Articles

Congress confronts another crisis

Politico / Melanie Zanona / June 1, 2020

JUNE GLOOM -- Lawmakers are grappling with yet another awful crisis: how to end police brutality and heal racial inequalities. But unlike the novel coronavirus, this problem has plagued the country for a long time. Congress, however, is under renewed pressure to act following the civil unrest that escalated over the weekend, as protests, riots and looting broke out in major American cities in response to the death of George Floyd.

One member of Congress — Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus — was even pepper-sprayed by Columbus police on Saturday after she tried to de-escalate a confrontation between protestors and police officers that broke out near her. "It was an unnecessary use of force," Beatty said in an interview. "For the officers to come not in a protective mode, but in an adversarial mode, in my opinion was also a part of the problem."

House Democrats, led by the CBC, had already begun to discuss a legislative response to Floyd's death before the protests began. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly touted a bill from Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) that would create a commission to "study the societal forces that have disproportionately impacted black males in America." The bill has nearly 100 co-sponsors, including a sole Republican.

Some other ideas being kicked around: Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar are introducing a resolution to condemn police brutality, racial profiling and excessive force. "It is long overdue and past time that a resolution like this is moved to the floor and a vote is taken," Pressley said on MSNBC, noting that a similar resolution was last introduced in 1999 and never got a floor vote. Omar also signaled that she is open to making federal police funding contingent upon reform.

House lawmakers, however, are not scheduled to vote again until June 30 (more on the new congressional schedule later.) But it's not hard to imagine a scenario where Pelosi hauls lawmakers back to D.C. if they have something to vote on: lawmakers have been told they would get 72 hours notice if they are called back for a vote.

ACROSS THE CAPITOL … Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told CNN that he is drafting legislation to create a national police registry for misconduct. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) — who planned to join a protest outside the White House over the weekend — has called for an independent DOJ investigation into the recent killings of African Americans by police. And Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) tweeted that he is "introducing an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to discontinue the program that transfers military weaponry to local police departments." (The program was curtailed under the Obama administration after the civil unrest in Ferguson, Mo., but Trump later restored the program.)

Both parties are also planning congressional hearings on racial violence. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is up for reelection this fall, announced that he will hold a hearing on police brutality, calling Floyd's death "horrific." And House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) plans to hold a hearing sometime this month "to consider new federal actions that could help stem racial violence," according to the New York Times.