Durbin urges push for more COVID-19 aid, police reform during East St. Louis stop
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin addressed his plans to push for legislation regarding COVID-19 and police reform during a press conference in East St. Louis’ City Hall on Monday afternoon.
Durbin hopes to move forward with his plans when Senate reconvenes next week from a congressional recess.
“We know that the incidents of infection and death among African Americans is disproportionately high. We find that as well among the Hispanics,” said the Senate Minority Whip and East St. Louis native. “People are very serious about it and we understand that this COVID-19 is a danger to each and everyone of us and we need to make sure our lives are focused on doing everything we can to protect ourselves and everyone around us.”
When Congress returns from break, Durbin said his main focus is to push for more legislation that would help American families rebound financially from the economic impact of COVID-19. Although Congress passed the the CARES Act, the $2 trillion economic stimulus bill, in March, Durbin said it should be revisited as more funding is needed.
“Unemployment benefits that we created March 26 will expire at the end of this month,” Durbin said. “That’s $600 a week for many families. Many millions of Americans are counting on that $600 a week payment to pay their mortgage, their rent, utilities, put food on the table, clothes on the kids, and so we need to do something and do it immediately when we return.
“We have got to respond in Washington and put money into this economy to keep these families together as they fight off unemployment issues they’re facing.”
Although the Democratic senator said the new bill wouldn’t include specific plans to assist communities of color who’ve been heavily impacted by COVID-19, he has plans to propose another bill dealing with police reform.
“It’s interesting that in the span of a few years the conversation about that presence [of the Black Lives Matter movement] has changed America,” Durbin said. “A majority of Americans of all political backgrounds agree that we have a serious challenge.
“I believe that the majority of men and women in law enforcement are good, law-abiding humane citizens doing a tough job every single day, but in their ranks, are people who are not good people. We saw that with the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis. Eight minutes and 46 seconds that man lost his life on a curbside in the city of Minneapolis. It changed American and parts of the world and had a traumatic impact, now the question is what are we going to do about that.”
Banning chokeholds is Durbin’s first priority.
“We know they’re deadly, and they shouldn’t be allowed,” Durbin said. “Secondly, making sure that all the police are equipped with many cameras so we can record what actually occurs as opposed to people’s recollection. We also need them registered so that any police officer who’s found guilty of wrongdoing, his record is known to anyone who will consider hiring them in the future. “
The bill, which Durbin is co-sponsoring with Senators Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) and Kamala Harris (D-California), has received support from every major civil rights organization in the United States, Durbin said.
“We need to have compensation for families like Mr. Floyd’s family who’s hurt because of misconduct of the police,” Durbin said. “We need to have better recruiting, better training and better accountability for police departments across the United States.”
Durbin also commented on President Trump’s recent announcement to withhold federal funding from schools if they decide not to reopen in the fall.
“There should not be any presidential mandate for returning to schools,” Durbin said. “That is a decision that should be made locally, that should be made by the school board, by the principal, by the teachers, by the students and their families. It’s important for kids to go back to school, but it’s even more that they get back to safely to make sure schools are doing what they can to protect these kids so they don’t get sick and bring something home to other members in their family.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 3:57 PM with the headline "Durbin urges push for more COVID-19 aid, police reform during East St. Louis stop."
