Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the wrongs and hardships of Black women are often equal to those experienced by Black men yet receive less attention and justice, and that any legislation passed in the House of Representatives to remedy racial inequities in the United States, especially those present in the criminal justice system, must include reforms to address concerns for Black women.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 1027 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the wrongs and hardships of Black women are often equal to those experienced by Black men yet receive less attention and justice, and that any legislation passed in the House of Representatives to remedy racial inequities in the United States, especially those present in the criminal justice system, must include reforms to address concerns for Black women. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 26, 2020 Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. TONKO, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. PINGREE, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and Ms. OMAR) submitted the following resolu- tion; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the wrongs and hardships of Black women are often equal to those experienced by Black men yet receive less attention and justice, and that any legislation passed in the House of Representatives to remedy racial inequi- ties in the United States, especially those present in the criminal justice system, must include reforms to ad- dress concerns for Black women. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\HR1027.IH HR1027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 1027 IH Whereas social justice and criminal reform movements of the past few decades have often focused on or sprung out of protests of violence or against Black men and boys, yet Black women and girls are also frequent victims of such violence and harassment but do not receive the same media attention, public condemnation, or calls for justice; Whereas the Black women victims of State violence and ex- cessive force are often forgotten, if they are ever made public in the first place, and include names such as Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Atatianna Jefferson, Pamela Turner, Alexia Christian, Mya Hall, Gabriella Nevarez, Shantel Davis, Malissa Williams, Shelly Frey, Kathryn Johnston, Alberta Spruill, Natasha McKenna, Sheneque Proctor, Rekia Boyd, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Meagan Hockaday, Denise Stewart, Roasann Miller, Alesia Thomas, Korryn Gaines, Nina Pop, Yvette Smith, Tarika Wilson, and Kendra James, alongside countless others; Whereas Black women are often leaders in the fight for rights, social justice, and equality for all people, such as Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, who founded the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the murder of Trayvon Martin; Whereas the incarcerated female population has grown eight- fold due to stiffer drug sentencing laws and postconviction barriers to reentry that uniquely affect women; Whereas Black girls are 10 times more likely to be disciplined and 6 times more likely to be suspended than their White counterparts; VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1027.IH HR1027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 1027 IH Whereas women represent a growing share of all arrests in the country as arrests of men decline; Whereas women account for a larger share of all police-initi- ated contacts than they do arrests suggesting more inter- actions with law enforcement than arrest records rep- resent; Whereas Black women are approximately 17 percent more likely to be stopped in a police-initiated traffic stop than White women; Whereas Black women are roughly three times as likely to be arrested during traffic stop than White women; Whereas Black women are more likely than White men and three times as likely as White women to experience the use of force during police-initiated stops; Whereas police use of force against women rose by 353 per- cent from 1999 to 2015; Whereas the imprisonment rate for African-American women is twice that of White women; Whereas the average lifetime earnings gap of nearly $1 mil- lion between Black women and White men complicates reentry and increases the likelihood of recidivism; and Whereas there are only 45 elected Black women serving as prosecutors, comprising 1.8 percent of all elected pros- ecutors despite representing 20 percent of the population as a whole: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives that— 2 (1) the harm, trauma, and deaths of Black 3 women must be recognized alongside Black men; 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1027.IH HR1027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 1027 IH (2) the position of Black women is unique in 1 this country, and therefore deserves specific, focused 2 intervention to bring about equality of access, oppor- 3 tunity, and justice; 4 (3) any legislation passed in the House of Rep- 5 resentatives to remedy racial inequities in the United 6 States, especially those present in the criminal jus- 7 tice system, must include reforms to address con- 8 cerns for Black women; and 9 (4) the creation of a commission to study the 10 status of Black women and girls, and the social and 11 systemic barriers they face, would aid in reducing 12 those barriers, and identifying reforms that would 13 encourage more fair and equal treatment for Black 14 women and all people. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR1027.IH HR1027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS