[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 29, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMISSION ON THE SOCIAL STATUS OF BLACK MEN AND BOYS ACT (H.R. 1636)

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 2020

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I am a cosponsor of the Commission on the 
Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act (H.R. 1636), which passed the 
House on July 27, 2020. The social disparities that impact Black men 
and boys have long needed special attention. In light of these 
challenges and the demand for community-based solutions, I established 
the first D.C. Commission on Black Men and Boys in 2001 to educate 
Members of Congress and staff on issues and problems Black men and boys 
face and to support ideas and community initiatives that improve their 
quality of life.
  This commission stoked so much interest in Congress that in 2013, 
Congressman Danny Davis and I established the Congressional Caucus on 
Black Men and Boys, which seeks to bring the myriad issues facing 
African-American men and boys to the forefront of congressional and 
public attention.
  The Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act would 
create government responsibility for the first time. It would create a 
Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys within the United 
States Commission on Civil Rights that would have responsibility for 
addressing important issues, such as disparities in employment and 
incarceration rates for African-American men and boys.
  When Members are able to meet once COVID-19 subsides, our 
Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys has called for a Caucus 
hearing to hear directly from the African-American community on the 
state of justice in America for African-American men and boys following 
the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by white police 
officers and Ahmaud Arbery, an African-American jogger killed by two 
armed white men in Georgia. In both cases videos exposed attacks, 
marking a new social media era for seeking racial justice in real time. 
The bill I am supporting today would help further address these 
important issues.
  I stand in strong support of the Social Status of Black Men and Boys 
Act because it makes improving conditions for Black men and boys an 
official government responsibility.

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