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[Pages S3201-S3202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE JUSTICE ACT
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to proceeding on
S. 3985, the JUSTICE Act, and want to briefly explain why.
On May 25, a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on the neck of George
Floyd for almost 9 minutes. Mr. Floyd repeatedly said he could not
breathe and pleaded for officers to stop. The officers ignored his
pleas and continued to kneel on his neck until his body went limp.
George Floyd's alleged crime? Using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy
groceries during a global pandemic.
As a nation, we have seen far too many unarmed Black men and women
killed by police. Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back while
running away from Atlanta police. The police had been called because he
had fallen asleep in his car and was blocking a fast-food drive-thru.
Breonna Taylor, an emergency medical worker, was shot eight times by
Louisville police while asleep in her home. Eric Garner was choked to
death by an NYPD officer for selling cigarettes. Freddie Gray was
killed after being taken into custody by Baltimore police for
possessing a knife. Walter Scott was shot in the back by North
Charleston police after being stopped for a bad brake light. Stephon
Clark was killed by Sacramento police in his grandmother's backyard for
breaking windows. And Michael Brown was shot six times by Ferguson
police while his hands were raised in the air.
Over the past month, millions of people--of all races, ages, and
backgrounds--have taken to the streets throughout the Nation to protest
these killings and to demand real police reform. We need to respond
with legislation that truly meets this moment, a bill that actually
holds law enforcement agencies and offices accountable under the law.
The Republican JUSTICE Act is nowhere near enough. It simply does not
impose accountability on law enforcement. Specifically, it does not
create a national use of force standard. For example, in California,
lethal force may only be used to prevent an imminent threat of death or
serious bodily injury to the officer or to another person. It does not
end racial profiling; in other words, it does not stop police from
using race to target individuals, a practice I would hope that everyone
agrees must cease. It does not prohibit no-knock warrants in drug
cases, the very type of warrant that led to the death of Breonna
Taylor. It does not reform qualified immunity, a legal defense that has
allowed officers to avoid accountability even when they have broken the
law. Instead of fixing these problems, the JUSTICE Act collects more
information and data on problems we already know exist.
We do not need more information. We need to address the underlying
issues of systemic racism and police use of force. That is where the
Justice in Policing Act comes in. Senator Booker and Senator Harris
introduced this bill earlier this month. It should be our starting
point. The bill makes meaningful reforms. For example, it requires that
police departments ban
[[Page S3202]]
choke holds and carotid holds in order to receive Federal funds. It
prohibits the use of racial profiling by police officers. It creates a
national police misconduct registry that would collect disciplinary or
termination history of officers so potential employers would know of an
officer's past misconduct. It gives subpoena authority to the Justice
Department to conduct ``pattern or practice'' investigations. It
eliminates the defense of ``qualified immunity'' so that police
officers can be held civilly liable under the law for misconduct. And
it amends Federal criminal law so officers can more effectively be
charged for violating people's constitutional and legal rights.
Meaningful reform is long overdue, and rather than rushing a weak
bill to the floor, the Senate Judiciary Committee should take up the
Justice in Policing Act as soon as possible. This is how the Senate is
supposed to work. We should not be trying to address this important
issue by rushing an insufficient bill to the floor. Now is the time for
leadership, courage, and real police reform.
Thank you.
____________________
