Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi led House and Senate Democrats in a moment of silence at the Capitol's Emancipation Hall, reading the names of George Floyd and others killed.
Watch the moment of silence in the video player above.
They then knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds – now a symbol of police brutality and violence – the length of time prosecutors say Floyd was pinned under a white police officer's knee before he died.
"We're here to observe that pain," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, drawing on the nation's founding with slavery.
"We're here to respect the actions of the American people to speak out against that," she said, before kneeling on one knee. "We are here to honor George Floyd."