Congressional Black Caucus

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, tonight is a night of action and reflection for this Congress. This evening, the Congressional Black Caucus will take a look at a number of significant events that have occurred this year and discuss the urgent and pressing concerns of today.

In the waning weeks of 2015, we will have this moment of reflection in order to examine the issues that have caused our community the greatest concern. This conversation must be had, so we have to have an honest and impactful dialogue that will help Congress engage communities and act so we can create a better future today.

It is said that the blood brother of apathy is the inability to prioritize that which is important. Congress cannot afford to be apathetic any longer. We must get serious about the issues that threaten the true potential of our Nation--issues like gun violence that imperil our safety and security, issues like joblessness and wage discrimination that are barriers to our collective economic prosperity, issues like restrictive voting laws that are fundamentally contrary to the democratic right of American citizens and concerns with bad-apple community police.

The Congressional Black Caucus has come to this very floor numerous times to address many of these issues, and, sadly, this body has yet to act on many of these concerns.

Last week, in my home district, Chicago was rocked by a disturbing video that was released showing the police shooting of 17-year old Laquan McDonald. He had been shot 16 times by his arresting officer. Most of the shots were fired when McDonald was no longer standing. Some entered through his back.

I cannot begin to fully express the depth of my outrage at this senseless killing. The video is nothing short of horrific. Tonight, I want to express my condolences to the McDonald family, for whom the pain of losing their loved one has undoubtedly been compounded by having his death on public display.

There is a role that Representatives in Congress can play in putting the issues of violence in our communities in the forefront. We have chosen not to.

As horrifying as the video of Laquan's death is, it needed to be made public because the lingering questions surrounding this case and cases like the death of Walter Scott are equally disturbing.

In reflecting on this tragedy, I want to take a moment to give my thanks to the many activists in Chicago who expressed their outrage in a civil and productive way and, particularly, the young activists.

I remain encouraged by those who have been at the forefront of the call for justice for Laquan and their positive and productive movement for change. It is an example I hope all Americans will follow in helping to create a fairer, more equitable system of justice for us all.

So, in that vein, tonight we will have a conversation about how, in the midst of these tragedies and national adversity, the Congressional Black Caucus is working and achieving positive and productive moments of change.

In this hour, you will hear from my colleagues about efforts the CBC has led to usher in criminal justice reform, about the work of the CBC in increasing diversity in the tech sector through our TECH 2020 initiative, about the CBC Health Braintrust work and addressing the issue of health disparities through the release of the 2015 Kelly Report, about how we are raising awareness and working to bring back kidnapped victims of Boko Haram in Nigeria, and about how the CBC has been a critical broker in numerous legislative efforts before this Congress.

There is much to discuss this evening because there is much worth reflecting on and celebrating.

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