Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016--Conference Report--

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT. Mr. President, I rise today to give my second speech this week discussing the issues we are facing as a nation following last week's tragedies in Dallas, Minnesota, and Baton Rouge. This speech is perhaps the most difficult because it is the most personal.

On Monday, I talked about how the vast majority of our law enforcement officers have only two things in mind: protect and serve. But, as I noted then, we do have serious issues that must be resolved.

In many cities and towns across the Nation, there is a deep divide between the Black community and law enforcement. There is a trust gap, a tension that has been growing for decades. And as a family, one American family, we cannot ignore these issues because while so many officers do good--and as I said on Monday, we should be very thankful and supportive of all of those officers who do good--some simply do not. I have experienced it myself.

So today I want to speak about some of those issues--not with anger, although I have been angry. I tell my story not out of frustration, although at times I have been frustrated. I stand here before you today because I am seeking for all of us, the entire American family, to work together so we all experience the lyrics of a song that we can hear but not see: peace, love, and understanding. Because I shuddered when I heard Eric Garner say, ``I can't breathe.'' I wept when I watched Walter Scott turn and run away and get shot in the back and killed. And I broke when I heard the 4-year-old daughter of Philando Castile's girlfriend tell her mother, ``It's OK, I'm right here with you.'' These are people. Lost forever. Fathers, brothers, sons.

Some will say and maybe even scream: But they have criminal records. They were criminals. They had spent time in jail.

And while having a record should not sentence you to death, I say, OK, then, I will share with you some of my own experiences or the experiences of good friends and other professionals.

I can certainly remember the very first time I was pulled over by a police officer as just a youngster. I was driving a car that had an improper headlight. It didn't work right. And the cop came up to my car, hand on his gun, and said: Boy, don't you know your headlights are not working properly? I felt embarrassed, ashamed, and scared--very scared.

But instead of sharing experience after experience, I want to go to a time in my life as an elected official to share just a couple of stories as an elected official. But please remember that in the course of 1 year, I have been stopped seven times by law enforcement officers--not four, not five, not six, but seven times in 1 year as an elected official. Was I speeding sometimes? Sure. But the vast majority of the time I was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood or some other reason just as trivial.

One of the times I remember I was leaving the mall. I took a left out of the mall, and as soon as I took a left, a police officer pulled in right behind me. That was my first time. I got to another traffic light, and I took another left into a neighborhood. The police followed behind me. I took a third left onto the street that at the time led to my apartment complex and then finally I took a fourth left coming into my apartment complex, and then the blue lights went on. The officer approached the car and said that I did not use my turn signal on the fourth turn. Keep in mind, as my colleagues might imagine, I was paying very close attention to the law enforcement officer who followed me on four turns. Do you really think that somehow I forgot to use my turn signal on the fourth turn? Well, according to him, I did.

Another time, I was following a friend of mine. We had just left working out and we were heading out to grab a bite to eat at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. He pulls out, and I pull out right behind him. We are driving down the road, and the blue lights come on. The officer pulls me into the median, and he starts telling me that he thinks perhaps the car is stolen. Well, I started asking myself-- because I was smart enough not to ask him but was asking myself--is the license plate coming in as stolen? Does the license plate match the car? I was looking for some rational reason that may have prompted him to stop me on the side of the road.

I also think about the experiences of my brother, who became a command sergeant major in the U.S. Army, the highest rank for an enlisted soldier. He was driving from Texas to Charleston and was pulled over by a law enforcement officer who wanted to know if he had stolen the car he was driving because it was a Volvo.

I do not know many African-American men who do not have a very similar story to tell, no matter the profession, no matter their income, no matter their position in life.

I also recall the story of one of my former staffers--a great guy, about 30 years old--who drove a Chrysler 300, which is a nice car, without question, but not a Ferrari, not a super nice car. He was pulled over so many times here in DC for absolutely no reason other than that he was driving a nice car. He sold that car and bought a more obscure form of transportation. He was tired of being targeted. Imagine the frustration, the irritation, the sense of a loss of dignity that accompanies each of those stops.

Even here on Capitol Hill, where I have had the great privilege of serving the people of South Carolina as a U.S. Congress Member and as a U.S. Senator for the last 6 years--for those who don't know, there are a few ways to identify a Member of Congress or Senate. Well, typically, when you have been here for a couple of years, the law enforcement officers get to know your face and they identify you by face, but if that doesn't happen, then you have an ID badge, a license you can show them, or this really cool pin. I oftentimes said the House pin was larger because our egos are bigger. So we have a smaller pin in the Senate. It is easy to identify a U.S. Senator by our pin.

I recall walking into an office building just last year after being here for 5 years in the capital, and the officer looked at me, full of attitude, and said, ``The pin I know, and you I don't. Show me your ID.'' I will tell you, I was thinking to myself, either he thinks I am committing a crime, impersonating a Member of Congress, or--or what? Well, I will tell you that later that evening I received a phone call from his supervisor apologizing for the behavior. That is at least the third phone call I have received from a supervisor or the Chief of Police since I have been in the Senate.

So while I thank God I have not endured bodily harm, I have felt the pressure applied by the scales of justice when they are slanted. I have felt the anger, the frustration, the sadness, and the humiliation that comes with feeling like you are being targeted for nothing more than being just yourself.

As the former staffer I mentioned earlier told me yesterday, there is absolutely nothing more frustrating, more damaging to your soul than when you know you are following the rules and you are being treated like you are not.

But make no mistake--no matter this turmoil, these issues should not lead anyone to any conclusion other than to abide by the laws. I think the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., said it so well. Returning violence with violence only leads to more violence and to even darker nights, nights, to paraphrase, without stars. There is never ever an acceptable reason to harm a member of our law enforcement community-- ever. I don't want anybody to misinterpret the words I am saying.

Even in the times of great darkness, there is light. As I shared Monday, there are hundreds--thousands of stories of officers who go beyond the call of duty. Ms. Taylor--whom I spoke about on Monday night--at the Dallas incident was covered completely by at least three officers who were willing to lose their lives to save hers. We have a real opportunity to be grateful and thankful for our men and women in uniform.

I shared another story on Monday night as well, and while the one I want to tell you today does not involve a tragic loss of life, it does show support that meant a lot to me at the time it occurred. Prior to serving in the U.S. Senate, I was an elected official on the county level, State level, and a Member of the U.S. Congress. I believe it is my responsibility to hang out and be with my constituents as often as possible and to hear their concerns. At some point during my time as a public servant, I traveled to an event I was invited to along with two staffers and two law enforcement officers--all four were White, and me. When we arrived at the event, the organizer seemed to have a particular issue with me coming to the event. They allowed my two staffers to go into the event and seemed fine with allowing the two officers to go into the event, who both said they weren't going in unless I was going in. So in order to avoid a tense situation, I opted to leave because there is no winning that kind of debate ever. But I was so proud and thankful for those two law enforcement officers who were enraged by this treatment. It was such a moment that I will never forget and a situation that I would love to forget.

This situation happens all across the country. This situation happens all across the country whether or not we want to recognize it. It may not happen a thousand times a day, but it happens too many times a day, and to see it as I have had the chance to see it helps me understand why this issue has wounds that have not healed in a generation. It helps me to appreciate and to understand and helps me communicate why it is time for this American family to have a serious conversation about where we are, where we are going, and how to get there. We must find a way to fill these cracks in the very foundation of our country.

Tomorrow I will return with my final speech in this three-part series on solutions and how to get to where we need to go by talking about the policies that get us there and the people solutions because I, like you, Mr. President, don't believe that all answers are in government. I don't believe all the solutions we need start in government, but we need people doing things that only individuals can do.

Today, however, I simply ask you this: Recognize that just because you do not feel the pain, the anguish of another, does not mean it does not exist. To ignore their struggles--our struggles--does not make them disappear; it simply leaves you blind and the American family very vulnerable. Some search so hard to explain away justice that they are slowly wiping away who we are as a nation. We must come together to fulfill what we all know is possible here in America--peace, love and understanding. Fairness.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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