• "[As defined by] the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, lynching exists when there’s a conspiracy between two individuals to violate the Hate Crimes Act. And I believe, according to the news accounts that I’ve seen, this father and this son ... they committed a hate crime act against Ahmaud Arbery, and that would make it a lynching under my bill. I see it as lynching legally, legislatively, morally, socially, politically, and racially...It was a lynching clear on its face, a modern-day lynching." Source: Rep. Bobby Rush (Democrat, Illinois, District 1)
• "The idea that we would not be taking the issue of lynching seriously is an insult, an insult to Senator Booker, to Senator Tim Scott and myself and all of the senators past and present who have understood this is part of the great stain of America’s history. To suggest that anything short of pulverizing someone so much that the casket would otherwise be closed except for the heroism and courage of Emmett Till’s mother; to suggest that lynching would only be a lynching if someone’s heart was pulled out and reduced and displayed to someone else is ridiculous." Source: Sen. Kamala Harris (Democrat, California)
• "Tell me another time when 500-plus Congress people — Democrats, Republicans, House members and senators — come together in a chorus of conviction and say, ‘Now is the time in America that we condemn the dark history of our past and actually pass anti-lynching legislation.’ The frustrating thing for me is that at a time this country hungers for common-sense racial reconciliation, an acknowledgment of our past and a looking forward to a better future, this will be one of the sad days where that possibility was halted." Source: Sen. Cory Booker (Democrat, New Jersey)