[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 100 (Thursday, May 28, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H2354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            WE CAN'T BREATHE

  (Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, ``I Can't Breathe'' is a poem 
I delivered on this floor 6 years ago when Eric Garner got choked out 
by the police.
  Today, I am here for George Floyd, another Black man who died 
facedown on the hot pavement, suffocated to death by a police officer 
as he begged for his life for 8 minutes.
  Black folks in America in 2020 are caught between being suffocated to 
death by the COVID-19 coronavirus or being choked to death by rogue, 
uncaring, and unconcerned police officers.
  Black folks in America are caught up in three pandemics, when you add 
the reality that our businesses are getting choked out of PPP. Black 
people bear an unparalleled burden in this country.
  When just 12 percent of Black and Latino business owners who applied 
for PPP report receiving what they asked for, something is wrong.
  When we make up 13 percent of the population but 60 percent of COVID 
deaths, something wrong.
  When we have armed vigilantes and rogue police officers killing us on 
the streets, something is terribly wrong.
  The American Dream should not be a nightmare for any of her people. 
It is time to bring an end to open season on Black people in America. 
We can't breathe.

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