Representatives and senators gathered for the National Action Network Legislative Conference in the Hart Senate Office Building on Thursday to talk to constituents about policy issues impacting the Black community.
Speakers included Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Rep. Eric Swalwell, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Rep. William Lacy Clay, Rep. Jerry Nadler, Sen. Marie Hirono and others.
Policymakers addressed the crowd to prepare participants for their senator legislative meetings later in the day, advising them on legislation worth bringing to their senators’ attention.
Lawmakers “don’t know what their constituents want if we don’t bring it to them,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network. “That’s what today is all about.”
For the most part, higher education policy faded into background while issues like criminal justice reform, police brutality and gun control were brought to the fore.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley called America’s criminal justice system “fundamentally flawed beyond reform.”
“I do believe the people closest to the pain should be closest to the power, striving and informing the policymaking,” she said. “And each of you is certainly closest to the pain.”
