work of pulling this country together and then forward.

We are a nation exhausted and dispirited. In the midst of a once-in-a-generation challenge, we have been reminded of a generations-long struggle for racial justice and equality. The only way, the only way for us to move forward is to do it together. For the large majority of police officers who do a very difficult job the right way to be a part of the reform effort. For our national leaders in the Senate and the House to take up thorny issues of prejudice and discrimination and begin changing the laws and institutions that perpetuate them. And yes, for the president to finally start acting like the leader he’s supposed to be and the Constitution calls for.

We are all engaged in this project. To not only recover from a public health crisis and an economic disaster, but to build a society where none of our citizens fear the men and women who are supposed to protect them, a society where Americans of color can live and breathe and watch birds in a park and walk home with a bag of Skittles without fearing for their lives.

As millions of Americans take to the streets in peaceful and righteous protest, I am hopeful that this moment—one of pain, and sorrow, and grief—can also be a watershed moment, for action.

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