Equality for All

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues. Let me continue and be very brief and just say Michael Brown had a promising future before his life was cut short by police gunfire on that fateful Saturday in August.

He was supposed to start technical college this past fall, planning to become a heating and cooling engineer one day. He hoped to start his own business. He strove to set an example for his younger siblings, teaching them to stay in school and further their education--instead, another loss.

Michael Brown fell victim to a criminal justice system that too often fails people of color. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, he is now another Black male whose full promise and potential will never be realized because his life was taken too early by the very department created to protect and serve his community, the Ferguson Police Department.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is appropriate that the Congressional Black Caucus is on the floor today discussing being Black in America. The CBC is the conscience of the Congress and, in many circumstances, the conscience of America on the topic of race relations, struggles, and inequities.

We are also scholars and crusaders. We are our brothers' keepers. We have marched and written civil rights laws, and today, December 1, we are celebrating the 59th anniversary of Rosa Parks maintaining her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her civil disobedience on this day should be celebrated.

As we see in the majority a peaceful protest in refusing to give up her seat, Rosa Parks sparked a civil rights movement that continues today; a movement highlighted by incremental progress such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, where a Nation came together with hopes of eliminating centuries of discrimination against Blacks and providing equal rights under law.

The civil rights movement is ongoing and faces significant challenges. A great distrust between local residents and law enforcement remains today. Too many young Black men have been left behind and are seen as objects of fear, and we have a school-to-prison pipeline that tears our communities of color apart, leaving them forever incomplete.

As Martin Luther King, Jr., said:

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concerns of dedicated individuals.

Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I am, today, hopeful. I am hopeful that initiatives like the President's My Brother's Keepers, which is implementing cradle to college and career programs for young people in my district, will allow us to continue Rosa Parks' progress that she sparked 59 years ago.

Finally, should we work harder to get more people registered to vote? Should we have more get out the vote? Yes, but it takes more than that. This Congress should work with the President, and I fully support his request for some $263 million in part to equip police officers with cameras.

Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Speaker, thank you.

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