Breaking News
House Policing Bill is Unlikely to Clear Senate
The House voted to pass a Democratic policing reform bill on Thursday. However, the legislation is unlikely to make it past the GOP-controlled Senate.
Democrat and Republican leaders have both expressed outrage over the recent police killing of George Floyd, but both parties have different ideas about the best path forward for legislative efforts to reform police practices. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted 236-181 to pass the Democratic police reform bill on Thursday, but the legislation won’t get much further without bipartisan support.
Police reform has been a prominent topic on Capitol Hill for the past few weeks, but Democrats and Republicans remain highly divided on the issue. Both parties have drafted legislation, but so far there has been little cooperation between the two sides. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats voted down the GOP’s police reform bill and criticized it for not having enough teeth. After the vote, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the GOP bill’s primary architect, said he offered Democrats several amendments in hopes of passing the bill, but his efforts ultimately failed to quell Democratic demands.
Senators Weigh In
House passes Democrats’ policing bill, but no path seen for deal – The Wall Street Journal
On 6/25/20, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said “It’s closer to the trash can than it ever has been.” Speaking of Democrats, he said, “This is pure race politics.” https://t.co/MNGHYB8GoV
— SusanMcDonaldGaddy (@McGaddy) June 26, 2020
Sen. Scott said it’s increasingly unlikely that the two sides will be able to make a deal and blamed Democratic efforts to undermine President Trump for the legislative impasse. “It’s closer to the trash can than it ever has been,” Sen. Scott told Fox News on Thursday morning. “They [Democrats] don’t want this president to have a victory on another serious issue confronting the minority communities. This is pure race politics.”
Another prominent Republican Senator, Lamar Alexander (R-TN) called on Democrats to explain why they’re dragging their feet. “They’re the ones that need to explain why they don’t want to debate the very issue that they’re spending most of their time talking about,” Alexander said.
House Representatives Weigh In
Congressional Democrats blamed the setbacks on their Republican counterparts. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) said the two sides just don’t see eye to eye, “Quite frankly they, I don’t think the majority in the Senate shares our values on this issue,” said Underwood. “I would not characterize that the policing reform effort went wrong. I think there’s something wrong in the Senate.”
House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called on Senate Republicans to draft a new deal that addresses Democratic concerns. “They need to go together and write a bill that’s real,” said Pelosi. “Don’t just take the words and defang so it has no effect.”
Policing Reform Proposals
A Republican policing reform bill hit a roadblock Wednesday as Senate Democrats blocked it, leaving the parties to decide whether to negotiate a compromise or walk away despite public outcry over the killings of black Americans. https://t.co/Zw8Bg8A6Yl
— CBN News (@CBNNews) June 25, 2020
The Republican policing reform bill includes plans to collect extensive data on police use of force and no-knock warrants. It would also commission a study into the status of African American men in America and examine the nation’s criminal justice system. Legislators plan to use the data to craft future legislation.
Democrats say the GOP bill doesn’t go far enough. The Democrat proposal would prohibit law enforcement from profiling individuals based on race or religion. The bill also includes provisions to prosecute officers for misconduct and allow civilians to pursue damages if their constitutional rights are violated by police.
Both bills call for reduced federal funding for state and local police departments that don’t ban chokeholds. However, the Democrat version extends the ban to include federal law enforcement. Conversely, the GOP bill calls on the attorney general to develop a strategy for ending the practice, but it allows for exceptions in instances where deadly force is authorized.
Republicans and Democrats will have to negotiate some kind of compromise in order to restart the legislative process. Right now, Congressional efforts to reform law enforcement is indefinitely stalled.
Up Next:
