Tim Scott Reform Efforts Snubbed by Democrats

South Carolina senator Tim Scott, the only African Republican in the Senate, made a push for major police reform legislation. He won strong support from his fellow Republicans. However, in a now-famous speech on the Senate floor, says Democrats hung him out to dry.

Senate Address Makes Waves

Scott gave a powerful address on the floor of the Senate, calling for legislation on police reform and speaking of his personal connection to the issue. He discussed growing up in poverty and being profiled by police. And finally, he lamented Democrats’ complete unwillingness to work with him on the issue.

“I want to help those kids. I'm an African American who has had that experience … So, I look forward to having the conversation with my House colleagues that have been very serious …  But we cannot get something done if the Democrats in the Senate are more interested in presidential politics than they are getting something actually finished this year.”

Snubbed By Democrats

Republicans offered several amendment votes to Dems, but that offer was turned down. Dems wanted a bipartisan base at the start. Tim Scott offered to help Dems filibuster the vote on the back end if they didn't get the votes they sought https://t.co/FbMF6errNK

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) June 24, 2020

In the speech, Scott said he received authorization from Mitch Mcconnell to make 20 amendments to the Republican-drafted legislation, a sweeping bill which addressed a wide range of policing issues. He said that even when Scott offered to amendment every gripe the democrats had with the bill, they still refused to play ball. His explanation: they didn’t want to give the Republicans a political victory so close to the election.

Democrats have responded aggressively. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin called Scott’s reform bill a “token, half-hearted approach”. As a party that focuses so much on the offensive power of loaded words, Durbin’s use of the word “token” to describe Scott’s efforts struck an ugly chord. Responding to the comment, Scott said Durbin’s word choice “hurt my soul”.

“To have the senator from Illinois refer to this process, this bill, this opportunity to restore hope and confidence and trust from the American people, from African Americans, from communities of color, to call this a token process hurts my soul for my country, for our people,” he then added.

Durbin’s communications director said the senator had already sought Scott out on the Senate floor and apologized.

“Audacious, Repugnant” Attacks from Liberals

Scott received no more favor from the left-leaning public than he did from liberal lawmakers. After his speech, he said he received a flood of hate mail and voice messages from the public. Referring to the mail, he said,”It was so profanity-laced, you can’t play five seconds of those videos on your show because there's that many F-bombs, the N-word, by liberal Democrats causing a stir in my office and threatening my life. It is the most audacious, repugnant behavior I’ve seen in a very long time.”

Scott said that, ironically, the vast majority of these vitriolic voicemails were from liberals. He added that he had grown accustomed to being called an “Uncle Tom” for his Republican Party membership. Although he also mentioned that comments over these past weeks went beyond the pale. For reference, an Uncle Tom is a pejorative term for a black man who serves white interests to the detriment of his own people.

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