Duckworth Speaks on Senate Floor in Support of Democratic Proposal for Bold, Comprehensive Police Reform

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today spoke on the Senate floor in support of the Democratic Justice in Policing Act, of which she is a co-sponsor, and to highlight the areas where the Republican proposal, the JUSTICE Act, falls far short of providing the accountability and transparency necessary to bring about systemic change to law enforcement. Today’s floor speech comes after weeks of protests across the country following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others by police and ahead of tomorrow’s expected vote to proceed on the JUSTICE Act, which Floyd’s family and many others have called for the Senate to oppose. Video of the Senator’s speech is available here.

Earlier this month, Duckworth spoke on the floor to urge unanimous consent to pass her Police Training and Independent Review Act, provisions of which were included in the Democratic proposal.

Key quotes:

• “For nearly a month now, Americans have been laying down, standing up, kneeling, marching and mourning in the streets. They’ve been tugging at and prodding our country, trying to drag it forward until it lives up to the words of its Pledge of Allegiance: that in this Republic, there is liberty and justice for all. So far, this nation has failed to make that promise a reality for Black Americans.”
  
  
• “In spite of its name, the JUSTICE Act wouldn’t begin to bring any semblance of real justice to the victims from Minneapolis to Atlanta to Louisville and beyond. It should be obvious by now that the epidemic of police brutality won’t be fixed by some Band-Aid bill. We need to reckon with the real, deep, uncomfortable realities and systemic biases that have marred our country for centuries.”
  
  
• “Next week, our country will celebrate its Independence Day. But what does freedom for any one of us mean if so many of our neighbors still aren’t free to walk down the street or sleep in their own homes without fearing for their lives? Until every Black American can breathe without a knee on their neck, no American should feel as if we’re truly able to take a breath.”

Duckworth’s full remarks as prepared are below:

If you walk outside this building and take a few steps toward the White House, and you can almost hear the cries for justice still ringing out through the air… you can almost still smell the tear gas lingering over our nation’s capital.

Listen closely and you might still be able to catch the echoes of the peaceful protestors chanting the name of Breonna Taylor, who was killed in her own home after police executed a no-knock warrant.

Or the name of George Floyd, who was forced to beg for his life until he couldn’t beg any longer… held down under the knee of a police officer who swore an oath to protect and serve.

Or Rayshard Brooks, who was shot in the back just 11 days ago, even as this moment of national reckoning over police brutality was already underway.

For nearly a month now, Americans have been laying down… standing up… kneeling… marching… and mourning in the streets.

They’ve been tugging at and prodding our country, trying to drag it forward until it lives up to the words of its Pledge of Allegiance: that in this Republic, there is liberty and justice for all.

So far, this nation has failed to make that promise a reality for Black Americans.

It’s failed the families of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks.

It’s failed every Black child who knows that playing on the jungle gym could be a death sentence.

It’s failed every Black parent who kisses the top of their child’s head before school each morning as their heart breaks with the knowledge that this time could be the last.

I know that I will never be able to fully comprehend the fear and trauma that Black Americans experience every day.

But what I do know is that the burden of all this pain can’t fall on them alone.

The responsibility… the work… of bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice can’t just be put on the backs of those who’ve been feeling its weight this whole time.

Rather, it’s on all of us—Black, white, Asian, Latinx, you name it—to help those families and communities finally receive the justice they deserve.

But I come to the floor today because my Republican colleagues are trying to force through a bill that barely even pays lip service to the crisis at hand. In some ways, it doesn’t even accomplish that.

In spite of its name, the JUSTICE Act wouldn’t begin to bring any semblance of real justice to the victims from Minneapolis to Atlanta to Louisville and beyond.

It should be obvious by now that the epidemic of police brutality won’t be fixed by some Band-Aid bill.

We need to reckon with the real, deep, uncomfortable realities and systemic biases that have marred our country for centuries.

We need to bring systemic change to our law enforcement agencies.

We need to force a seismic shift in how we root out and respond to police brutality… including banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases at the federal level.

My friend Senator Booker has introduced legislation that would do just that. The Republican bill would not.

We need to hold accountable officers who break the laws they were trusted to enforce… ensuring that independent prosecutors review police uses of force and prosecute officers who act irresponsibly... recognizing that local prosecutors often have a conflict of interest because they rely on the same police departments to win other cases.

I’ve written legislation that would do just that, which has been included in the Democratic bill. But the Republican bill would not do anything close.

We need to amend Federal law on qualified immunity so officers can’t just violate Americans’ constitutional rights with near impunity. And we need to mandate anti-bias federal law enforcement training.

Democrats have put forward policy that would do all of that. The Republican bill refuses any such attempt at accountability—and wouldn’t even ban racial profiling.

It comes down to this: Real justice… real accountability… requires these reforms. Yet the JUSTICE Act itself is silent on many of them. It’s a so-called “reform” bill aimed more at reforming public opinion than actually reforming the policies that got us here.

The families grieving today deserve better, as George Floyd’s family made clear when they themselves spoke out against the bill. 

They know that those who’ve had a loved one stolen from them deserve more than lip-service.

They deserve for their Senators… for the officials who were elected to represent them in what’s supposed to be the “greatest deliberative body in the world”… to try to pass legislation that would actually address the issues in question and the crisis at hand.

Look, next week, our country will celebrate its Independence Day.

But what does freedom for any one of us mean if so many of our neighbors still aren’t free to walk down the street or sleep in their own homes without fearing for their lives?

Until every Black American can breathe without a knee on their neck, no American should feel as if we’re truly able to take a breath.

The Republican bill that we’re expected to vote on tomorrow isn’t just a disappointment. It leaves Black Americans in unnecessary danger. And settling for lip-service when lives are at stake isn’t just inadequate. It’s cruel, too.

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