Vox Sentences - "Stop the pain."

George Floyd's brother calls on Congress to address police violence; an oil spill in the Arctic continues to spread.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Cameron Peters.

Insights to 2020 webinar: The United States is in the middle of a pandemic, social upheaval — and a presidential election. Join Vox’s policy and politics experts Thursday, June 10, at noon ET to discuss what America's future could look like up and down the ballot.

• On Wednesday, George Floyd’s brother appeared before Congress for a House Judiciary Committee hearing on policing. “I’m tired,” Philonise Floyd told lawmakers. “I’m tired of the pain I’m feeling now, and I’m tired of the pain I feel every time another black person is killed for no reason.” [Vox / Alex Ward]
• Floyd’s testimony, along with that of 11 other witnesses Wednesday, comes as Congress takes up the question of police reform. A bill introduced by House Democrats Monday could see a floor vote before the end of the month. [Politico / Betsy Woodruff Swan and Melanie Zanona]
• The Democratic bill, called the Justice in Policing Act, would ban police use of chokeholds, as well as "no knock" drug raids like the one that led to Breonna Taylor's killing in March, and it would make it easier for police to be held accountable for misconduct, among other reforms. [Washington Post / Paul Kane and John Wagner]
• Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Justin Amash (I-MI) are also spearheading an effort to end qualified immunity, which protects officers from personal lawsuits over misconduct. Sens. Ed Markey, Cory Booker, and Kamala Harris are backing a similar bill in the Senate. [WBUR / Kimberly Atkins]
• On Wednesday, the Pressley/Amash bill won the backing of more than 1,400 athletes, coaches, and personnel from across the NFL, NBA, and MLB. In a statement, the Players Coalition said that “the time for debate about the unchecked authority of the police is over; it is now time for change.” [Twitter / Players Coalition]
• Reform efforts are happening outside of Congress too: In New York on Tuesday, lawmakers repealed a law preventing the public disclosure of police disciplinary records, just one day after they voted to ban the use of chokeholds in the state. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he will sign the repeal. [Reuters / Maria Caspani]
• In Minnesota, a veto-proof majority Minneapolis City Council on Sunday backed a plan to disband the city’s police department, which has long flouted reform attempts, in favor of a community-based public safety system. [Guardian / Oliver Milman]
• The details of the plan are still unclear, but the council says it will listen to members of the community as it works toward “ending the Minneapolis Police Department and creating a new, transformative model for cultivating safety in Minneapolis.” [Minneapolis Star Tribune]
• The move wouldn’t be unprecedented: In 2012, the city of Camden, New Jersey, dissolved its corruption-laden police department outright and started anew with a county police department. The plan worked — violent crime rates and use of force complaints both plummeted. [NPR / James Doubek]

• Late last month, a fuel tank at a power plant in the north of Russia spilled some 20,000 tons of diesel into a nearby river. The spill is severe enough that Russian President Vladimir Putin last week declared a state of emergency in the region. [Washington Post / Isabelle Khurshudyan]
• Now that fuel is flowing toward the Arctic Ocean, despite efforts to contain it. The diesel spill has already reached a nearby Arctic lake and is in danger of spilling into a nature reverse and, from there, the ocean. [NYT / Andrew E. Kramer]
• The spill is considered the worst in recent memory and has elicited comparisons to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Consequences have been swift: The director of the power plant responsible for the spill has been arrested, and the Russian government has opened a criminal case. [BBC]
• Thawing permafrost in the region may have been a partial cause of the spill, which according to local officials could take as much as a decade to clean up. However, environmental organizations and Putin have both stressed that mismanagement on the part of Nornickel, the company responsible for the spill, is “the main factor.” [Guardian / Andrew Roth]

[CNN / Katelyn Polantz]

• “We are looking for justice”: Amid a pandemic and protests, Sikh groups are feeding those in need. [NYT / Priya Krishna]
• Books about race and anti-racism are selling so fast that some bookstores can't keep up. [NPR / Mark Lieberman]
• “More or less really f---ed up”: National Guard members involved in clearing protesters from Lafayette Park last week say they were shaken by the experience. [Politico / Daniel Lippman]

[Rep. John Lewis, a leader in the civil rights movement, on what this moment demands of protesters / Washington Post]

Jane, Dara, and Matt on America's dual reckonings with racism and police impunity. [Spotify / Jane Coaston, Dara Lind, and Matthew Yglesias]