Executive Session
Floor Speech
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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, would the Senator yield for a question?
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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I wonder if the Senator would tell me, the JUSTICE Act that it sounds like the Democratic conference intends to block tomorrow includes the anti-lynching legislation that you and Senator Booker have championed; are you aware of that?
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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, so the Senators are going to block their own anti-lynching bill by their vote tomorrow.
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Mr. CORNYN. Would the Senator yield for another question?
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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, the Senator certainly is familiar with the rules of the Senate, which allow Senators to offer amendments to improve legislation once we get on it, but if the Democratic conference is going to prevent the Senate from actually getting on the bill, there is no opportunity for any Senator, you or any one of us, to offer amendments to improve it.
I would further ask the Senator, aren't you aware of the fact that there are 60-vote thresholds on the back end so that if we get on the bill and you don't like the way it turns out, you can block it on the back end; is the Senator aware of those options you have?
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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, may I ask one last question?
Will the Senator yield?
What I am trying to fathom is why the Senator would rather have these negotiations occur behind closed doors as opposed to here on the floor of the Senate with the American people to see broadcast on television? Don't you think that sort of interaction and debate and negotiation out in front of all 330 million Americans would be beneficial to healing our country and coming to some consensus about what the appropriate reforms should be?
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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, over the last several weeks, Americans have marched, protested, and demanded justice not just for George Floyd but for Breonna Taylor and a long list of individuals who, unfortunately, had been killed while in police custody. While the energy behind this movement is not new, the problems that created it are also not new. We know that the racial injustices that have existed for generations and that originated during our country's founding have created a whole range of problems that have continued to persist in our society--in everything from education, to healthcare, to housing.
While I hope and expect we will have ongoing discussions about the most effective way to root out these inequalities and provide equal justice, which is our Nation's mantra and aspiration, one of the most important places to begin delivering these reforms is in our police departments.
Across America, we have about 18,000 Federal, State, county, and local law enforcement agencies. Some of these agencies have one officer, and some have as many as 30,000. It is safe to say that a one- size-fits-all approach would not work for all of them. The policies and practices that make sense for the Houston Police Department, for example, are going to look a lot different than those of a small town out in West Texas.
Yet there are basic practices and principles--best practices--that should be standard across the board, and they are something that Congress can help with. There are steps we can take to make our police forces more transparent, more accountable, and better trained so as to, hopefully, avoid encounters like we saw with George Floyd and the Minneapolis Police Department. While there are differences of opinion on the best way to deliver those changes, the good news--and there actually is good news--is that both Republicans and Democrats share this overarching goal. That is a strong start.
A couple of weeks ago, our Democratic colleagues introduced their version of a police reform bill, and, last week, the Republicans introduced ours. While our colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem interested in focusing on the differences, the truth is there is a whole lot in common, a whole lot of overlap.
First are the changes in policing practices. As I mentioned, a one- size-fits-all approach isn't the right method, but in some areas, there is a clear need for uniformity. One great example is training. Many police departments already require deescalation training and give them an array of tactics to cool down a potentially dangerous encounter. Both Republicans and Democrats agree this should be the standard, and it is included in both bills. On the flip side, there are certain practices that should never be used, like choke holds. That is already the case in most major police departments--they ban choke holds. This bill ends that across the board.
Reforming police practices is only part of the equation. In order to restore the broken trust between law enforcement and our communities, we need accountability, and these two bills take similar steps there too. They include a focus on diversity hiring so that police forces look a lot more like the communities they serve. They improve hiring practices so that departments can move to effectively weed out weak or bad candidates and ensure that we have the best possible talent among our men and women in blue.
Both of these bills take steps to better educate officers on racial bias and the systemic challenges that face communities of color. They take steps to promote transparency and to give the public greater access to information about America's law enforcement activities.
Both bills require public reporting on use of force and require better information on how law enforcement agencies are being run. They both prioritize relationship building between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
While there are some differences in the methods of achieving these shared goals, that doesn't change the fact that we largely agree on the problems that exist, and that alone is not insignificant.
Two weeks ago, Senator Schumer, the Democratic leader, called on Leader McConnell to bring a police reform bill to the floor before July 4, and, tomorrow, we will do exactly what Senator Schumer requested. Now I hear that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle aren't interested in passing the JUSTICE Act as is, and I get that, but I have also been surprised by reports that suggest they may just block us from proceeding to the bill altogether, which, obviously, is not conducive to our passing any police reform bill.
Speaker Pelosi has made comments that I view as encouraging. She said she is interested in going to conference between the House and the Senate on a police reform bill. It is clear that our colleagues in the House are willing to work with us to come up with a consensus bill, but that means the ball is now in the Senate Democrats' court.
The way I see it, they have two options. One is to work with us on a bipartisan basis. If the Democrats vote tomorrow to begin debating the JUSTICE Act, we can spend time looking at all of the areas in which we have overlapping goals and nail down specific solutions, and we can do what the Senate was built to do, which is to be a forum for debate, for offering amendments, and for voting on those amendments, which would, hopefully, improve the product. If we are going to be successful in getting a bill to the President's desk and delivering on the reforms we are after, we have to get on the bill tomorrow.
Option No. 2 is for the Democrats to do nothing--to tell the American people, even though they have said for weeks that they are desperate for action, that they themselves are the ones preventing that action. I think the choice is pretty obvious, and I can't imagine it is not obvious to our Democratic colleagues. These past several weeks have shone a light on the problems that exist within some of our police departments, and we have an opportunity to work together and show the American people we are capable of working together to try to address this national priority. We can officially begin this process with a simple ``yes'' vote here on the floor tomorrow.
My simple request to our Democratic colleagues is to, please, please, work with us. Let's debate the bill and continue to try to find common ground, and let's get something we can be proud of on the President's desk that he can sign into law without there being any more delay.
Over the last several weeks, the American people have marched, protested, and demanded action. This week, we have an opportunity to deliver the changes they are requesting and ensure that ``Equal Justice Under the Law'' is more than just a phrase engraved on the Supreme Court building across the street. I am proud of the work we have been able to do in working with Senator Scott, who has led our efforts in the Senate. I thank him and Senator McConnell for their commitment to taking action and for Senator McConnell's willingness to do precisely what Senator Schumer requested in getting a police reform bill on the floor of the Senate before July 4.
We will have the opportunity tomorrow to begin debating the JUSTICE Act. I can only hope our Democratic colleagues will make the right decision and commit to working with us to deliver real reforms.
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