The Congressional Black Caucus Calls on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to Hold an Immediate Vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

The blatant disregard for human life, especially Black lives, is on display once again in our country’s police departments. This time in Kenosha, Wisconsin and Lafayette, Louisiana. Both men were shot in the back by police officers. Jacob Blake is paralyzed from the waist down and Trayford Pellerin is dead. 

The shootings of Jacob Blake and Trayford Pellerin are yet again two tragic incidents of police brutality against Black people in America.

In the letter, the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), urged Leader McConnell to heed the calls of the American people for urgent reform in our police departments.

“On behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, the millions of Americans we represent, and the countless more who demand justice and peace, I write today to implore you to bring the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to the floor of the Senate for a vote,” said Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA). “How many more mothers and fathers must mourn the loss of a child to police violence? How many more children must be raised without a parent lost to police violence? How many more videos must we watch before you will act? Enough is enough.”

Over two months ago, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. This transformative legislation would hold police officers accountable and ensure the culture and training of law enforcement is grounded in protecting and serving all communities. The Congressional Black Caucus championed the passage of this bill in the House and has long fought for policing reform as part of our broader criminal justice reform efforts. This is evident in the policies included in the Justice in Policing Act that were originally championed by our founding members. 

While the House has answered the public outcry against police brutality, Leader McConnell has refused to hold a vote on this critical bill. He and President Trump seem more concerned with vilifying outraged communities than addressing the root causes of their real and legitimate frustration: state-sanctioned violence, fear, and grief. Since the murder of George Floyd, we have witnessed several instances of police brutality across our country: Rayshard Brooks, Trayford Pellerin, Jacob Blake, and too many more. Meanwhile, Breonna Taylor’s murderers are still free. Black Americans continue to be shot and brutally injured at the hands of law enforcement with complete impunity. 

We call on Leader McConnell to stand with us on the right side of history and advance meaningful policing reform through the Senate. The time is long overdue to finally put an end to police violence in Black communities in America.

Read the full letter here.

Rep. John Lewis to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol next week

The late Rep. John Lewis will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol — followed by an unprecedented public viewing outside of the building — next week, as a tribute to the civil rights icon who died July 17.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday evening that Lewis will be honored in a private ceremony in the Rotunda on Monday, followed by a public viewing atop the East Front Steps on Monday night and Tuesday.

There will also be a procession through Washington, D.C., which has not yet been scheduled, where members of the public will be able to pay their respects “in a socially-distant manner,” according to a Pelosi and McConnell statement.

The Georgia Democrat will be the second Black lawmaker to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol, an honor reserved for the most revered of Americans. Members were also able to bid farewell to former Rep. Elijah Cummings, who died in October 2019, in the Capitol Rotunda. Only about three dozen people have ever had the honor.

Pelosi and McConnell also made clear that — amid the pandemic — Lewis’ public memorial cannot resemble the massive services of past years, with thousands of people flocking to Washington, D.C., to pay their respects to former presidents and other national figures.

With coronavirus cases still spiking nationwide, Lewis’ family has encouraged members of the public not to travel to Washington and to instead direct their tributes virtually.

Pelosi and McConnell advised that masks will be required for members of the public who wish to wait in line to pay their respects to Lewis on the Capitol steps. Social distancing will also be “strictly enforced,” they said.

[SOURCE: POLITICO]

Mitch McConnell: Reparations For Slavery Not A Good Idea

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday rejected reparations for slavery in part because it would be hard to know whom to pay. Watch his statements below:

Black Women March to Senate Leader’s Office in Protest Over Loretta Lynch

[ SOURCE] About 20 prominent black women arrived at the ornate office suites of McConnell Thursday morning, asking to meet with him—even if for only a few minutes in the hallway—over the delay in confirming Attorney General-designate Loretta Lynch. They were told McConnell was too busy. The women did meet with McConnell's chief of staff for about 20 minutes.

The group that arrived at his door included Williams-Skinner; attorney Barbara Arnwine, president of the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights; Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation; Sheila Tyson, a city councilwoman from Birmingham, Ala.; and Marcia Dyson, CEO of the Women's Global Initiative.

They asserted that the treatment of Lynch was a double standard rarely if ever applied to any other nominee for attorney general. Lynch, a career prosecutor who earned a degree from Harvard Law in 1984, has already been confirmed by the Senate twice before. If confirmed currently, Lynch would be the first African-American female attorney general of the 82 individuals who have been confirmed over 225 years.

Lynch has now waited longer for confirmation than any other attorney general nominee in 31 years, and longer than the last five nominees combined. The average wait time for an attorney general nominee is 18 days. Lynch, who has nominated by President Barack Obama Nov. 8, has now waited 138 days.

Sen. McConnell holding vote on Loretta Lynch confirmation hostage.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on CNN's State of the Union that he would put off any consideration of Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch to force a vote on a human trafficking bill that Democrats will likely reject over an abortion provision. In essence he is holding voting on her confirmation hostage until Democrats meet his demands. Watch his comments below:

Why Pres. Obama may be better off with republicans in control of the House and Senate.

After giving democrats, an ass whupping of epic proportions in Tuesday's election republicans will have control of both the House and the Senate starting in 2015. President Obama will have a tough time getting anything he wants done, and he had better go to Costco and load up on pens for all the vetoes he will be issuing.

But as tough as all believe the next two years will be for our president he just may be better off with the republicans in control. Why you ask? It's really very simple.

He won't have to deal with weak-kneed democrats who ran from him at the first signs of trouble. They ran even though the president had limited options when it came to hot button topics like Ebola or ISIS. They ran from Mr. Obama even though the stock market is booming; unemployment numbers are dropping, and gas prices are at a four-year low.

He won't have to deal with democrats who not only threw him under the bus but tried to back it up, all to win re-election. Some didn't even want him to campaign for them (and still lost). With "friends" like that who needs enemies? In my humble opinion, President Obama will now have a better idea of which democrats have his back and which ones are waiting to stab him in the back.

Now President Obama will have to deal with republicans and both parties know exactly where they stand, you don't like me and I sure as hell don't like you. That makes dealing with each other a lot easier, and some things might actually get done.

Well, we can hope anyway.

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.com