Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to be here to speak about an issue that is critical to the people of my home state of New Jersey, the nation and our future.

But first, I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your strong and thoughtful leadership on this issue. I have only been in the Senate a short time, but it has been a true pleasure working with you on a variety of civil rights issues, most especially the issue of racial profiling.

I also want to thank Senator Clinton. When we joined the Senate earlier this year we talked about how this would be one of our top priorities, and I've enjoyed working with her on the legislation. I also am grateful for the leadership of our friends from the House of Representatives. Congressman Conyers has been a tireless leader to whom we have all looked for guidance. And we certainly appreciate Congressmen Shays and Wu's willingness to stand up for what is right. I also want to note that two New Jersey Republicans, Congressmen Frelinghuysen and Ferguson, are among others who are cosponsors. This is truly a bipartisan initiative.

Mr. Chairman, the practice of racial profiling is the antithesis of America's belief in fairness and equal protection under the law. Stopping people on our highways, on our streets, or at our borders because of the color of their skin tears at the very fabric that binds our society together. Our nation is based on the premise that we are all created equal. Racial profiling undermines that principle. It is wrong - morally and constitutionally.

But not only is racial profiling wrong, it is an ineffective law enforcement tool. There is no evidence that stopping people of color adds up to catching the bad guys. In fact, statistics show that singling out black or Hispanic motorists for stops and searches does not lead to a higher percentage of arrests.

Mr. Chairman, racial profiling has been a longstanding and serious concern in New Jersey. Yet it took a tragedy on the New Jersey Turnpike to really focus attention on the problem and motivate action. In 1998, four young African-American men were driving on the Turnpike, on their way to North Carolina, hoping to go to college on basketball scholarships. Two state troopers pulled them off the road, and the frightened driver lost control of the van. Two dozen shots rang out. Three out of the four kids were shot. Fortunately all survived. After an extensive investigation, one state trooper was charged with aggravated assault and another with attempted murder. The two officers' records of previous investigatory stops had shown a pattern of race-based interventions.

Unfortunately, the shooting of these young people was just the tip of the iceberg. In 1999, the State Attorney General found that for years state troopers had practiced racial profiling on the New Jersey turnpike, stopping individuals for routine investigatory activities based on their race.

Around the same time, the Justice Department came into New Jersey and investigated allegations of the practice of racial profiling by our state police.
Eventually, a consent decree was entered, requiring the State to institute a number of important reforms, including new training programs, stronger oversight procedures, stepped up efforts to hire minority officers, and the collection of statistics to monitor progress. Our then Governor Christine Todd Whitman concurred with the decree and its remedies.

Fortunately, despite our historic failures on the subject, New Jersey responded in a thoughtful, bipartisan manner. The Governor and newly-appointed Attorney General worked diligently to implement the consent decree. The Black and Latino Legislative Caucus held a public inquiry into racial profiling, documenting its history and prevalance. The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by a Republican, probed how top state officials handled racial profiling by the State Police and proposed a series of added safeguards including banning any so-called "consent searches."

Since then, state legislators - Republicans and Democrats - have proposed numerous reforms to ensure that what has happened in New Jersey never happens again.

But racial profiling is clearly not just a New Jersey problem. This hearing should make it clear. In fact, I hope that New Jersey can be a model of how to respond, if not when to respond.

For example, in my home county of Union County, New Jersey, County Prosecutor Tom Manahan worked closely with the chiefs of police, across the county, to develop a set of policies that will foster greater accountability among police officers and deter them from using race as a reason to stop civilians. The policy bans the use of race in routine stops and detentions, implements new training and outreach, and requires police officers to record the age, gender and race of civilians who are stopped. The chiefs of police in Union County all agreed that data collection is a critical management tool. Data will help monitor progress in addressing profiling, while helping spot problems earlier rather than later. This proactive approach is occurring in a number of communities across New Jersey.

Unfortunately, despite growing recognition that racial profiling exists and is wrong, we still have much work to do. In New Jersey, recent statistics show that minorities are still being stopped disproportionately. Black motorists are nearly twice as likely to be stopped on the Turnpike as white drivers - even after all the publicity and remedial actions taken over the past three years.

This is true nationally as well. A recent survey of police officials found that nearly 60 percent of police officials say racial profiling is not a problem in their communities, and fewer than 20 percent have adopted policies to outlaw the practice. Clearly it is hard to solve a problem if people don't see it as a problem.

That is why we need a proactive approach, and why we need a federal response - the End Racial Profiling Act.

I believe this is the necessary next step in America's continuing struggle to provide civil rights for all Americans.

In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. People marched and people risked their lives to open public accommodations and desegregate our public schools.

In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, so that the fundamental right of citizenship was available in reality to all.

And in 2001, we should pass the End Racial Profiling Act, beginning a new chapter in our efforts to redress civil rights violations in our criminal justice system.

That criminal justice system protect us - and, let me be clear, the vast majority of individual law enforcement officials discharge their duties professionally and fairly, protecting our families and communities. But not all. Our criminal justice system also has the power to dehumanize citizens and undermine the rule of law - which it does when it stops Americans on the basis of the color of their skin.

Our legislation is a strong, but measured response.

First, it defines racial profiling and bans it. Routine investigatory activities based on race are wrong and must be ended. The President and Attorney General have said just that.

Second, we require statistical records so that thoughtful observations by professionals can assess if racial profiling exists. And finally, the legislation will also encourage a climate of cultural change in law enforcement by offering a carrot and retaining a stick.

First, the carrot: We recognize that law enforcement shouldn't be expected to do this alone. So we are saying that if you do the job right - fairly and equitably - you can be eligible to receive a best practices development grant - to help pay for programs dealing with advanced training, to adopt technology to collect data and establish critical early warning systems, and to put video cameras in patrol cars.

There is also a stick. If state and local law enforcement agencies refuse to implement procedures to end and prevent profiling - procedures like those being implemented in Union County, New Jersey - they will be subject to a loss of federal law enforcement funds.

This bill is not about blaming law enforcement, and it is not designed to prevent law enforcement from doing its job. In fact, we believe that the end result will help our officers maintain the public trust they need to do their jobs. Effective law enforcement must be built on the public trust and community confidence. Our bill will go a long way toward restoring that trust.

Mr. Chairman, equal justice before the law is one of our nation's sacred principles. But there is no equal justice - no equal protection under the law - if law enforcement agencies base their actions to stop crime on going after black and brown people on the mere hunch that they are criminals.

In closing, I thank you for holding this hearing and look forward to working with all of you to secure the prompt passage of the End Racial Profiling Act.