WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.),
yesterday participated in a press conference to introduce the JUSTICE
Act, police reform legislation she co-sponsored with her colleagues Senator
Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and others.
In addition to the press
conference, Senator Capito spoke on the Senate floor yesterday afternoon to
highlight the importance of the legislation. Click here
to watch the speech.
HIGHLIGHTS:
WE MUST ACT:
“If this is a pivotal moment in our country’s history, and we as Congress, as
Republicans and Democrats coming together, fail to act, because of the crying
voices we hear every day about this, we’re going to be deemed a failure in the
eyes of so many. Not just in our communities of color—our young people are
losing faith and trust in our law enforcement and in our ability to react in
situation where we can be helpful and we should be helpful.”
SUPPORTING LAW ENFORCEMENT: “Many of us are overwhelmed by what we’ve seen with
the George Floyd situation and what we saw happening in Minneapolis. But we do
know that the vast majority of police officers in this country are good people.
These are hard jobs. These are jobs that people have in their hearts and communities
to want to keep their communities safe, to want to have places to raise their
families that are safe, and that are dedicated to the rule of law.”
DOING THIS IN FRONT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE: “To my colleagues on the other side, we need to have
this conversation in front of the American people on the floor of the U.S.
Senate where we can debate different ideas, debate different strategies,
compromise like we do when we need to and when we should, and not be a failure
to the people and the voices who are crying out daily for us to help.”
# # #