[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 1, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





       INVESTING IN A NEW VISION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SURFACE 
                     TRANSPORTATION IN AMERICA ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. AL GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 30, 2020

  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for 
H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act. H.R. 2 has significant goals which I 
proudly support. During this time of unrest as a result of different 
tragic encounters with police officers, I am especially proud of the 
inclusion of language that embraces my bill, H.R. 169--the Driver and 
Officer Safety Education Act.
  The language included in H.R. 2 would establish a grant program for 
states with specific standards for education and training programs 
concerning civilian and law enforcement encounters during traffic stops 
and other in-person encounters. Originally intended to memorialize the 
fatal shooting of Philando Castile during a 2016 traffic stop in 
Minnesota, this language is both timely and extremely necessary given 
the recent tragic deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks who both 
died as a result of encounters with local law enforcement.
  Their lives mattered. The inclusion of my bill H.R. 169 in H.R. 2 
advances us toward a better understanding of how police and civilians 
should interact during traffic stops and other in-person encounters to 
save lives. However, to take the much-needed step toward effective 
reformation, we must also aim for reconciliation. My resolution, H. 
Res. 992, calls for a Department of Reconciliation that would report 
directly to the President and be charged with eliminating systemic 
racism and invidious discrimination from all aspects of American life.
  I thank my colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee for including H.R. 169, and I look forward to H.R. 2 passing 
the Senate and hopefully being enacted as law. We cannot allow the 
multifaceted issues disproportionately affecting low-income communities 
and communities of color to go unaddressed.

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