By Ashlee Banks
Special to the AFRO
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, reintroduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to honor the fourth anniversary of George Floyd’s death.
On. May 25, 2020, former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, as Floyd cried out “I can’t breathe.” The 46-year-old was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital shortly after the incident took place. Floyd’s death sparked protests across the world and reignited the conversation around the need for police reform.
On May 23, Lee was joined by members of Congress; civil rights groups; Philonise and Keeta Floyd, George Floyd’s relatives; Allisa Charles-Findley, the sister of Botham Jean; and Wanda Jones-Aubery, the mother of Ahmaud Aubery to discuss her efforts to combat police brutality.
“As a Member of Congress, I have long advocated for equal justice for all that encounter law enforcement in the United States,” she said in a statement. “This is why I have introduced H.R. 8525, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”
She added, “This bill will finally hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct and separate them from the majority of those endowed with the ethic of just and equitable public safety.”
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act also aims to repair the relationship between law enforcement and communities nationwide by improving training practices and transparency.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told the AFRO that he has backed this bill since it was first introduced in 2020 following Floyd’s death.
“I hope that we can find a way to have a bipartisan conversation about strengthening the relationship between the police and the community for the good of everyone,” said Jeffries.
U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., a co-sponsor of the bill, told the AFRO that the U.S. House of Representatives needs to pass the statute “immediately.”
“I am worried that this is one of those bills that will be reintroduced for like 30 years in a row and never move, just like H.R. 40 ,” said Bowman.
The New York lawmaker added, “When I talk about the anti-Blackness in this place that’s kind of the thing I mean. This is definitely a bill that will move the country forward, hold police accountable protect those who are doing the job the right way.”
On the contrary, some House Republicans oppose the legislation and say they do not believe that there is a problem with police brutality in the U.S.
“It’s always individuals and it’s a very small minority and so I think a lot of it has to do with this DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) stuff,” U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told the AFRO. “We have people who aren’t qualified because someone’s trying to check a box.”
He added, “Policemen and women are good people who are called on to do very tough jobs and do terrible things and they’re not paid much, so I tend to side with law enforcement.”
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., told the AFRO that he would not vote for the legislation because he is not “for federal control over policing, I think policing is best done at the state and local level.
“I think we mess it up when we get a lot of state and local entities addicted to the federal dollar and policing and I think there are features of the bill that would do it,” said Gaetz.
Although the conservative lawmaker opposes the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, he does agree with the bill’s provision that no-knock warrants should be eliminated.
“I share the view of Sen. Rand Paul that there is an equity, a life interest there to be vindicated,” said Gaetz.
The use of no-knock warrants were called into question following the death of Breonna Taylor. On March 13, 2020, the 26-year-old was killed by law enforcement after officers obtained a no-knock warrant and raided her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, as part of an investigation into a drug dealing operation.
Lee told reporters that “far too many lives have been lost or forever changed due to unacceptable incidents of police brutality throughout our nation.”
She added, “We know and remember many of their names: Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols, and there are far too many more that we do not know. It is time for Congress to act now.”
Jeffries told the AFRO that House GOP members will be the deciding factor in whether the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act will be enacted into law.
The House minority leader said that at this time, Republicans “don’t seem to have shown any interest in trying to strengthen the relationship in a meaningful way between the police and the community.”
Bowman believes that the legislation “won’t pass the House this time because Republicans control the House and are racist but, hopefully, we get the House back in November, pass it in the House and then we’ll see in the Senate.”
At this time, Republicans hold the majority in the House 217-213. Assuming all House Democrats vote for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, at least three Republicans would have to join them before passing it off to the Democratic-controlled Senate.