Civil rights have taken on renewed salience since the murder of George Floyd and too many other Black Americans, but the duty and principle of achieving real racial justice in America has gone unfulfilled since the first Black individuals were shackled, kidnapped and delivered to American shores against their will more than four centuries ago.
I have worked for years to confront many related systemic challenges, including pushing for new national standards, resources and protections that would lift up communities of color, make policing safer for everyone, protect vulnerable people from harmful pollution, and put the safety and well-being of our communities first. This has included working to expand resources for community policing strategies, ending the sale of Pentagon surplus weapons of war to local police departments, requiring the use of body cameras and much more.
Taking Action to Advance Racial Justice in the United States of America
I was proud to join as a cosponsor of H.R. 7120 and H.R. 1280 both named the the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This legislation led by Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, as well as Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) that would, among other things, ban police chokeholds, restrict “qualified immunity” that prevents police officers from being sued for misconduct, create a national registry to track officers with a history of misconduct, end no-knock warrant use for drug cases and make lynching a federal hate crime.
One piece of legislation cannot cure 400 years of racial violence, injustice and economic oppression. Much of our collective work remains unfinished. However, Congress and the President should move without delay to pass and sign into law the Justice in Policing Act of 2020. The American people are demanding immediate action. Let us heed their call at once.
I also cosponsor a number of the component bills included in this legislation. For example, H.R. 125: The Police Training and Independent Review Act would provide federal funding as an incentive for states to:
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Require enrollees at law enforcement academies receive sensitivity training on ethics and racial bias, cultural diversity, and police interaction with the disabled, mentally ill, and new immigrants.
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Adopt state laws requiring independent investigations and prosecutions of law enforcement officers in cases where one or more of the alleged offenses involves an officer's use of deadly force in the course of carrying out his or her official duties.
Voting Rights
We are a few short years removed from the harmful Supreme Court decision that struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Since then, many states have pounced on the decision, passing legislation that put more barriers to those who already have fragile access to the ballot box. This is America. It shouldn’t be harder to vote, it should be easier to vote. In Congress, I am a cosponsor of legislation that updates the VRA and gives everyone equal opportunity to have their voice heard on Election Day.
I also cosponsored H.R. 1: For the People Act, transformative legislation that passed the House in 2019 that would make voting easier, safer and more representative. Among other things this bill would:
- Create automatic voter registration & online registration tools
- Expand early voting and makes absentee voting simple, secure and free
- Permit same-day registration including during early voting
- Provide states with resources to strengthen election security
- Replace partisan gerrymandering with independent redistricting commissions
Environmental, Racial & Social Justice
On July 9, 2020, I chaired a hearing on disproportionate environmental impacts related to COVID-19 in his Energy &Commerce Environment Subcommittee, including compelling testimony from national leaders for racial and environmental justice. We have a long road ahead but these conversations need to be happening and we need to start making progress without delay.
I have long advocated for improved health care for incarcerated individuals, a group that is tragically and disproportionately made up of people of color. This passion is the driving force behind the Medicaid Reentry Act, legislation that allows states to restart Medicaid coverage for incarcerated individuals 30 days prior to release, in order to create stronger continuity of care, particularly for mental health and addiction needs, as these individuals transition back into the community.
Systemic Reform & Justice for All
The issues of racial and social injustice are far deeper than just our policing or criminal justice systems generally. I continue to look for other ways to broaden our national awareness and take meaningful steps forward, including cosponsoring H.R. 1636, the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act, a bill from Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) that would create a commission to “study the societal forces that have disproportionately impacted black males in America.” The bill has approximately 100 co-sponsors, including one Republican.
I joined some of my colleagues in the New York Congressional Delegation on May 14th, 2020 in calling for a DOJ investigation into the handling of the Ahmaud Arbery case. Transparency and accountability go hand in hand.
I joined with many of my colleagues from all across the nation on June 4th, 2020 in calling for information on the “deployment of Department of Justice (DOJ) law enforcement officers, including personnel from the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), to act against protesters in Washington, D.C. without carrying identifying name plates, official insignia, or agency markings of any kind on their ‘uniforms.’”
In that same spirit, I have also been deeply troubled by recent escalations and abuses by those in political power in Washington, D.C. and beyond. In particular, I felt the need to call out the coordinated attack on peaceful racial justice demonstrators in Lafayette Park outside the White House, an attack orchestrated to stage a photo opportunity of the President awkwardly holding a bible in the air in front of a nearby church.
‘Everything he has done is to inflame violence.’ Those are not my words, they are the expression of the Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Washington in response to President Trump’s physical assault on these peaceful demonstrators.
This horrifying attack violated the most fundamental of freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, the right to free speech and peaceful assembly.
I encourage President Trump to open the bible he held up as a prop outside the church. In it, he would find a verse from Micah 6:8; “what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
May we as a nation work toward justice, denounce violence, love kindness and walk humbly, but hurriedly, on the path to creating a more perfect union.
