[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 103 (Wednesday, June 3, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2667-S2668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Protests

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we know that America is hurting. It is 
reeling from a deadly pandemic that has taken more than 100,000 lives 
and then from witnessing the broad daylight murder--murder--of yet 
another Black man by an officer of the law. It seethes with rage and 
sorrow about the racial injustices that still plague our society. 
America is suffering from unprecedented political divisions that are 
routinely worsened and deepened by a President whose every utterance 
only tears us further apart. In my decades in the U.S. Senate, I have 
never seen our country so in need of healing.
  I was a prosecutor. So, when I first saw the video of George Floyd's 
murder--a human being who was pinned down by the neck, cried ``I can't 
breathe,'' and desperately called out for his mother--I was shocked to 
my core. For millions of Americans and for me, that shock swiftly 
turned into anger.
  How could a police officer, who has sworn an oath to protect and 
serve, so casually take a human being's life? Why did his fellow 
officers who witnessed the murder that we all witnessed on video stand 
there and do nothing to stop it? How could this happen in plain sight 
when multiple onlookers begged the officer to relent--stop his 
murderous conduct--as George fell unconscious?
  I was left sickened and shaken.
  I do not know and did not know George Floyd, but imagine if he were 
your neighbor or your friend. Imagine if George Floyd were your 
brother, your son, your husband, or your grandchild. Imagine if George 
Floyd simply looked like your loved one and shared the same skin color. 
Imagine the concern you would have for such a person who lived in 
constant fear of those who are responsible to protect us all. So it is 
no surprise that protests swept our Nation in the wake of this murder. 
Communities of color and all those who sympathize with them are fed 
up. They are sick and tired of the fact that African Americans are 
nearly 2\1/2\ times as likely as White Americans to be killed by police 
officers. No one of good conscience can sit idly by while African-
American lives are treated with less worth. Our country long ago 
promised equal rights and equal justice.

  Now protesters are aching for real accountability for officers of the 
law who engage in lawless violence. It is not simply justice for George 
Floyd; it is justice for Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice. The 
list goes on and on, which is why the protests go on and on. Too often, 
people feel the police officers who take Black lives are treated like 
they are above the law. They feel the justice system has been fueled by 
a culture of impunity that shields the same officers who abuse the 
public's trust. Too often the accountability comes after 
incontrovertible evidence, such as a damning video, happens to surface 
and the public demands justice.
  I can say, as one who served proudly in law enforcement and has 
served proudly in the Senate, ultimately accountability will require 
dismantling this culture of impunity, as well as ensuring that law 
enforcement agencies have training and policies in place to serve to 
rebuild trust in communities of color.
  The protesters demand more from our justice system. They demand more 
from a nation that promises that nobody is above the law. Well, I stand 
with them, and Congress has to, too. None of us condone, and indeed I 
have strongly condemned, the looting and violence that has sadly taken 
place alongside the peaceful protests and the extremists and 
opportunists who have co-opted the peaceful process. They are not 
serving justice. They are not going to bring the change our country so 
badly needs.
  My hero, a dear friend who has called me his brother, Representative 
John Lewis, said just a few days ago:

       [L]ooting and burning is not the way.
       Organize. Demonstrate. Sit-in. Stand-up. Vote. Be 
     constructive, not destructive.

  I hope everybody will listen to what Representative Lewis said. I 
hope our fellow Americans will heed his wise words. I refuse to partake 
in efforts seeking to delegitimize all protesters and create even more 
distrust and division. Demonstrators demanding accountability are not 
thugs, as President Trump has called them. No one should threaten 
state-sanctioned violence against protesters, as this President and 
some of his allies have. I strongly oppose any efforts to invoke the 
Insurrection Act to unleash our military against these domestic 
demonstrations, as President Trump has absurdly threatened.
  Our military is one of our Nation's most sacred institutions. It 
serves to safeguard our constitutional rights against enemies abroad. 
They should never be ordered to American streets as the battlefield, 
which would only incite further chaos and deprive Americans of their 
right to peacefully assemble. That is not the America we know and love. 
It is not the America I know and love.
  Unfortunately, President Trump has proven that he is incapable or 
perhaps he is uninterested in healing and uniting our Nation. At every 
turn his instinct is to divide and escalate. During every crisis he 
manages to manufacture another of his own making. When Americans are in 
desperate need of a consoler in chief, a role that I have seen every 
past President play during my years in the Senate--every one of

[[Page S2668]]

those Presidents, Republican and Democrat alike--President Trump, 
instead of being consoler in chief, shows that he knows only how to be 
instigator in chief. He has revealed himself really to be a President 
of his country in name only. I never imagined I would say that of any 
American President of either party, certainly not of all the 
predecessors I have had the honor to know.
  So we must instead look to ourselves and each other. How do we heal 
our country? At the local, State, and national levels, we must carry on 
the cause of criminal justice and police reform. We must push for 
systematic law enforcement reform. We must elect leaders who will 
prioritize racial justice and work tirelessly to achieve some measure 
of that. We must work to build bridges in communities so that we better 
empathize with the struggles faced by those who have been marginalized 
for decades on end.
  On Monday, Terrence Floyd, George's brother, stood on the spot where 
his brother died. He made an emotional appeal to the hundreds of people 
watching and to the Nation. He pled for the protests to remain 
peaceful. He pled for those who believe they are marginalized and 
disenfranchised not to give up hope, that their voice matters, and he 
pled for justice.
  His brother died because he needed a breath. His family now asks to 
take a breath for justice, a breath for peace, a breath for our 
country, and a breath for George. We should honor his memory by heeding 
their anguished advice.
  There is so much to do. Congress must get to work. During my years in 
the Senate, I have seen America in crisis. But every time, without 
exception, I have seen America emerge a more just and stronger nation. 
The crises America faces today feel overwhelming, historic--some would 
say existential. But if we stay true to the values that define our 
Republic--equality, justice, the rule of law--I am hopeful we will make 
it through as a slightly more perfect union.
  I weep for our country; I pray for our country; and I look for better 
days.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon