okay. 14. >> just stop -- [ inaudible ]. >> all right. tell me the route you want to fly again. roger. fly until it's cleared. >> okay. next time -- [ inaudible ]

>> visual one right. >> 33, 31, one right to land, 13040 at 14. >> clear to land. >> complete. >> proceed eastbound. and from there we'll get to -- and a look at some of the sights this morning at dulles airport as the space shuttle "discovery" lands there for installation, permanent home at smith sewn yap air and space museum, in northern virginia. we're going to take you back live the dirksen senate office building on capitol hill. a short while ago a hearing

wrapped up looking at racial profiles in the u.s. a news conference next by senator cardin calling for an end to racial profiles and hear from hillary sheldon with the naacp, and working out audio issues. live coverage here on c-span3.

testing, one, two, three. testing, one, two, three. okay. we have sound. >> okay. >> okay. >> one minute. >> give you time. >> thank you. well, i think we're ready to go. first let me thank you all for being here. we had an extraordinary turnout at today's hearing and i thank you for that. i particularly want to thank the leadership conference on civil and human rights, the aclu's the rights working group, the naacp for all of your help in

organizing today's activities. particularly i want to compliment chairman durbin for calling this hearing. he is, as i said in my comments, in my testimony, he has been responsible for the, having the subcommittee of the judiciary committee that focuses on human rights issues. and he's a leader on so many different issues in our community as it relates to human rights, and here on ending racial profiling. i think this hearing was a major step forward. i think there was general consensus by all that, all the testimony and the answering of the questions that we have a problem. we've got a problem in this country that needs the federal government to respond to. and that racial profiling is wrong. it's un-american. it's not of the values that we believe in. it's against the spirit if not the letter of our constitution, in protecting the rights of all of our citizens. it's a waste of resources in

which we have limited amount of resources that need to be used to deal with those who are -- need to be held through investigation, we need to have that and it compromises the confidence of the community to work with law enforcement in order to keep a community safe. all of that is jeopardized by racial profiles. i also think it was quite clear from today's hearing that racial profiling is occurring in america. too frequently. and one time is too much, but it is in too many communities. it is used, and it needs to end. i thought that there was a good discussion. i appreciated senator graham's comments that wants to work with us to try to resolve some issues, perhaps of clarification. i think that's legitimate. that's what a legislative process is about, it's to make sure that language accomplish

what's we have set out to do and one of the things we've set out to do was end racial profiles in america. if we can find the right language working with all members of the united states senate, we hope that we will be able to advance that. so i thought it was a constructive hearing, and i could till i've already talked to the leadership on the floor today about this hearing, and looking for opportunities to try to get the bill ready for an actment, because i do think we have an opportunity in this congress to move this along. there was not a lot of comment about specifics that are in my legislation that i filed, and i want to thank senator feingold, the leader in the last congress on this issue. i was a co-sponsor. and when he didn't return to the united states senate i took up this issue, and i'm proud that we have 12 co-sponsors. i think as a result of today's hearing we're got to get more members who are interested in joining us.

the language of the bill is pretty clear. it defines racial profiles. straightforward way. it makes it clear that in the random investigations law enforcement cannot use racial profiles. simple as that. you can't pull someone over because they look a certain way. you have to have solid police evidence as to what you're doing in an investigation. that's the essence of what we're trying to accomplish. we make it clear that the best way to do this is through training. and we want all law enforcement trained. it's not only the police officer. it's all of those who act under the authority of our police need to be trained as to the proper procedures. that's spelled out in our legislation. we also believe that we freed to have the facts and, therefore, there are certain reporting requirements in our legislation. there's also federal funds available for best practices that we share best practices. i just want to respond to one of

the concern that was expressed during the hearing, and that is, whether we are setting up a problem for a technical problem, for convictions of people who have committed crimes. i don't believe that's the case at all. and quite frankly, good policing is how you get people through our criminal justice system in the appropriate way. we've heard this argument over and over again by naysayers. quite frankly, racial profiling is poor police work, and the whole purpose here is to get proper police work so that when people are charged with criminal offenses they will be prepared for the court proceedings in the appropriate manner. so i just wanted you to know i felt very encouraged by today's hearings, and i'm looking forward to working with senator durbin, senator graham, and all of the members of the senate and my colleagues on the house. i thought my house colleagues made a very persuasive point and

we're going to be working with the members of the house a andalities also with the department of justice and the obama administration. we've had some pretty clear communications, and we are working, going to work very closely with the obama administration. what we're going to do now, there's several individuals who are, we're going to be asked to come forward. before i do that, i want to acknowledge from my community bishop richardson, who's here, head of our ame church and one of the great community leaders in baltimore and maryland and i thank you very much for joining us today. you'll be hearing from some of the other distinguished people that are here. because of our caucus launch which takes place in about 10 to 15 minutes and it's very possible that this issue will be on the schedule of our lunch today, i'm going to have to excuse myself in about ten minutes. if there are specific questions that members of the media have,

i'd be glad to answer them now. if there's not, we're going to go on with the regular programming. is there any specific -- yes? >> at the lunch today in what capacity jie mean -- >> my guess sts not going to be on the schedule, because the hearing took place today, it might. the normal schedule for today's conference would include the postal reform bill which is, you know, we just enacted cloture on that, and the budget, it was the budget -- i also serve on the budget committee. so i need to be there also for the budget issues. so that's what is scheduled on the agenda, and, but you never know, because of the day's hearing it may come up and i might be so motivated to bring it up today. >> in realistic terms, since there were no republicans testifying on behalf of the bill, only one republican at the, on the desk, what's the realistic terms for trying to get this bill through at all before the elections? >> well, i thought senator graham's comments were telling.

he made it clear that he's prepared to work with us. i think whether you're a democrat or a republican, you note that we have a problem in this country in racial profiles. so i would hope that we would be able to bring about a consensus here to move legislation forward. quite frankly, the trayvon martin case has put an national spotlight on this. and i think the american public were outraged by what they saw. and as the investigation continues, again, i don't want to prejudge the investigation, but everything that we've seen indicates that race had an immediate impact on trayvon martin being targeted. and the end result was, he lost his life. so we want to make sure that never happens again. i think that's true whether you're a democrat or republican, and i would hope that we would get a consensus on this bill. certainly going to work for that. yes? >> -- would really not affect people like zimmerman, who are

on neighborhood watch. you know, this is law enforcement. any discussion of trying to expand that or -- >> it's my intentions that it would affect a person such as mr. zimmerman, because he's acting under the authority of local law enforcement. he's working in cooperation with local law enforcement. so these neighborhood watch groups would be, would go through training and understand that racial profiling cannot be used. it's wrong, et cetera. so i would hope that neighborhood watch groups would be covered under our legislation, and be subjected to a training session. yes? >> -- [ inaudible ] republicans, one thing they point to they have a problem with? >> i haven't heard of any specific part of the legislation that they have concern about. i know there's always concern on new authorizations. so we will certain look at that issue to see whether we can't satisfy the concern on new spending.

whether we can't find an avenue within existing programs to finance this. this is not a large cost issue. so that would be one area that i expect that i would have to deal with in order to get certain republicans to sign on to it, but from the point of view of the substance of the legislation, i don't know of any specific concern as congressman conyers pointed out from the beginning, this is not to impede the proper investigation of a crime. specific crime. where the identification of the -- of the potential perpetrator needs to be fully explored. that's not the intentions of this legislation at all. what the intent is, is to prevent the random selection of individuals because of their race, their ethnic background, et cetera. and i think that fundamental issue, there shouldn't be much disagreement in this congress. but i'm an optimism mist. i'm in the senate.

you got to be an optimist to be in the senate. yes? >> you hoped it would include never botch -- do you think the language already does that or is that something you hope to fold in later? >> i believe it's already included in the language. if that needs clarified we will clarify it. the language makes it clear law enforcement, these neighborhood watch groups, are working under the direct partnership with local police. so they need to take responsibility for those actions. yes? last question and then we'll move on. >> there was some sfrugs one ug from one of the witnesses reporting would cause new action against police officers? do you think your legislation would do that? >> no. i don't think it does that at all and if that needs to be clarified we will clarify it. that's not the intent of the legislation. that would be an area, i expect there will be technical suggestions. we're waiting for the department of justice also to give us their

views on the technical language. no, that's not the intent of this legislation at all. with that, what i'm going to do is, introduce, there's an order we're going to follow here. what i'm going ask the cooperation of the different persons as they will just follow this list. i do want to acknowledge reverend jamal bryant, who's also here from baltimore. he is on the program to speak. since i will not be here when he is introduced i just really wanted to acknowledge him and take the local prerogative, as a marylander, a point of pride, dr. bryant's extraordinary leadership is, his advice he's given to the trayvon martin family, his spiritual help has certainly been noted around the nation, and we are very proud of his leadership in our community. it's nice to have you here. with that, i'm going to follow the order that we have here and ask, i hope you all have good eyesight. small print. if you'll follow down, we'll start with mart wong, the

executive director of the rights working group. if members of the congress come back, they will have a chance to speak also. you have bonita rhodes, african-american american mother and grandmother will go next. then a u.s. citizen of mexican origin. elizabeth dan, third year law student. anthony romero. hilary shelton, naacp washington bureau and a frequent visitor to this room. knows this room probably better than any other person that's here a great leader on civil rights issues, kevin levine, retired police officer and a criminal justice professor. sorry. dr. jamal bryant after hilary shelton and the final person would be kevin levine. dr. bryant is the pastor of

empowerment temple, ame church of baltimore. so we were start with margaret wong and then proceed and i'll leave this list up here so everyone knows. again, thank you all very much. appreciate it. >> good morning, everyone, and welcome. my name is margaret wong, i'm the executive director of the heights working group where a coalition of more than 300 organizations across the country working to end human rights violations civil liberties violations for everyone in the united states, regardless of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, immigration or citizenship status. it is a pleasure to be here today and have yoin joined all of you for this momentous hearing. we want to start by acknowledging senator cardin's leader as a sponsor of the act pap true champion, taken the bill and really moved it forward in the last year and we're

grateful to him for his leadership. we also want to thank senator durbin for hosting today's hearing. as he note at few times, the first in more than decade to look as this point issue and we appreciate his ongoing efforts to protect human rights and equal justice for everyone in the united states. today in 2012 racial profiling is flourishing. despite the fact that we have our first african-american president, our first african-american attorney general, our first latina on the supreme court, racial profiling is doing -- is increasing on an extraordinary basis. despite all of these achievements, we have to deal with this serious and pervasive problem. and it doesn't just affect african-americans, latino, asians, arabs, sics and muslims. it affects all of us, everyone in the united states. when communities lose trust in the their police in the government, it means that they

don't serve as witnesses. that they don't report crimes. that affects everyone's safety any our communities. it means that parents don't take their children to school. it means that loved ones don't take ill family members to the hospital. all of us become less safe when racial profiling is not addressed. passing the end racial profiling act would be a major step forward in countering this problem. it defines the problem, bans it, requires law enforcement agencies to adopt clear policies and train their officers to avoid racial profiling. we need this legislation. today we hope that a number of the members who testified earlier this morning will be coming back to share their comments with you and to take questions. we will also hear from a number of directly affected people. people who have, in fact, suffered racial profiling, who want to share their stories with you. we hope that you'll all join us

in this fight to end racial profiles and to pass the end racial profiles act. i'd like to call up my colleague, bonita, as our first person to offer some comments this morning. thank you. morning. thank you. >> good afternoon. i was born and raised in minneapolis, minnesota, along with my siblings we were brought up to be proud of who we were. my father was a 20-year veteran with the minneapolis police department. he made it quite clear to us that we better not get in trouble. i grew up believing if i abided by the law and treated myself and others with respect, i wouldn't have to face questions by law enforcement or be singled out for any reason. but that changed 11 years ago when the dea at the

minneapolis-st. paul airport stopped me for no reason than the color of my skin. i was returning home from a two-week trip visiting my younger son damon who resides in los angeles, california. i took the red eye. i was using my frequent flier miles and it was the only available time that i had to come home to usei had taken the work at my job in downtown st. paul and i had planned to go straight home because the red eye you know you get tired flying that particular flight. i was wearing jeans, a jacket, and a baseball cap and no makeup because i like to be comfortable in flying. once i got off the plane, i collected my luggage and headed toward the elevator to take the shuttle downtown because i live in downtown minneapolis. while i was waiting for the

doors of the elevator to close, i saw a man and a woman running two catch the elevator so i held the door open. they entered the elevator and rode down with me. when the elevator doors opened, the woman said excuse me, and i turned around and they had their badge out. their badges out. they said that they were dea agents and it was their job to watch for people bringing in drugs and money for laundering. i asked them what was their criteria for stopping me and they told me that my carry on looked heavy. after i questioned them, they got defensive and told me not to be indignant. they wanted to see my airline ticket and my identification. the female officer asked to check my carry on and i told her to go for it. in my carry on she found my bible, my devotional studies,

toiletries, lingeries, my pajamas and a soy protein product. the agent closed my bag and they went on their way. after they let me go, i proceeded to catch the shuttle. on the way home i started crying. i was so mad, i knew that they had stopped me because i was an african-american and i knew that i had been racially profiled. immediately after that terrible experience i got in touch with my representative senator and even called the governor's office to let them know that the dea had stopped me and i didn't do anything wrong and i wanted to know why they had treated me as if i had. but since that time, i have successfully settled a civil rights lawsuit in july of 2005. but from that day on, my feelings about the police and law enforcements have been not the same. the following saturday i had to

go to the airport again to catch another flight because a friend of mine her husband was giving her a 50th birthday party in orlando, florida. so after we arrived -- after i arrived in orlando, i went to catch the shuttle to the airport -- to the hotel, and as i was walking to catch the shuttle, a policeman said may i help you? and i thought to myself, help me? i didn't ask for help, why is he asking me that question. from that day on, my feelings about the police and the law enforcement have not been the same. so the thing is in regards to being stopped by the police and the dea i have been paranoid and never relaxed in flying again. you have that relaxed feeling 11 years ago, i have that no more.

that was taken away from me. thank you. [ applause ] >> translator: any name is- and i am a proud citizen of this i was born in mexico yet my mother was a u.s. citizen in texas.

becoming a u.s. citizen was one of my proudest moments. i'll never forget the way that i felt raising my hand and taking the oath to this country. i felt that i was part of something bigger than myself. i felt that i was part of a community and that i was finally equal to every other american. that feeling was short lived for me and my family.

in february 2011, i confronted the harsh reality that so many in my community face. racial profiling. while driving a company van of the company where i worked at, i was stopped by a michigan state police officer. the officer said i had run a red light. i would have preferred that the officer just gave me a ticket rather than interrogate me about my citizenship. called me a liar and threatened

to kick my butt. the ticket would have been much easier to explain to my children than racial profiling. when the officer came to my car, i handed him my michigan driver's license. yet the officer was more interested in my immigration status. i repeatedly told him that i was a u.s. citizen. he didn't care. he went to his car to look at my

record. and when he returned he told me to get out of the car and that i was going to be deported. the officer had called border patrol. my card was impounded. i was handcuffed and driven to an empty parking lot to wait for border patrol officers. i couldn't understand why this was happening to me. i felt worse than any criminal. a criminal knows when he's arrested it's because he's at