George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021
Floor Speech
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Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1280, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
With something as important as police reform, it is important to garner many perspectives. The JUSTICE Act, legislation Senator Scott and I introduced, is a product of my perspective as a law enforcement officer from Minnesota and Senator Scott's perspective as a Black man from South Carolina.
The JUSTICE Act increases body cameras and implements duty to intervene and deescalation training. It improves hiring and recruitment practices. It reinvigorates the principles of community policing to rebuild the relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities that they serve.
The JUSTICE Act, which received bipartisan support last Congress, includes several critical provisions that are supported by Democrats: the Walter Scott Notification Act, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act, and the Closing the Law Enforcement Consent Loophole Act. It even includes legislation that Vice President Harris introduced, the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act.
Unfortunately, we are not considering the JUSTICE Act today. We are, instead, once again, exploring political gamesmanship through H.R. 1280.
Now, when we voted on this legislation last year, the Democrats knew it was dead upon passage, but my good friends and I in the Problem Solvers Caucus decided that this conversation was too important to let go. So we worked for months with Representatives from both sides of the aisle, with Representatives from the Congressional Black Caucus, with Representatives from law enforcement and legal backgrounds, on areas where we could find compromise between the Justice in Policing Act and my bill, the JUSTICE Act.
We discussed no-knock warrants, the 1033 program, use of force, record retention, and so much more. We were making such great headway. I truly believed that we could have put together a bipartisan package of reforms for our American communities that have been calling for change.
Unfortunately, the other side walked away. As the election drew near, the priorities of my Democratic colleagues shifted. Their fight to retain power became more important than providing police reform for the American people.
So now we are here again, Mr. Speaker, to vote on the exact same bill without a single change; a bill that has zero input from Republicans, zero input or support from our law enforcement community. And I will repeat that. Zero input or support from our law enforcement community.
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Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that will, no doubt, make our communities less safe. We all want police reform and we all want change, but until such time as we work together, this legislation is just another messaging bill from my Democrat colleagues.
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