Subject: HRC remarks on race and justice
From: Dan Schwerin <[email-masked]>
To: Huma Abedin <[email-masked]>, Cheryl Mills <[email-masked]>, Philippe Reines <[email-masked]>, Jake Sullivan <[email-masked]>, Nick Merrill <[email-masked]>, John Podesta <[email-masked]>, Robby Mook <[email-masked]>, Brynne Craig <[email-masked]>
Cc: Ethan Gelber <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2014 14:09:59 +0000

HRC wants to begin her remarks today at the Massachusetts Conference for Women with a few comments on the Ferguson-Staten Island situation.  I've adapted what we worked on last week for use here.  Attached is the full speech and below are the new lines.

Before I begin today, I would like to say a few words about the pain and frustration that so many Americans are feeling today about our criminal justice system.

First of all, I'm glad that the Department of Justice is investigating what happened in both Ferguson and Staten Island.  Those communities - as well as our country -- deserve a full and fair accounting and substantive reforms that ensure equality, justice and respect for every citizen.

President Obama and Attorney General Holder are right that these events should force us all to grapple with hard truths about race and justice in America.

Despite all the progress we've made together, African Americans are still more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms. A third of all black men face the prospect of prison during their lifetimes, which has devastating consequences for families and communities across our country.

The United States has less than five percent of the world's population, yet we have almost 25 percent of the world's total prison population.  That's not because Americans are more violent or criminal than others around the world - far from it.  It's because we have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance.

I hope that out of these tragedies, we can come together as a nation to begin a serious and substantive debate about how we find our balance again.

There's encouraging progress to build on.  Since 2008, both crime and incarceration have actually fallen together for the first time in 40 years.  All over the country there are creative and effective police departments demonstrating that it is possible to keep us safe and reduce crime and violence without relying on unnecessary force or excessive incarceration.  There are officers out there every day inspiring trust and confidence rather than fear and frustration.

We can learn from these examples, invest in what works, and make sure that federal funds to state and local law enforcement are used to bolster best practices rather than buy weapons of war that have no place on our streets or contribute to unnecessary force or arrests.  The President has announced a task force on policing that will make recommendations in about 90 days.  He's proposed funding for police body cameras and training.  These are important steps.

And as we move forward, perhaps the most important thing each of us can do is to try even harder to see the world through our neighbors' eyes.  Imagine what it's like to walk in their shoes.  To feel their pain and also their hopes and dreams.  As Michael Brown's father said, we are strongest when we're united, working together for lasting positive change.

So it's in that spirit that I'm delighted to be with you here today in Boston, where our American experiment began and where you are doing so much to showcase the best of what makes us who we are as a people...