Senator Reverend Warnock, a member of the Senate Banking committee, was the lone Democrat to vote NO on the SAFER Banking Act during yesterday’s hearing 

 The Senator cited his grave concerns that the legislation focuses solely on benefitting wealthy cannabis investors while doing nothing to make the millions of Americans who have been impacted by cannabis criminalization financially whole, or to restore the communities that have been hardest hit by the War on Drugs

Senator Reverend Warnock on lack of restorative justice provisions in the SAFER Banking Act: “I don’t believe in trickle-down economics, and I don’t believe in trickle-down justice” 

WATCH: Senator Reverend Warnock’s full opening remarks from SAFER Banking Act hearing – VIDEO HERE

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a member of the U.S. Senate Banking committee, voted against the SAFER Banking Act during a committee hearing on the bill, arguing that the legislation would only benefit cannabis investors but do nothing for the millions of Americans negatively impacted by the War on Drugs.

“My fear is that if we pass this legislation, if we greenlight this new industry and the fees and the profits to be made off of it without helping those communities, we will just make the comfortable more comfortable. And I see no historical evidence that suggests that when we do that we’ll go back and get those left behind. I don’t believe in trickle-down economics, and I don’t believe in trickle-down justice,” Senator Warnock said during his opening remarks at the hearing. “If we allow the privileged to profit from conduct that deprived [convicted cannabis users] of their freedom…in practice if not by design, we will likely exacerbate the nation’s already egregious racial wealth gap. And so that’s my concern.”

During the hearing Senator Warnock offered an amendment that would allow the legislation to expire after five years if it did not achieve the committee’s stated goals of helping reduce the nation’s racial wealth gap, which was not adopted. Senator Warnock followed the effort by attempting to offer a series of additional amendments aimed at ensuring the bill would, if signed into law, provide justice and equity to the individuals and communities who have been criminalized by the War on Drugs, and including provisions in the bill to ensure that the SAFER Banking Act does not contribute to America’s ever-growing racial wealth gap. Ultimately the legislation was approved by the committee 14-9, with Senator Warnock being the only Democrat to vote against its advancement due to it’s lack of restorative justice provisions. 

Select excerpts from Senator Reverend Warnock’s remarks at today’s Senate Banking committee hearing:

“[L]et me be very clear: I am not opposed to easing or undoing federal restrictions around cannabis. And I would support all of the provisions and reforms in this legislation if paired with broader cannabis reforms that substantively address the issue of restorative justice. This bill does not do that.”

“We know what will happen in the cannabis industry if this bill passes. If we’re honest, we know what will happen. We know there are no provisions in this bill that suggest the cannabis industry will be any less consolidated than any others, or that the proceeds of this industry will be directed to communities who have been most grievously harmed by the so-called War on Drugs—which has in fact been a war on these communities.”

“Since America declared a war on drugs, the United States of America—the land of the free—is the incarceration capital of the world. The U.S. prison population increased from under 250,000 in 1975 to over 1.4 million in 2019—over 2 million people after you include jails, too. Many of these individuals had a drug offense listed as their most serious crime. So let me be clear: according to the facts, this burden does not fall evenly across our communities. While studies show cannabis use among Americans across society—Black Americans and white Americans—are around the same, Black Americans are nearly four times more likely than white Americans to be arrested; in fact, the incarceration rate is nearly five times as high as the white incarceration rate.”

“I’ve seen this up close as a pastor and it seems to me if this committee is to take seriously addressing our nation’s broken cannabis laws, and to seek true equity, then I submit that our only legislative priority cannot just be to make this SAFER Banking Act‘safer’ to protect financial institutions serving this new industry. We must look to make whole the communities across the country that have been hollowed out and are being hollowed out right now in real time by the War on Drugs.”

“I’ve heard a lot from my colleagues about how this bill will help small businesses, how it will help entrepreneurs and help those harmed from decades of injustice. And if we sincerely believe that, we ought to hold ourselves accountable to that goal. And if you sincerely believe that, and that this will narrow the racial wealth gap and not expand it—as I fear it will—you should vote yes on this amendment [to] hold ourselves accountable.”

WATCH video of Senator Reverend Warnock’s full opening remarks at yesterday’s Senate Banking committee hearing HERE.

See a transcript below of Senator Reverend Warnock’s full opening remarks at yesterday’s Senate Banking committee hearing:

“Thank you, Mr. Chair. I call up Amendment #27.

“Mr. Chair, I am deeply troubled—deeply troubled—that we are voting on this bill at this time. And I must ask my colleagues why this bill and why now?

“I find a kind of tragic irony that we are calling this the ‘SAFER Banking’ bill. And for me, it begs the question, who does this so-called ‘SAFER Banking’ bill actually make safer? Certainly not the millions of Americans locked up for nonviolent drug offenses since President Nixon declared the War on Drugs over 50 years ago. Certainly not their mothers, or their fathers, or their daughters or their sons who have to live in hollowed out communities filled with the shadows of loved ones who deserve the chance to thrive. Surely not the children who are waking up this morning without their mom or dad in the house because of the enforcement of cannabis over 50 years. 

“Instead, this bill will make life safer for bankers, for businesses and financial institutions—some of whom have been profiting from the cannabis industry illegally for years. Which is ironic given many of the regular folks that illegally sold or used cannabis are sitting in jail cells right now.

“And so let me be very clear: I am not opposed to easing or undoing federal restrictions around cannabis. And I would support all of the provisions and reforms in this legislation if paired with broader cannabis reforms that substantively address the issue of restorative justice. This bill does not do that.

“Some will say, well, we should not destroy the good in pursuit of the perfect. And I agree with that principle generally, but as I raise my objection, that is not what this is. This is not destroying the good in pursuit of the perfect. This bill, I would argue, will make things worse. It will set the terms for a step backwards—backwards—in the pursuit of equity and justice and safety.

“We know what will happen in the cannabis industry if this bill passes. If we’re honest, we know what will happen. We know there are no provisions in this bill that suggest the cannabis industry will be any less consolidated than any others, or that the proceeds of this industry will be directed to communities who have been most grievously harmed by the so-called War on Drugs—which has in fact been a war on these communities.

“Since America declared a war on drugs, the United States of America—the land of the free—is the incarceration capital of the world. The U.S. prison population increased from under 250,000 in 1975 to over 1.4 million in 2019—over 2 million people after you include jails, too. Many of these individuals had a drug offense listed as their most serious crime.

“So let me be clear: according to the facts, this burden does not fall evenly across our communities. While studies show cannabis use among Americans across society—Black Americans and white Americans—are around the same, Black Americans are nearly four times more likely than white Americans to be arrested; in fact, the incarceration rate is nearly five times as high as the white incarceration rate.

And so we can’t pretend that this didn’t happen over the last fifty years. And even after individuals reenter their communities, they are saddled with this criminal history which can prevent them from accessing housing, jobs, food benefits, and sometimes a driver’s license.

“I’ve seen this up close as a pastor and it seems to me if this committee is to take seriously addressing our nation’s broken cannabis laws, and to seek true equity, then I submit that our only legislative priority cannot just be to make this SAFER Banking Act ‘safer’ to protect financial institutions serving this new industry. We must look to make whole the communities across the country that have been hollowed out and are being hollowed out right now in real time by the War on Drugs.

“My fear is that if we pass this legislation, if we greenlight this new industry and the fees and the profits to be made off of it without helping those communities, we will just make the comfortable more comfortable. And I see no historical evidence that suggests that when we do that we’ll go back and get those left behind. I don’t believe in trickle-down economics, and I don’t believe in trickle-down justice. If we allow the privileged to profit from conduct that deprived [convicted cannabis users] of their freedom…in practice if not by design, we will likely exacerbate the nation’s already egregious racial wealth gap. And so that’s my concern.

“This is why I am offering a simple, commonsense amendment to this legislation that would establish a five-year sunset on these policies unless we demonstrate that they have actually made life better for the millions of families and the communities being harmed right now by the War on Drugs. Surely they deserve to benefit from this committee’s work on this issue as much as wealthy cannabis investors.

“I’ve heard a lot from my colleagues about how this bill will help small businesses, how it will help entrepreneurs and help those harmed from decades of injustice. And if we sincerely believe that, we ought to hold ourselves accountable to that goal. And if you sincerely believe that, and that this will narrow the racial wealth gap and not expand it—as I fear it will—you should vote yes on this amendment [to] hold ourselves accountable.

“Thank you, Mr. Chair. I ask for a roll call vote on my amendment.”

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