[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 101 (Monday, June 1, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2626-S2627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                PROTESTS

  Mr. HAWLEY. Madam President, it was 1 week ago today that George 
Floyd died in the streets of Minneapolis at the hands of Minneapolis 
police officers exercising and employing incredible, illegal, 
unconstitutional violence ending in the loss of Mr. Floyd's life.
  This afternoon, we have a medical report from examiners hired by Mr. 
Floyd's family. The words are just shocking. The report concludes:

       George Floyd was killed by asphyxia due to neck and back 
     compression and died at the scene.
       Sustained pressure on the right side of Mr. Floyd's artery 
     impeded blood flow to the brain, and weight on his back 
     impeded his ability to breathe.

  Then the report concludes:

       The independent examiners found that weight on the back, 
     handcuffs and positioning were contributory factors because 
     they impaired Mr. Floyd's diaphragm to function. From all the 
     evidence, the doctors said it now appears Mr. Floyd died at 
     the scene.

  Words cannot begin to describe the injustice that this report puts 
into plain text: the violation of police procedures, the abuse of the 
law, the appalling, illegal, homicidal misuse of government authority. 
Words cannot begin to describe the injustice that this has done to Mr. 
Floyd, to his family, to his community, and to millions of Americans 
who feel caught up, who feel judged by, endangered by, imperiled by 
these actions and too many others like them over too many years for too 
long in this country.
  I just want to say as the former attorney general of my State--a role 
in which I had the great privilege to work day in and day out with law 
enforcement across the State of Missouri, law enforcement who go to 
work every day to prevent this kind of illegal violence, to prevent 
this kind of illicit use of power--that the actions by the police 
officer and officers here in this case cast an incredible aspersion on 
those valiant and courageous and law-abiding police officers, Black and 
White and of every color across our country, who go to do their job 
every day to protect and uphold and defend the Constitution of the 
United States and to protect men and women like George Floyd. The 
actions of these officers in this case are an incredible betrayal of 
those standards of those officers and of justice itself.
  I understand why so many Americans have assembled peacefully to 
witness to this abuse of power and to protest it and to demand that 
justice be done. They are right to do so, and they are right to demand 
that this pattern of violence exercised against African-Americans be 
acknowledged and it be confronted and it be stopped.
  This is urgent work for us as a nation and for this Congress as we go 
forward.
  I also believe that those who would turn this occasion into an 
opportunity for rioting and for looting and for more violence and for 
further attacks and for civil unrest do a great disservice to the 
memory of Mr. Floyd, to his family, and to this cause of justice that 
we Americans share together, for this is a cause that is ours together 
as a nation. This is a cause given to us by our common Constitution. 
This is a cause that should link us together, American with American, 
and we must resist the efforts of those--all of those--who would set us 
against ourselves as we seek to pursue that more perfect union, as we 
seek to pursue justice in this case and in other cases and in the 
future to come.
  So I add my voice to those who call for an end now to the rioting and 
to the looting, to those who would defame and dishonor and disfigure 
the memory of Mr. Floyd and his cause. I hope all lawful steps will be 
taken to protect innocent and law-abiding citizens in our cities and in 
our communities so that the peaceful assembly and its righteous cause 
can go forward.
  I just want to say one more thing on this subject. We cannot ignore 
that these peaceful protests are taking place amid a backdrop of the 
20-percent unemployment in this Nation--perhaps higher in the urban 
centers of our Nation. I think of a line by a former Senator, who once 
said that ``to be unemployed is to have nothing to do, and that means 
having nothing to do with the rest of us.''
  I hope that as we as a nation and we as a body in the U.S. Senate 
turn our attention to what we can do to seek that more perfect union, 
what we can do to better secure the promise of our Constitution, what 
we can better do to secure that dream we hold together as Americans, I 
hope one thing we will discuss is the vitality, the necessity of work--
work that is meaningful and that is rewarding and that is available for 
all Americans, from our urban core to our small towns.
  I hope we will have a discussion about the policies that for too long 
in this country, for too many decades, have sent too much work out of 
our country, away from our cities--away from our small towns, for that 
matter. I hope we can discuss what we will do to bring work back so 
that those who grow up in our cities--young men who grow up in our 
cities--will have a sense of a future, will have a sense of 
possibility, will think that ``there is something for me here. I could 
build a family here. I could start something here. And yes, I could 
have a say and a share in our society here.'' For that, they have to 
have work. They have to have meaningful work.
  This is a task to which we must set ourselves. It is urgent now in 
this present pandemic crisis that has seen these unemployment numbers 
rocket to historic, unimaginable levels. It is vital we address the 
crisis of work, but it is also vital for our future. It is vital for 
our urban core. It is vital for the young men and women who struggle 
there. It is vital for our rural towns and our small areas like the one 
I am from. It is vital for every part of this country, for every member 
of this Nation, and it is work I hope we will take up urgently together 
to provide good-

[[Page S2627]]

paying, meaningful jobs that can support the social fabric that is the 
foundation of our democracy.
  There is much to do in the months and the years ahead. I just hope 
that the loss of Mr. Floyd will serve as a fresh beginning, an 
opportunity for a new start, for Americans from every corner of this 
country, from every political background, from every race and 
ethnicity, to stand together and to say: We commit ourselves anew to 
this Constitution that we love, to this Nation that we call home, and 
we are determined now more than ever to seek and to build a more 
perfect union.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.

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