Protests
Floor Speech
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I had asked to come and speak on the floor of the Senate on this day, June 4. I have been actually looking forward to it and planning speaking time for months now.
June 4 is a significant day in the fight for women's suffrage. It was on June 4 of 1919 that Congress approved the amendment and sent it to the States for ratification, and then it was in 1920 that the 19th Amendment was ratified by the States.
So this was to be a time of celebration, of recognition, of women's suffrage, this centennial event.
Since that time that I first looked to schedule this, my, how the world has changed. We have been in the midst of a pandemic--over 100,000 American lives lost to the COVID-19 virus. We are in the midst of an economic crisis the likes of which we haven't seen in decades and decades.
And, just a week ago now, we witnessed the killing of George Floyd on our streets, in broad daylight. And today, June 4, is not only a recognition of women's suffrage, but it is the funeral of George Floyd.
So before I speak to the matter I intended to speak on today, I want to just briefly comment on where I believe we are as a nation right now.
I was walking into work this morning, and in my neighbor's yard is a placard, a yard sign. It has been there for some years, actually, now. It is a partial quote of Martin Luther King that states: ``We can't be silent about the things that matter.''
You think about those things that matter: equality, justice, the fundamental truth that all human beings are created equal and endowed by God with certain rights. And when those rights are denied, when they are violated, it is our responsibility to address the injustice. It is not our responsibility as elected Members of the U.S. Senate; it is our responsibility as fellow humans, as Americans who believe in these principles of justice and equality.
President Bush had some words this week that I found very direct, very comforting at a difficult time when it is hard to be comforted, when our spirits are so discomforted and agitated right now. But he reminded us that achieving justice for all is the duty of all. It is the duty of all.
And we are hurting now as a nation. We have wounds from racism that have never been allowed to heal--and those words were just shared here on this floor moments ago--wounds that have never been allowed to heal, wounds that are still so open and raw. And healing can't take place until the hurt and the anger and the anguish that so many in this country still feel, so many African Americans, so many--so many who feel that the system is meant for somebody but not them; that there is not equal justice under the law; that it must be the law for somebody else.
This has been hard--hard on all of us, as we have seen the protests, many of them peaceful. In my home State, Alaskans are coming together with a shared sense of duty and responsibility to speak up about things that matter and doing so in a way that brings us together rather than divides.
We must condemn the violence we see on the street with the looting, but stopping the looting is not going to close this wound. We heal when we acknowledge our weaknesses, when we acknowledge our failures, and when we vow to address the things that matter, like equality and justice.
What we say and how we say it truly matters. I have been challenged by some. I have been chastised by some very close friends who have said: You are silent, Lisa. Why are you silent? Why haven't you--you-- fixed what we are seeing?
And I have struggled. I have struggled with the right words. As a White woman born and raised in Alaska with a family who was privileged, I can't feel that openness and rawness that I just heard expressed by my friends Cory and Kamala. I haven't lived their life.
But I can listen, and I can educate myself. And I can try to be a healer at a time when we need to be healed. That is my commitment and my pledge going forward to those I serve in Alaska and to those I serve in this country.
This is challenging for us. We know this, but we are an extraordinary country. We are an extraordinary people with extraordinary resilience.
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