Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, this has been a very difficult week after what has been a very difficult few months. A nation, beleaguered by disease and economic depression, has once again come face-to-face with the racial injustice that infects our society. The death of George Floyd in police custody was a searing reminder of a long list of unarmed African Americans whose lives have been taken under similar circumstances--Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others--a well of grief and loss and pain too deep to express. It was a searing reminder of the bigotry and discrimination that African Americans encounter as part of their daily reality.

That is why so many Americans of all ages, colors, and faiths are out in the streets protesting right now. They are fed up with racial injustice in this country and want to see some change. Here in the Senate, Member after Member has come to the floor to share support for the same cause.

Yesterday, our caucus held a somber, emotional, and very personal meeting, during which our Members shared their own lived experiences of racism and spoke about what we need to do next because the truth is, while speeches and protests are vital, they will never be enough.

We need greater accountability and transparency in police departments and reformed police practices so these events don't happen in the first place. We need to reform the criminal justice system that is still too short on justice and begin chipping away at the racial disparities that exist in healthcare, housing, education, and in the economy.

These issues will not be solved in a week or a month or in a year. Let's hope they can be solved in this decade. But I will be damned if we don't at least try to make some progress. Already, my colleagues Senators Booker, Harris, Cardin, Klobuchar, Duckworth, Schatz, Smith, and others are working with the Congressional Black Caucus in the House to develop legislation to address a number of issues related to police violence and racial justice. Senate Democrats will not wait to propose and push for bold, bold change.

Will our Republican colleagues join us? Leader McConnell, commit to put a law enforcement reform bill on the floor of the Senate before July 4.

I have made this request for several days without an answer from the Republican leader. Even more disappointing, the Republican leader blocked a simple resolution I offered last night that reaffirmed Americans' constitutional rights to peaceful protest, condemned the violence that is occurring in too many places, and condemned the President as well for having gas and rubber bullets used on a peaceful protest in Lafayette Park, where there were families and children protesting in the grand American tradition of peaceful protest.

There was no partisan rhetoric in this resolution. It was three simple concepts, a recitation of the facts, but because Senate Republicans are so afraid--shivering--at the thought of criticizing the President, even when they know his actions are way out of line, Leader McConnell came and blocked this resolution. Shame, shame, shame.

We all know there are very few checks on the President, especially a President who believes he can do anything he wants--and he said it. One of the most effective checks on President Trump could be the caucus of Republican Senators for once standing up to him when he is way out of line. Where are they? Where are they?

Even a columnist like George Will has shown a disgust at the Republican Senate, and he is a conservative, for their failure to stand up to Donald Trump on issues like this. All too often on thorny issues such as gun safety, racial justice, and police reform, my Republican colleagues sort of say what is necessary to get through the day, when there is an immediate crisis, and then wait for public attention to fade.

Leader McConnell called us back into session in early May during the height of the COVID pandemic, but we still have not considered a single piece of legislation on the floor. Now listen to this. Yesterday, when Leader McConnell was listing legislative priorities for June, he did not mention COVID legislation. Let me repeat for those who may have missed it in the swirl of news and events of the day. When listing his June priorities to reporters, Leader McConnell did not mention COVID- related legislation. Other Republican Senators have said that another relief bill might come in late July--might, might.

This is shocking. This should be a wake-up call to the American people. Americans of all ages, races, creeds, and philosophies, call your Republican Senators. Demand action.

The recession will get deeper. It could develop into a depression if we don't have relief. We have not done enough in the eyes of every economist I have looked at and respected. Governors and mayors across the country in red States are slashing budgets in advance of the new fiscal year, which for most States starts July 1. States will be forced to cut millions of jobs and critical services. These cuts mean increased school class sizes, longer emergency response times, fewer services to keep the elderly at home and out of nursing homes. These cuts not only exacerbate the recession but the wrath of the coronavirus itself. That is what is happening while Senate Republicans wait until July, maybe, to consider another relief bill.

America, look at what our Republicans are doing: not giving the relief you need for your safety, for your schools, for the services that local government provides.

The Republican majority doesn't seem to have time to address a cascading series of national crises--no time. Why is that?

Where is President Trump? Where is his Cabinet? They all know that we need more. They all know we haven't solved the economic problem--far from it. They all know that we have to do a lot more on testing.

So our Republican majority doesn't seem to have time to address the COVID national crisis, but do you know what it does have time for? Chasing President Trump's wild conspiracy theories. It sounds like the death knell of the Republican Party as we know it. They can't deal with the two major crises of the day--racial justice and the COVID crisis-- and they are busy pursuing conspiracy theories, some of them emanating from Russia, to go after President Obama and Vice President Biden.

This makes no sense. This, again, sounds like the death knell of the Republican Party. The Republican Party we used to know would have some principles but not be afraid to run to every major issue--to any major issue almost. But that is what they are doing.

Today, in the Judiciary Committee, the Republican committee chairman has called in Rod Rosenstein to dredge up the President's favorite conspiracy theory related to the 2016 election. It is an egregious misuse of the institution--the Senate.

Nearly a quarter of our workforce is unemployed. Over 100,000 Americans are dead from a strange and contagious disease; Americans are in the streets demanding racial justice; and shopworn, discredited conspiracy theories are what the Republican majority is focused on? What alternative universe do they live in? What alternative reality are they in the midst of? One detached from the real reality that the American people face: conspiracy theories to help President Trump's reelection, rightwing judges, many of whom have antipathy to the civil rights we are talking about now.

The Republican Party in the Senate has moved so far into a corner, the corner that Donald Trump is in, that they can't address two of the most important and major issues that have affected this country in decades.

The American people should be furious with the Republican Senate majority, and the American people and historians will record with sadness how this once great party, even though I didn't agree with it, has declined so--no courage, no principle, but simply cowering for President Trump and his crazy theories that even they know are crazy.

The American people, of course, should be furious with the President as well. On Monday night, Americans watched Federal officers, under the direction of the President and the Attorney General, use gas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of peaceful protesters in a public park so that the President could stage a photo op in front of a church, waving the Holy Bible as a prop.

Last night, Americans saw an even more haunting image on the internet and their televisions: rows of camouflage troops standing at attention on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, like an occupying force defending a critical position.

When you see the image of troops dressed for combat flanking the Lincoln Memorial, an altar of freedom, you cannot help but think of Tiananmen Square. This administration ordered Federal officers to gas peaceful protesters and charge on horseback and defend our monuments like battlefield positions.

What is President Trump doing to this grand democracy? What is he doing? And why are our Republican colleagues just going along?

President Lincoln's second inaugural address is engraved in that building where armed soldiers stood. During a moment of extreme political division and civil strife, President Lincoln urged malice toward none, charity toward all, and sought to bind up the Nation's wounds.

There could be no greater contrast between Lincoln and this President, this President who seems to have malice toward all and charity for none, who seeks to deepen our Nation's wounds rather than bind them up. Our Nation is crying out for leadership, for direction, for some healing and some unity. Will this President even try to provide it?

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