Senator Urging Congress to Create Commission to Accompany Efforts Like The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) in introducing the United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation resolution, urging Congress to form the first commission acknowledging and examining the systemic racism that has disenfranchised Black Americans throughout U.S. history and the racial inequities that persist today. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced the resolution in the House in June.
“For more than 400 years, generations of Black Americans have endured the detrimental impacts of slavery and the racial injustices that stem from it,” said Brown. “In order to root out the systems of oppression that are engrained in the fabric of this country, we must acknowledge the harm it has caused the Black community and we must take action now. The Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation will play a critical role in finding the long-term solutions we need to help our country heal and put an end to the inequities that still exist today.”
The Senate resolution is also co-sponsored by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).
Earlier this year, Brown introduced a resolution alongside Sen. Booker and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) to declare racism a public health crisis. The coronavirus pandemic has been the great revealer – underscoring the racial disparities that continue to pervade public health as a direct result of systemic racism. Barriers to quality health care access, housing, jobs, wages and so much else contribute to stark health disparities for communities of color.
Brown also hosted the office’s first-ever Ohio Black Women’s Health Symposium. The virtual symposium, held over the course of two Saturdays on the social determinants of health, included panel discussions, workshops and speakers addressing physical, community/environmental, mental and economic health. At virtual workshops held during the symposium, participants received tools designed to help navigate and overcome barriers to health equity.
In June, Brown helped introduce the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a comprehensive package that would help put important policing reforms into place, help end racial profiling in the criminal justice system and work to improve police-community relations.
Brown also joined Sen. Booker and Rep. Lee in introducing the Confederate Monument Removal Act, bicameral legislation to remove all statues of people who voluntarily served the Confederate States of America from the National Statuary Hall Collection.
The full text of the resolution can be viewed here.