Congressional Black Caucus

Floor Speech

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Mrs. McBATH. First, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Honorable Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and also Jonathan Jackson on behalf of the CBC for standing on the front lines tonight for this very special hour.

I rise this evening to address the frightening assault on democracy which took place in the Tennessee legislature. In the days following the tragic shooting at The Covenant School, Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson demanded action to keep their communities safe from gun violence.

In the spirit of our dear departed friend and as we have talked about John Lewis a great deal tonight, these lawmakers were doing nothing more than making good trouble. In response, the Republican Party majority in Tennessee took measures to expel Representatives Jones and Pearson from their positions undermining the will of the voters who sent them to Nashville.

This is simply unconscionable. This is not how it works. This is not how democracy works. This is an attack on the very principle of representative democracy on which our Nation was founded.

Our children are being murdered in their classrooms, and rather than work on solutions to prevent these senseless tragedies from happening again and again and again, Republican leaders in Tennessee opted to expel the lawmakers who are simply fighting for change, fighting to save lives, and fighting to save the lives of everyone in this country.

Our children are being murdered in their classrooms. We watch it day in and day out. We watch it at birthday parties, on our front doorsteps, and in their friends' cars as my son, Jordan, was murdered.

We cannot look away from the tragedies that are devastating families all across the country. Shame on us. Shame on this body to turn a blind eye to the massacre of human life.

Who have we become in this body that we have no thought for preservation of human life?

We cannot seek to silence the voices that are crying out for change because we are not powerless. We have the power. We are the body. We have solutions to put an end to gun violence that claims over 100 Americans in this country every single day; solutions that the majority of Americans support and are crying out for.

What happened in Nashville sets a very disturbing precedent. Efforts to silence duly elected representatives can happen in States all across this country. It happened right here in this very Chamber. But the will of the American people will not be overturned. The efforts of those who would rather betray trust in our democratic institutions than fight to keep kids safe in our school, those efforts will fail, and we will continue our efforts to make good on the promise that we must fulfill for America's children. A better and safer America is what they deserve. It is truly possible if we have the will and the courage to do it.

Representatives Jones and Pearson are disrupters. And, yes, for cultural change to make this community--our community--safer, it means disruption. That is how change happens.

As we talked about earlier, mentioning the sit-in with Representative John Lewis on the floor, when that happened, I was leading a rally outside the Capitol, disrupting, to make sure that people's voices were heard and to make sure that survivors and victims like me have the ability to express and ask this body to do what is right.

The time has passed. It is long overdue. Over and over and over and over again, we come before this House and this body and ask people to stand up with courage and do the right thing.

When will it happen?

Do we have the courage to act?

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