Democrats said the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor have focused the country’s attention on an issue that’s festered for decades, and they see an opportunity to force changes that have long languished.
“This is something completely different. We have reached, as people say, an inflection point,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “This was like a tinderbox and it has changed everything.”
House Democrats promised to unveil plans early next week, with the Congressional Black Caucus spearheading the party’s effort.
Mrs. Pelosi said their legislation is aimed at curtailing excessive force, addressing racial profiling and ending the qualified immunity that protects law enforcement officers from lawsuits while acting in their official capacity.
“Police accountability is the No. 1 issue. Right now the way the laws are both federally as well as state wide, you can’t sue a police officer, its difficult to fire a police officer and its certainly difficult to prosecute a police officer,” Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass said on MSNBC Thursday. “How do you prove they weren’t in fear for their life? The standard is so low it makes it difficult to prosecute.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Republicans are open to working with Democrats on improved training or police accountability.
“I believe this is a moment for us,” the California Republican said. “I hope that, in this moment in time, Congress rises to the occasion. Because I will tell you, from the [lawmakers] that I have talked to on both sides of the aisle, there’s a great desire to do that.”
But he also signaled there will be resistance to painting the police as villains, as some protesters do.
“I do not believe anybody should be judged by the color of their skin and we should not judge all just by the color of their uniforms,” he added.
The outrage of Mr. Floyd’s death has revived bills that have been kicking around for years.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries wrote a bill in 2015 to prohibit police from using a chokehold, defined as “any pressure to the throat or windpipe which may prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air is a punishment, pain, or penalty.”
That legislation got an endorsement this week from Democrats’ likely presidential nominee, Joseph R. Biden.
Rep. Bobby Rush, Illinois Democrat, said on Twitter that he’s working on legislation to create a national use-of-force standard, and to make violations a federal offense. The goal, he said, is to “criminalize these police lynchings.”
California Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee proposed creating a panel — called the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Commission — that would address the legacy of slavery in current racial tensions. Both Ms. Lee and Ms. Bass joined freshman Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota in introducing a resolution that would condemn racial profiling and police brutality against black Americans.
It also calls on the Justice Department to reassert authority to review such cases and supports the creation of all-civilian review boards for more accountability.
The House Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on police brutality and racial profiling on June 10, while its Senate counterpart will be holding its own about a week later.
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