[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13347]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               LET'S SEE TO IT THAT JUSTICE IS COLORBLIND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, this is a historic week in the United States 
as we dedicate and open the National Museum of African American History 
and Culture.
  It starts with a story of African Americans being brought to this 
country as slaves from Africa, not citizens but property, and 
considered such until they were freed, some through the Emancipation 
Proclamation in 1863, and others through an amendment to the 
Constitution. Even after that, they weren't really considered full 
citizens, as there was Jim Crow segregation, and that continued for 
over 100 years.
  Today, we see African Americans are still threatened. I woke up 
Tuesday morning to the shocking video of Mr. Crutcher being shot while 
his hands were up and on a car, following apparent instructions from 
police, and was shot to death. It is one of the most shocking videos I 
have seen. There is no way to defend what happened. At best, it was 
gross negligence; at worst, it was murder.
  This has been happening too often in the United States. I support 
police. My first job out of law school was an attorney for the police 
department. I worked 3\1/2\ years for the police. I understand their 
importance, and I support them. But police who are not well trained are 
doing a disservice to their profession and to the United States.
  This morning on ``Morning Joe,'' former Congressman Joe Scarborough, 
a Republican Member of this House, said two things are necessary in 
light of the shootings, and particularly the Crutcher shooting in 
Tulsa, Oklahoma. One is body cameras and cameras on all police vehicles 
so we can see, as we did in Oklahoma, exactly what occurred. And, 
secondly, independent prosecutors, prosecutors from outside the 
jurisdiction to see to it that justice is served.
  There is a bill in this Congress that Lacy Clay, myself, every member 
of the Congressional Black Caucus, and nearly 90 Members of this House 
are cosponsors of. That is a bill that will require police training 
towards racial sensitivity and understanding of different cultures, 
independent prosecutors for States to determine how they would set it 
up, and a requirement for States to have independent prosecutors in law 
enforcement killings of American citizens. This is necessary for people 
to believe and to know that justice is, indeed, blind and justice is 
being meted out.
  There is no way to look at Tulsa, but to see there was either 
inadequate training or there was racial profiling and insensitivity 
that ended in the death of Mr. Crutcher.
  It is so sad as we open the National Museum of African American 
History and Culture to see that African Americans still are not being 
treated the same as others in our Nation.
  It is not a mere coincidence that every shooting by a police person 
videoed has an African American victim. Nobody can say that Mr. 
Crutcher was resisting arrest or possibly had a gun or brandished a 
pistol. None of those things occurred. He was following instructions.
  I ask my Republican colleagues, none of whom are sponsors of my bill, 
to consider coming on to the bill. The bill is important for justice in 
America. It is important for people to know there is justice. And in 
this week, as we look to the National Museum of African American 
History and Culture opening and the recognition of rights that people 
have, and the understanding that they are human beings and part of 
America, who built America, literally built America as slaves and built 
this building, we need to go forward and see to it that justice is 
colorblind and justice is meted out.

                          ____________________