[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 166 (Thursday, September 24, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S5846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Breonna Taylor

  Madam President, yesterday, a grand jury in Kentucky declined to 
charge three officers in the shooting of Breonna Taylor. One was 
indicted on minor charges of wanton endangerment. The other two will 
face no charges at all.
  Today, I and millions and millions of Americans grieve for the family 
of Breonna Taylor, knowing that justice will not be served in the 
murder of their daughter. The fact that an African-American woman can 
have her life taken while she sleeps in her own bed and those 
responsible are not held accountable is a harrowing reminder that 
something is very, very broken in our system. It is another reminder 
that we are in desperate need of comprehensive policing reform.
  A few months ago, in the aftermath of George Floyd's death, Senate 
Democrats introduced the Justice in Policing Act. It would ban no-knock 
warrants in Federal drug cases. It was the no-knock warrants that 
hurt--that killed--Breonna Taylor. It would ban choke holds, and it 
would make it easier for Americans to hold police departments 
accountable when they violate their civil and constitutional rights. 
The House passed this important bill in June.
  Here in the Senate, Leader McConnell, typically, refused to take it 
up at all. But we will not stop fighting until we finally bring that 
lasting change that our Nation needs, change that protesters, civil 
rights organizations, and the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, 
and Breonna Taylor are still, tragically, waiting for.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.

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