The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIAL OF DEREK CHAUVIN” mentioning Charles E. Schumer was published in the Senate section on pages S2089-S2090 on April 21.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIAL OF DEREK CHAUVIN
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yesterday, a jury of former police officer Derek Chauvin's peers determined that he was guilty of murdering George Floyd, confirming what was plain to the millions of Americans who watched his murder on video--9\1/2\ excruciating minutes that documented the senseless and unnecessary loss of one man's life in broad daylight.
Our country was forever changed by the horrendous video of Derek Chauvin killing Mr. Floyd. His searing final words, screaming for air, calling for his mother, are etched in our memory. This guilty verdict serves as an official proclamation of what so many of us have known for nearly a year: George Floyd was murdered by an officer who was sworn to protect and to serve but who, obviously, didn't.
The brutality of George Floyd's murder, yet another in a seemingly endless string of tragedies, sparked a summer of protest unlike any we have seen in American history, elevating a long-building movement for more justice in policing. Americans of every age, color, and creed took to the streets in peaceful protest--from Minneapolis to Maine and Los Angeles to Atlanta, and including in my own home city of New York. A community of global citizens would soon join them in protest. In foreign capitals--from Rome, Paris, and London to Amsterdam, Berlin, and Mexico City--the name George Floyd would echo through the public square. This was not only a fight for justice but a fight against the mistreatment, discrimination, and outright bigotry that Black men and women suffer at the hands of State power, not just here in America but around the globe.
The death of George Floyd provoked such a reaction because folks in those communities knew a George Floyd of their own. Names of friends and colleagues who were tragically killed or suffered the brutal sting of racism sprang to their tongues. They still do.
Philando Castile, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Daniel Prude, Sandra Bland--each circumstance different, the underlying tragedy much the same. Their names, and countless others, serve as a reminder that a single verdict in a single trial will never be enough.
It wasn't long ago that excessive force by police was never caught on iPhones or body cameras. It was out of sight and often beyond the reach of the law, which gave almost reflexive deference to police officers who were brought to trial, if they were ever brought to trial.
So this was an important event for the American justice system. Not only were the events concerning George Floyd caught on camera, but the offending officer was tried and convicted in a court of law. Let it serve as the proper deterrent--a deterrent that should have existed long ago--to the kind of egregious misconduct that led to George Floyd's death.
However, and most certainly, we should not mistake a guilty verdict in this case as evidence that the persistent problem of police misconduct has been solved or that the divide between law enforcement and so many of the communities they serve has been bridged. It has not.
We must remain diligent in our efforts to bring meaningful change to police departments across the country, to reform practices and training, and the legal protections that grant too great a shield to police officers guilty of misconduct.
We also must remain diligent in striving to root out the racial bias in our society: in our healthcare system, in jobs, in housing, in the economy, in the boardroom and at the ballot box, on our streets, and in our schools.
This goes way beyond party or political faction. Racism strikes at the very core of this country. Justice--true justice--will not come until we finally banish the ancient poison of racism from the American soul.
The Senate will continue that work as we strive to ensure that George Floyd's tragic death will not be in vain. We will not rest until the Senate passes strong legislation to end this systemic bias in law enforcement.
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