Transcripts For CSPAN House Judiciary Committee Debates Just

Judge on the d. C. Circuit court. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee looks at the u. S. Response to the pandemic internationally. See it at 9 30 a. M. On cspan3. The House Judiciary Committee met to consider justice in policing act of 2020. The hearing started with Opening Statements by Committee Chair jerry nadler of new york and Ranking Member jim jordan of ohio. Members offered amendments throughout the day. That objection can declare recess at any time. This is approving any measure or matter or adopting an amendment for which this was ordered. I would like to remind evers that we have established any mail address and just be should list dedicated to circulating amendments. Otherts, motions or amendment is that you would like to submit are to be brought here today. We will circulate the materials to the members of the staff as quickly as we can. I would also ask all members of those appearing in person and those remotely to mute your members not all appearing in person and those remotely to mute your microphones. Ofant to note the passing carol sensenbrenner cheryl sensenbrenner. People with this abilities. A cause that her husband has championed for years as well. I know that i speak for everyone on the committee in offering our deepest condolences to jim and his entire family. May the memory be a blessing. I would now will now recognize mr. Duren for any commas that he may have. I appreciate those kind words. Jim sensenbrenner i did not know cheryl well. 43 years together especial. We all keep jim and his family in our thoughts and prayers. I appreciate the chairmans kind words. I go back. Make my Opening Statement, i want to briefly address the new guidance that the office of the attending physician released yesterday concerning preventing the spread of covid19. The guidance states for u. S. House of representatives such as a Committee Hearing room for greater than 15 minutes, face coverings are not required. Based on thece is best Scientific Evidence we have about how the coronavirus spreads. It is based on the best practices issued by the Trump Administration centers for Disease Control and it is supported by the top Infectious Disease experts like dr. Anthony fauci, dr. Deborah birx who serve on the Coronavirus Task force. The new guidance does not mince words. It says that meetings in which individuals assemble from various regions of the country in large numbers, inappropriate inial distancing appropriate social distancing is hard to attain. One critical means to reduce this risk is wearing a mask. It not only help protect you from getting sick from this deadly virus, it helps protect the other people in this room from getting sick. After this is over, we will go home to our loved ones, wearing a mask helps protect them from serious illness as well. As chairman, i have a duty and response ability to keep order and a quorum in our proceedings to make sure that we conduct our business in a safe manner. In light of new guidance, i fully expect all members on both sides of the aisle to wear a mask at all times if youre not speaking. If for whatever reason youre youwilling to wear a mask, can participate remotely from your Office Without being physically hasnt in this room. Your understanding and cooperation. Hr 7120, the justice in policing act from 2020 for the purposes of markup and move that the Committee Report the bill favorably to the house. Hr 7120. It will hold Law Enforcement accountable for misconduct in court and Reform Police training and policies. Without objection, the bill is considered as read and open for a minute at any time. I will begin by recognizing myself for an Opening Statement. Last week, George Floyds and he sat in this room told us of the pain he felt watching the video of his brother being killed by a Minneapolis Police officer. He gave voice to the pain that all of us have felt over the last few weeks. He also spoke to the anger of knowing that george floyd was only the latest in the much too long list of victims of Police Brutality. Ms. Proportionately disproportionately people of color. There is overwhelming evidence that dramatic reform is needed. Commerce has done very little. Enter floyd is charged with making sure that his brothers death would not be in vain. He played with us to turn the pain and anger that we all feel into meaningful change. His words echoed the voices of millions of americans who were taken to the streets who had taken to the streets to seek justice and demand action. We answer their call. We value and respect the Many Police Officers that put their lives on the line every day to protect us in our community. Those of us that were here in 1998 never forget the courageous actions and ultimate sacrifice. We owe them and the other officers killed in the line of duty each year a debt that we can never repay. That includes officer Patrick Underwood who was shot and killed in the line of duty several weeks ago. We must acknowledge that too many Law Enforcement officers do andoppose protecting serving their committee. Instead, the reality for too many americans, especially ever get americans is that Police Officers are perceived as a threat to their liberty, their dignity and their safety. This is not a new problem. Anduries of systemic Structural Racism have infected all of our institutions. Seat in the race of cobra dents and our system of mass incarceration and in the mass chasms of economic inequality. It all falls disproportionately on the backs of average americans. We see it in harassment and Excessive Force of that people of color routinely face from too many of our Police Officers. An unmistakable message has been sent to africanamericans in this country. That they are secondclass citizens and that there their lives are of less value. Let me state that black lives matter. George floyd mattered. Breonna taylor mattered. Scott, tamirwalter rice mattered. Rayshard brooks mattered. Countless other people have lost their lives at the hands of Law Enforcement and they mattered. Police o long, policing of justice and reform have fallen on deaf years. Years. Ears. Which currently has 227 cosponsors in the house and 32s cosponsors in the senate makes it easier for the federal government to successfully prosecute Police Misconduct cases and ditch it chokeholds, racial profiling, encourages prosecutions and illuminates the dubious court made doctrine of qualified immunity in civil rights lawsuits against Law Enforcement officers. It addressesime, systemic racism and works to prevent Police Violence through a series of approaches aimed at Encouraging Department to meet a standarddard gold in training, deescalation standards and use of body cameras and other best practices. The goal of this legislation is to achieve a guardian, not warrior model of policing. The bill mandates protection of designation on a number of key policing matters, including the First Ever National database. It specifies that lynching is a federal hate crime. The bill does all of this while using no federal funds for Police Department except when constitutionally mandated. The conditions all repurposed existing funding for the support of these programs. Those who create a new Grant Program for Community Based organizations to create local commissions on policing innovation, to reimagine how Public Safety could work in a truly equitable and just way in each community. I want to thank the gentle you from california, the chair of the subcommittee, the sponsor of this legislation or hurt your menace work in crafting a bill that is at once bold and transformative to meet the moment that caused out this weaving reform. Alls for sweeping reform. I want to thank the many members of this committee that worked on and introduced legislation that is included in the legislation before us today. I also want to think the activist for leading protests across the country. It is because of you that we are here today, considering the most significant reforms to policing in a generation. It is because of your energy, your determination and your demands for justice that the nation has awakened to the need for action. To the families of those who have lost their lives at the law at the hands of Law Enforcement, everyone in this room words with you. Today we will offer more than just sympathy. Today we are proposing meaningful change. Thoughts and prayers are not enough. Pledges to study the problem are not enough. We must not let this moment slip away. It will be a stain in our legacy. We must not let that happen. I urge all of my colleagues to support this vital legislation. I now recognize the distinguished Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from ohio, mr. Jordan, for his Opening Statement. Thank you. I should also point out that our colleagues from kentucky lost his wife suddenly last evening, as well, so i want to think of their family also. Chairman, fundamental principles should form the framework of our Public Policy development here in the Judiciary Committee. First of all, what happened to george floyd is a tragedy. What happened to Pat Underwood is also a try to g. They are as wrong as wrong can be, and we should work so it does not happen again. Their families deserve to see justice for their killers. Second, peaceful protest is important. It is part of our First Amendment liberties. We have all engaged in it. But as i said last week, there is a big difference between peaceful protest and looting and rioting and a big difference between that and attacking our Police Officers or forming these new autonomous zones that we see in seattle, whatever the designation is. There is a big difference. Third, the vast majority of Police Officers do a great job. They risk their lives every single day to protect their communities. They are the individuals who rushed into the twin towers on 9 11. They are the individuals on capitol hill that protect us every single day. They are the guys back in our communities who put on that uniform every single shift and risk their lives, and we should remember that as we create policy in the Judiciary Committee. And fourth, dismantling Police Departments is one of the craziest Public Policy proposals i have ever heard. Those four principles should help create the framework to help address this real concern in our country. Two weeks ago, the president said in his speech in florida, laid out the mission clearly, laid out the mission clearly. He talked about healing, not hatred. Justice, not chaos. What werds understand heard from George Floyds brother just a week ago, just last week, when he sat here in such a compelling, compelling way, talked about three simple words, one sentence. Life is precious. Life is precious. George floyds life, Breonna Taylors life, Rayshard Brooks life. Each life is precious. That,ne here understands and we have an obligation to make imprudence to Public Policy that recognize that basic fact that was said so well by George Floyds brother last week. It, assident understands well. Just yesterday, he gathered together the families of fallen Law Enforcement officers and the victims of Police Brutality at the white house as part of his executive order that laid the groundwork, the signing of his executive order, which lays the groundwork for the beginning to address these real concerns, but even before the executive order, this administration worked with us on good policy, good, strong policy. Jeffries, andr. Others on this committee all of us on this committee with the first step at, a great piece of legislation. This has helped historically black college and support for opportunity zones, support for school choice, all good policies where we all Work Together. I hope that is what happens today. I hope my colleagues on the democrat side of the aisle will work with us and the many amendments that we plan to offer that we think function within these a few are printable i have talked about these four that i have talked about. You guys introduced it and did not talk with us, so i hope today that you will embrace our thoughtful amendment that we plan to offer, amendments that are consistent with the constitution, consistent with the rule of law, consistent with those four principles, and consistent with mr. Floyds words that life is precious. I look forward to the next hours as we mark up this legislation as we adopt republican amendments that we think will make this legislation the kind of legislation our country wants us to develop here in the House Judiciary Committee. With that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. Chairman nadler thank you. I now recognize the gentlelady from california who sponsored this legislation for her Opening Statement. Ss thank you, mr. Chair, and i want to send my condolences to mr. Sensenbrenner. He is my travel partner. We have had many, many conversations about his wife from when she first took ill over her illness, so my prayers and thoughts are definitely with him. Two weeks ago, we all witnessed a horrific crime on the streets of minneapolis, the slow, torturous murder of george floyd. I also want to acknowledge the murder of dave Patrick Underwood, and last week, we were able to meet his sister and hear about him. And, members, you may or may not have heard that the person who killed him was arrested yesterday, and it turns out that person had deliberately infiltrated the protesters with the objective to kill Police Officers, and he was a member of a right Wing Organization that believed in creating chaos, and i am very glad i do not, obviously, have to be trite, but i am glad that that arrest took place. The tragic death of mr. Floyd has galvanized the entire nation to take a look at our history. Lack americans have and sadly marching for over black americans have sadly been marching for over 100 years. We march against police abuse and for police to protect and serve our communities like they do elsewhere. In the 1950s, it was cameras that exposed it. Years later, it is the cell phone camera that has exposed the violence directed by police at africanamericans. The sad truth is when people told their stories of police abuse, of murder at the hands of police, they simply were not believed, and even when there were videotapes, questions were asked. We do not know what happened before the camera went on. And then when we heard about the person who was killed, we question their background, or maybe they had a police record. Even if that was the case, what happened to arresting somebody and the presumption of innocence before Proven Guilty . It has taken technology and active citizen involvement to document and expose this ugly reality in our country, but just understanding the problem is not enough. We need fundamental change, that is why chairman nadler and i along with 200 27 cosponsors introduced the justice in policing act, this bold, transformative legislation that will assist Police Departments to change the culture of policing, raise the standards of the profession, and hold those officers accountable who fail to serving and upholding their communities. I do not need to repeat what is in the bill. You all know and will hear about it throughout the day, but i am wantthat Police Officers to stop an officer from using deadly force when it is not necessary. You may have heard of the officer in new york who intervened last year when one of her colleagues had a person in a choke hold, and she was afraid that this individual was going to kill, this Police Officer was going to kill, this person, an africanAmerican Woman, and she intervened and stopped him from the chokehold. She got fired. Officers most police would have rendered aid like she did and would have stopped what happened, and i believe that Police Officers want to be trained in the best practices of policing, so to help support officers, this will create the Senate Foreign<\/a> Relations Committee<\/a> looks at the u. S. Response to the pandemic internationally. See it at 9 30 a. M. On cspan3. The House Judiciary Committee<\/a> met to consider justice in policing act of 2020. The hearing started with Opening Statements<\/a> by Committee Chair<\/a> jerry nadler of new york and Ranking Member<\/a> jim jordan of ohio. Members offered amendments throughout the day. That objection can declare recess at any time. This is approving any measure or matter or adopting an amendment for which this was ordered. I would like to remind evers that we have established any mail address and just be should list dedicated to circulating amendments. Otherts, motions or amendment is that you would like to submit are to be brought here today. We will circulate the materials to the members of the staff as quickly as we can. I would also ask all members of those appearing in person and those remotely to mute your members not all appearing in person and those remotely to mute your microphones. Ofant to note the passing carol sensenbrenner cheryl sensenbrenner. People with this abilities. A cause that her husband has championed for years as well. I know that i speak for everyone on the committee in offering our deepest condolences to jim and his entire family. May the memory be a blessing. I would now will now recognize mr. Duren for any commas that he may have. I appreciate those kind words. Jim sensenbrenner i did not know cheryl well. 43 years together especial. We all keep jim and his family in our thoughts and prayers. I appreciate the chairmans kind words. I go back. Make my Opening Statement<\/a>, i want to briefly address the new guidance that the office of the attending physician released yesterday concerning preventing the spread of covid19. The guidance states for u. S. House of representatives such as a Committee Hearing<\/a> room for greater than 15 minutes, face coverings are not required. Based on thece is best Scientific Evidence<\/a> we have about how the coronavirus spreads. It is based on the best practices issued by the Trump Administration<\/a> centers for Disease Control<\/a> and it is supported by the top Infectious Disease<\/a> experts like dr. Anthony fauci, dr. Deborah birx who serve on the Coronavirus Task<\/a> force. The new guidance does not mince words. It says that meetings in which individuals assemble from various regions of the country in large numbers, inappropriate inial distancing appropriate social distancing is hard to attain. One critical means to reduce this risk is wearing a mask. It not only help protect you from getting sick from this deadly virus, it helps protect the other people in this room from getting sick. After this is over, we will go home to our loved ones, wearing a mask helps protect them from serious illness as well. As chairman, i have a duty and response ability to keep order and a quorum in our proceedings to make sure that we conduct our business in a safe manner. In light of new guidance, i fully expect all members on both sides of the aisle to wear a mask at all times if youre not speaking. If for whatever reason youre youwilling to wear a mask, can participate remotely from your Office Without<\/a> being physically hasnt in this room. Your understanding and cooperation. Hr 7120, the justice in policing act from 2020 for the purposes of markup and move that the Committee Report<\/a> the bill favorably to the house. Hr 7120. It will hold Law Enforcement<\/a> accountable for misconduct in court and Reform Police<\/a> training and policies. Without objection, the bill is considered as read and open for a minute at any time. I will begin by recognizing myself for an Opening Statement<\/a>. Last week, George Floyds<\/a> and he sat in this room told us of the pain he felt watching the video of his brother being killed by a Minneapolis Police<\/a> officer. He gave voice to the pain that all of us have felt over the last few weeks. He also spoke to the anger of knowing that george floyd was only the latest in the much too long list of victims of Police Brutality<\/a>. Ms. Proportionately disproportionately people of color. There is overwhelming evidence that dramatic reform is needed. Commerce has done very little. Enter floyd is charged with making sure that his brothers death would not be in vain. He played with us to turn the pain and anger that we all feel into meaningful change. His words echoed the voices of millions of americans who were taken to the streets who had taken to the streets to seek justice and demand action. We answer their call. We value and respect the Many Police Officers<\/a> that put their lives on the line every day to protect us in our community. Those of us that were here in 1998 never forget the courageous actions and ultimate sacrifice. We owe them and the other officers killed in the line of duty each year a debt that we can never repay. That includes officer Patrick Underwood<\/a> who was shot and killed in the line of duty several weeks ago. We must acknowledge that too many Law Enforcement<\/a> officers do andoppose protecting serving their committee. Instead, the reality for too many americans, especially ever get americans is that Police Officers<\/a> are perceived as a threat to their liberty, their dignity and their safety. This is not a new problem. Anduries of systemic Structural Racism<\/a> have infected all of our institutions. Seat in the race of cobra dents and our system of mass incarceration and in the mass chasms of economic inequality. It all falls disproportionately on the backs of average americans. We see it in harassment and Excessive Force<\/a> of that people of color routinely face from too many of our Police Officers<\/a>. An unmistakable message has been sent to africanamericans in this country. That they are secondclass citizens and that there their lives are of less value. Let me state that black lives matter. George floyd mattered. Breonna taylor mattered. Scott, tamirwalter rice mattered. Rayshard brooks mattered. Countless other people have lost their lives at the hands of Law Enforcement<\/a> and they mattered. Police o long, policing of justice and reform have fallen on deaf years. Years. Ears. Which currently has 227 cosponsors in the house and 32s cosponsors in the senate makes it easier for the federal government to successfully prosecute Police Misconduct<\/a> cases and ditch it chokeholds, racial profiling, encourages prosecutions and illuminates the dubious court made doctrine of qualified immunity in civil rights lawsuits against Law Enforcement<\/a> officers. It addressesime, systemic racism and works to prevent Police Violence<\/a> through a series of approaches aimed at Encouraging Department<\/a> to meet a standarddard gold in training, deescalation standards and use of body cameras and other best practices. The goal of this legislation is to achieve a guardian, not warrior model of policing. The bill mandates protection of designation on a number of key policing matters, including the First Ever National<\/a> database. It specifies that lynching is a federal hate crime. The bill does all of this while using no federal funds for Police Department<\/a> except when constitutionally mandated. The conditions all repurposed existing funding for the support of these programs. Those who create a new Grant Program<\/a> for Community Based<\/a> organizations to create local commissions on policing innovation, to reimagine how Public Safety<\/a> could work in a truly equitable and just way in each community. I want to thank the gentle you from california, the chair of the subcommittee, the sponsor of this legislation or hurt your menace work in crafting a bill that is at once bold and transformative to meet the moment that caused out this weaving reform. Alls for sweeping reform. I want to thank the many members of this committee that worked on and introduced legislation that is included in the legislation before us today. I also want to think the activist for leading protests across the country. It is because of you that we are here today, considering the most significant reforms to policing in a generation. It is because of your energy, your determination and your demands for justice that the nation has awakened to the need for action. To the families of those who have lost their lives at the law at the hands of Law Enforcement<\/a>, everyone in this room words with you. Today we will offer more than just sympathy. Today we are proposing meaningful change. Thoughts and prayers are not enough. Pledges to study the problem are not enough. We must not let this moment slip away. It will be a stain in our legacy. We must not let that happen. I urge all of my colleagues to support this vital legislation. I now recognize the distinguished Ranking Member<\/a> of the Judiciary Committee<\/a>, the gentleman from ohio, mr. Jordan, for his Opening Statement<\/a>. Thank you. I should also point out that our colleagues from kentucky lost his wife suddenly last evening, as well, so i want to think of their family also. Chairman, fundamental principles should form the framework of our Public Policy<\/a> development here in the Judiciary Committee<\/a>. First of all, what happened to george floyd is a tragedy. What happened to Pat Underwood<\/a> is also a try to g. They are as wrong as wrong can be, and we should work so it does not happen again. Their families deserve to see justice for their killers. Second, peaceful protest is important. It is part of our First Amendment<\/a> liberties. We have all engaged in it. But as i said last week, there is a big difference between peaceful protest and looting and rioting and a big difference between that and attacking our Police Officers<\/a> or forming these new autonomous zones that we see in seattle, whatever the designation is. There is a big difference. Third, the vast majority of Police Officers<\/a> do a great job. They risk their lives every single day to protect their communities. They are the individuals who rushed into the twin towers on 9 11. They are the individuals on capitol hill that protect us every single day. They are the guys back in our communities who put on that uniform every single shift and risk their lives, and we should remember that as we create policy in the Judiciary Committee<\/a>. And fourth, dismantling Police Department<\/a>s is one of the craziest Public Policy<\/a> proposals i have ever heard. Those four principles should help create the framework to help address this real concern in our country. Two weeks ago, the president said in his speech in florida, laid out the mission clearly, laid out the mission clearly. He talked about healing, not hatred. Justice, not chaos. What werds understand heard from George Floyds<\/a> brother just a week ago, just last week, when he sat here in such a compelling, compelling way, talked about three simple words, one sentence. Life is precious. Life is precious. George floyds life, Breonna Taylors<\/a> life, Rayshard Brooks<\/a> life. Each life is precious. That,ne here understands and we have an obligation to make imprudence to Public Policy<\/a> that recognize that basic fact that was said so well by George Floyds<\/a> brother last week. It, assident understands well. Just yesterday, he gathered together the families of fallen Law Enforcement<\/a> officers and the victims of Police Brutality<\/a> at the white house as part of his executive order that laid the groundwork, the signing of his executive order, which lays the groundwork for the beginning to address these real concerns, but even before the executive order, this administration worked with us on good policy, good, strong policy. Jeffries, andr. Others on this committee all of us on this committee with the first step at, a great piece of legislation. This has helped historically black college and support for opportunity zones, support for school choice, all good policies where we all Work Together<\/a>. I hope that is what happens today. I hope my colleagues on the democrat side of the aisle will work with us and the many amendments that we plan to offer that we think function within these a few are printable i have talked about these four that i have talked about. You guys introduced it and did not talk with us, so i hope today that you will embrace our thoughtful amendment that we plan to offer, amendments that are consistent with the constitution, consistent with the rule of law, consistent with those four principles, and consistent with mr. Floyds words that life is precious. I look forward to the next hours as we mark up this legislation as we adopt republican amendments that we think will make this legislation the kind of legislation our country wants us to develop here in the House Judiciary Committee<\/a>. With that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. Chairman nadler thank you. I now recognize the gentlelady from california who sponsored this legislation for her Opening Statement<\/a>. Ss thank you, mr. Chair, and i want to send my condolences to mr. Sensenbrenner. He is my travel partner. We have had many, many conversations about his wife from when she first took ill over her illness, so my prayers and thoughts are definitely with him. Two weeks ago, we all witnessed a horrific crime on the streets of minneapolis, the slow, torturous murder of george floyd. I also want to acknowledge the murder of dave Patrick Underwood<\/a>, and last week, we were able to meet his sister and hear about him. And, members, you may or may not have heard that the person who killed him was arrested yesterday, and it turns out that person had deliberately infiltrated the protesters with the objective to kill Police Officers<\/a>, and he was a member of a right Wing Organization<\/a> that believed in creating chaos, and i am very glad i do not, obviously, have to be trite, but i am glad that that arrest took place. The tragic death of mr. Floyd has galvanized the entire nation to take a look at our history. Lack americans have and sadly marching for over black americans have sadly been marching for over 100 years. We march against police abuse and for police to protect and serve our communities like they do elsewhere. In the 1950s, it was cameras that exposed it. Years later, it is the cell phone camera that has exposed the violence directed by police at africanamericans. The sad truth is when people told their stories of police abuse, of murder at the hands of police, they simply were not believed, and even when there were videotapes, questions were asked. We do not know what happened before the camera went on. And then when we heard about the person who was killed, we question their background, or maybe they had a police record. Even if that was the case, what happened to arresting somebody and the presumption of innocence before Proven Guilty<\/a> . It has taken technology and active citizen involvement to document and expose this ugly reality in our country, but just understanding the problem is not enough. We need fundamental change, that is why chairman nadler and i along with 200 27 cosponsors introduced the justice in policing act, this bold, transformative legislation that will assist Police Department<\/a>s to change the culture of policing, raise the standards of the profession, and hold those officers accountable who fail to serving and upholding their communities. I do not need to repeat what is in the bill. You all know and will hear about it throughout the day, but i am wantthat Police Officers<\/a> to stop an officer from using deadly force when it is not necessary. You may have heard of the officer in new york who intervened last year when one of her colleagues had a person in a choke hold, and she was afraid that this individual was going to kill, this Police Officer<\/a> was going to kill, this person, an africanAmerican Woman<\/a>, and she intervened and stopped him from the chokehold. She got fired. Officers most police would have rendered aid like she did and would have stopped what happened, and i believe that Police Officers<\/a> want to be trained in the best practices of policing, so to help support officers, this will create the First National<\/a> accreditation standards for the operation of Police Department<\/a>s, National Standards<\/a> for officers. When i met with the federation, the fraternal order of police, they requested this and said that they had been trying to get those National Standards<\/a> for years, they were doing it in a retail manner. If we are able to pass this legislation with teeth in it, it will help them. But despite our best intentions, we know there will be some officers who crossed the line. That is why the bill also includes strong accountability measures, both as a matter of simple justice but also to keep unfit officers off the street. A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession that requires highly trained officers. Our country is at a crossroads. Now, for the first time, i believe america is finally beanie to question, to learn, and to understand the hard truths that surround policing in our country. I always say that one of the things that is most painful to africanamericans is when we describe our interactions with police, and where our experience is completely rejected because someone else has not had that experience. I have people say, well, always had positive interactions with police, so your interactions, i do not believe they actually happened. Right now, the world is witnessing the birth of a new and this has spread around the world. People are marching to demand not just change but transformative change that ends Police Brutality<\/a> and racial profiling. They are marching to demand meaning and substantive change, not reform light, and i do not want to this community to do that either. That is why we must support the justice in policing act that will be change today, it will be called the George Floyd Justice<\/a> in policing act. People do not want to see their efforts watered down. As i said last week, if this legislation had been the law of the land years ago, eric garner and george floyd would be alive because the bill bands chokehold. If this had been the law, Breonna Taylor<\/a> would not have been shot 12 times in her sleep because no knock warrants for drug arrests would not be there. And it would have revealed that the officer who killed the 12yearold child, tamir rice, had been fired from another apartment and had a propensity for violence. He never would have been rehired by another department, and this may, tamir rice would have graduated from high school. Inn society does not invest communities, Police Officers<\/a> are left to pick up the pieces, and Police Officers<\/a> are the first to say that this is unfair, that they are not trained to be social workers or health providers. Homelessness and Substance Abuse<\/a> are health and economic problems. We have a jail called the twin towers with hundreds of inmates in that jail, and in los angeles, we refer to it as the nations most expensive Mental Health<\/a> institution, because the majority of the people in that jail suffer from mental illness. So this did not happen overnight. 30 years ago, 30 years ago, in 1990, i started an organization in South Central<\/a> los angeles to address a health and economic problem that society was choosing to terminal lies. Choosing to criminalize. That was a problem with crack cocaine. And what we did is we did not expand drug treatment. We just incarcerated people. Many of those people are in prison today. The justice in policing act reinvests in our communities and empowers them to shape the future of Public Safety<\/a> through grants and communitybased organizations to develop innovative solutions. Ier the years after 1990, watched as the federal and state governments slowly divested from communities, reduced resources for services, and then, we had to increase resources for prisons and for police. In ourre at a crossroads society, and we have to decide is the way we are going to proceed is every time there is a health, social, and an economic problem, is our solution going to be to solve the social, health, and economic problem, or isnt going to be to spend more and more and more money expanding Police Department<\/a>s and building prisons . Again, i support the Police Officers<\/a>, and i support their cry when they say when you do not fix societys problems, you leave us to pick up the pieces. That is unfair to them. They are not trained to do that, and it does not solve problems. We all want to be safe in our communities. We all want to the police to come to our rescue when we are in trouble. We all support the brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day for us, and when we all interact with police, we want and expect to be treated treatedt and not with respect and not suspicion. It took me many years to get over the fear of those lights coming on behind you, not fear that i was going to get a ticket but fear that my interaction with police might result in me not surviving. This is not just an issue for black men. This is an issue for black women, as well. Millions of people in this country and around the world are marching and raising their voices to call out for Effective Police<\/a> reform. We are here to answer those calls, and today is an opportunity, and it is an opportunity to reimagine the so it is equitable for all americans, and i am hopeful that my colleagues on the other site of the aisle, when i hear that many of our proposals have been incorporated in what i hear is coming out of the senate in a different way, not as strong, not as powerful, but it makes me feel like there is a pathway for us to do this, and the American People<\/a> are waiting for us, and the whole world is watching us. I yield back the balance of my time. Now recognizer i the Ranking Member<\/a> of the subcommittee on civil rights and Civil Liberties<\/a> for his Opening Statement<\/a>. You, mr. Chairman. One thing has become clear over the past several weeks, and that is that americans have looked to Work Together<\/a> to regardless of affiliation to find Common Ground<\/a> on the issues before us today. Our constituents and all of the people of this country expect and deserve that. Last week, i and others made clear the willingness of republicans to work with the democrat majority on this committee to find Meaningful Solutions<\/a> that will help build trust in our communities and restore faith in our institutions. I think we all agree on at least three core concepts. Are needed in transparency and trading. For those rare bad apples who violate the law and the ofitimacy with the character our legal system. At the same time, congress has to be careful to uphold the respect and appreciation that is due to every American Patriot<\/a> who faithfully serves us in Law Enforcement<\/a> on that thin, blue line. We have two big problems with all of this today. First, a growing portion of the democratic progressive base and even mayors and City Council Persons<\/a> are calling for the defunding of american police. This is insanity. Every day, our Law Enforcement<\/a> officers are putting their lives on the line to protect communities from home invasions property theft and drug cartels and domestic terrorism. It was noted yesterday that 2018 alone, the police and our country arrested nearly 12,000 peopleor murder, 20 5000 for rape, and nearly 1. 5 million for assault. 25,000 people for rape, nearly 1. 5 million for assault. Everyone disaster, and can see that. It is a proposal that would have been unthinkable years ago. The second problem we have is the flawed product this process has produced. While this bill has some important and wise provisions, we all agree, the legislation that has been presented for our markup is not the result of any deliberative legislative proceedings at all, despite of the fact we have clear bipartisan consensus for the need for reforms and a rare opportunity to set an example of working together across party lines the best interests of all americans. The democrat majority has so far locked us out of the room and instead produced a bill that includes provisions which will have a net negative impact on communities that are most affected by crime and on the safety of officers who put their lives on the line to serve. I serve as the Ranking Member<\/a> on the constitution civil rights and Civil Liberties<\/a> committee, which has jurisdiction over some of the key areas addressed by this legislation, but the bill we are considering was released just 10 days ago, and my subcommittee, which could have been an ideal venue to build consensus here, has been afforded zero opportunity to meet and consider the complex issues and specific constitutional questions before us. So my colleagues and i will introduce some key and then is to try to repair this bill. I hope they will be duly considered and adopted by our friends on the other side. What we need right now and what the American People<\/a> deserve is a thoughtful dialogue, common sense, and valuable input from both the majority and minority on this committee. This Common Ground<\/a> is key if we are going to accomplish the goal of keeping our communities safe and upholding the Civil Liberties<\/a> of individuals and protecting the legitimacy of Law Enforcement<\/a>. In the rose garden yesterday, President Trump<\/a> signed his executive order for safe policing and communities and said americans know the truth. Without police, there is chaos. Without law, there is anarchy. That safety, there is catastrophe. We need leaders at every level of government who have the moral clarity to start these facts. Twostate these facts. Americans must support the men and women and in blue and increased transparency, improve accountability, and invest more resources in training and recruiting and community engagement. Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals, not mutually exclusive, they Work Together<\/a>. The president has done his part, and now, we must do ours. I pray that we can Work Together<\/a> now at this important moment for our country to solve these pressing problems. Thank you, and i yield back. Chairman nadler all of the other statements will be in the record begat i now recognize myself. The clerk will read. I will now recognize myself to explain the amendment. The amendment would first and foremost change the bills short title to the George Floyd Justice<\/a> in policing active 2020. Mr. Is a fitting tribute to floyd, his tragic death sparked a Worldwide Movement<\/a> in support of the reforms contained in this bill. I urge my colleagues to honor his memory by supporting this amendment and the underlying legislation. We know that there are countless other victims of Police Violence<\/a> and that tragedies are reflected in this bill, as well. Andlso makes some technical informing changes as well as a limited number of changes to clarify and strengthen existing authorities in hr 7120. Among the provisions, the mm it would strike the Death Penalty<\/a> for the sentences currently permitted under eight teen, which makes it a crime for a person acting under color of any law to deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the constitution of the United States<\/a>. It would qualify the qualified Immunity Section<\/a> so that it is more clearly focused on Law Enforcement<\/a> personnel and includes federal Law Enforcement<\/a> officers. It would strengthen the pattern of practice investigations, particularly by state attorneys general. It would clarify the Police Misconduct<\/a> registry to make clear that information concerning misconduct by Police Officers<\/a> involving misuse of force and racial profiling will be made public, and it would limit the use of facial Recognition Technology<\/a> in connection with body camera and cameras. I urge the members to support the mm as well as the underlying bill. I now recognize the Ranking Member<\/a>, the gentleman from ohio, mr. Jordan, for any comments he may have on the amendment. Jordan chairman nadler are there any amendments to the amendment, a substitute . Ms. Jackson lee is recognized. Ms. Jackson lee mr. Chairman, thank you, and thank you for the chairwoman and chair of the caucus and all of the members who have gathered here for a significant day in the history of the United States<\/a> of america. I think the real question has to be, what is the value of black lives . Are black lives valued . Is a black life valued . Are all black lives valued . Living in the skin that i have lived in for obviously all of my life, being around my family members and others in the community, i realize that that question has never been answered by this nation. Hear theficult to rejection of the understanding of the systemic call of racism that has plagued every aspect of our society, and so what we do today is a message that dr. King gave us so many years ago, that we might not be able to change hearts, but we can change laws. Today, mixed with joy, because if we had passed these bills that we had worked on over a decade ago, if after our visit at the Judiciary Committee<\/a> to new york after the killing of abdul yellow, if we moved on legislation that we had been filing for years and years, yes, lives would be saved. If we have been able to move when the Law Enforcement<\/a> trust and integrity lie act that was named about after george floyd, we may have been able to enhance the words protect and serve, and at the same time, we would have been able to say we mourn any loss of Law Enforcement<\/a>, but we would have been able to keep more of them alive. And yes, we would have seen black boys go home to their mothers, like eric garner, to mere rise, walter scott, michael wn, and the Quan Mcdonald<\/a> laQuan Mcdonald<\/a>, shot many times in his back. Grateful on behalf of the george floyd family. What a wonderful and provocative and impactful statement mr. Floyd made. They are under so much pressure and loss. Their pain is so deep. We see it every day in our community. We are still praying and showing up in front of various recognitions of george floyd, paintings, murals, and there is one thing i remember that mr. Floyd said in this hearing room. He wanted justice. When i told him our efforts to name this bill after his brother were successful, the work that we did collectively together to get it named, and it is in this amendment, he thanked us publicly yesterday in houston, and so, what we have to deal with now is to recognize that dr. Kings words were correct. We have to change laws in order to change hearts, and even further correct when he said now is the time and why we cannot wait. Cannot wait in houston because we know the story of jose torres and danny ray thomas, pamela turner, and so many others that have never been in the line of justice, but they lost their life. As the world saw, a mans life see out on the streets of america, they said no more, and i am grateful that we have in this legislation the end of racial profiling, so it becomes law that you cannot racially profile africanamericans, the descendents of enslaved americans. We celebrate this week juneteenth, that recognizes we are the only group, africanamericans, who have been in bondage in this nation. There is anguish. There is patriotism. We served our country. And so the value of this patriotic legislation is that we are moving beyond conversation. We cannot have any more conversations. We are ending racial profiling. We are affirming civilian review boards, funding them as an Accreditation Process<\/a> and giving them subpoena power. An amazing step towards opportunity and justice. And so i would say as we continue this debate, i, too, seek the partnership and friendship of my fellow americans. They may wear the label of republicans, but they are friends. They are friends because i mourn, too, the loss of mr. Sensenbrenners wife, who i have traveled with me and expressed as well,to mr. Barr, human decency. It is at this moment that we say that africanamericans, that black americans, deserve the same decency and recognition of their humanity as anyone else. I asked the question, do black lives matter . I think today, we will answer it by passing this legislation. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman, and i yield back. Mr. Chairman . Mr. Chairman . You, ms. Nadler thank jackson. I want to recognize the presence of a former colleague, the white house chief of staff, mark meadows. For what purpose does mr. Armstrong seek recognition . The clerk will report the amendment. Clerk mm it to the mm in the nature of a substitute to hr 7120, written by mr. Armstrong of north dakota. At the end of the bill, the following, and conform the table of contents accordingly. Without objection. A mr. Chairman, this is Pretty Simple<\/a> amendment. This requires that the doj law whetherent record audio they are in custody or noncustodial. There is some narrow exceptions for confidential informants, and there are retention requirements for 10 years or, in the case of capital cases, until the case is disposed of legally. And this is an important amendment if our goal is to hold Law Enforcement<\/a> accountable and improve transparency, and if we do, because in subtitle c, we require federal Law Enforcement<\/a> to have body cameras and dash cameras, but this bill if passed, there is a perverse incentive which exists where immediately between that person being arrested or detained and turned over for an interview, there would be absolutely no requirement for that body camera to stay on or for any recording device to exist. I think it is time that our premier Law Enforcement<\/a> agencies get into the 21st century. All of the arguments in the past that have been used for not requiring, not recording interviews simply just do not exist. It was too expensive, too cumbersome, does not allow for the free flow of conversation, but we know that is not the case, and we know that because a stance of the fbi said that in a 2004 memo, and again, the doj did in a 20 memo. In both memos, they require that be recorded. The problem is in custody becomes an interesting term of art when we are dealing with our fence and federal Law Enforcement<\/a>. Our friends in federal Law Enforcement<\/a>. It only applies following arrest and prior to the initial appearance when the defendant is in a place of detention with suitable recordable equipment, because a parent, federal Law Enforcement<\/a> is the only group in the world that does not know how to use a smartphone. Interrogations can often last for hours, and notes cannot account for everything. Furthermore, trials often happen years after those interviews, making it ridiculous to believe that agents can cognitively recall specific details if they are not recorded. Sometimes, unfortunately, agents feel compelled to live or compelled to threaten their suspects, but when those same witnesses or suspects they are often charged with a crime, or their plea deal is revoked. We know this has happened. We see it in highprofile cases. In Michael Flynn<\/a>, there were five, and they take on authority. They take on authority. It is an officers notes. You can give it a title, but that is what it is. The first one was filed after the interview, which is ridiculous in and of itself. And you imagine a conversation you had 3. 5 weeks earlier, regardless of what you were doing . And the second one was 3. 5 months later. 3. 5 months later the redacted and revised 302 was filed. That should not have happened. They should have been recorded. In the Paul Manafort<\/a> case, judge jackson held a hearing in the case to deal with line Law Enforcement<\/a>, and we know exactly what happened in that hearing, because there is a transcript of it. Unfortunately, we do not know what happened in the 12 interviews that happened with Paul Manafort<\/a> because there is not a transcript of any of them. And that is not done by accident. That is not done out of convenience. That is done intentionally. Theso during that hearing, judge ultimately side of the prosecution in that case, but she said on the record, this is a problem with not having grand jury testimony but having to look at the 302. I might not be able to resolve it on the face of the 302. And you know what . She should not have to. They protect Law Enforcement<\/a> and criminal defendants and reduce burdens on the court system as they reduce jury trials, and probably most importantly today, they increase public trust in Law Enforcement<\/a>, and that is something we drastically need at this point in time, and with that, i yield back. Nadler the gentleman yields back. We would like to examine this mm it further. If the gentleman will withdraw the mm it, we will work with the gentleman to see if we can fit it in on the way to the rules committee. Withdraw the amendment, we will work with the gentleman. Will the gentleman withdraw the amendment so we can examine it further on the way to the rules committee . Not at this time. Chairman nadler the chairman for the gentleman from rhode island. I would like to strike the last word. Chairman nadler the gentleman is recognized. I want to begin expressing sympathy to mr. Sensenbrenner on the loss of his wife. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for your extraordinary leadership that brings us to this markup today and recognize the theificent leadership from Congressional Black Caucus<\/a> on this historic legislation. Before we convene, my thoughts turn to dr. Martin luther king, junior. Ago to when he was gunned down, i have not lost faith in the future, king said, that sunday morning, but i never intend to address the bandits and militarism of racial inequality. We are here again because of the madness of racial inequality. In our country, black people are five times as likely as whites to be arrested for a mere suspicion of a crime. The police are nearly four times more likely to use force, and black men are nearly 2. 5 times more likely to be killed by a Police Officer<\/a>. The fact is our criminal Justice System<\/a> so often victimizes people of color because it is built on a foundation of racism that was laid while the civil war was being fought. In january 1865, a proposed the 13th amendment to the constitution to outlaw slavery. But while the 13th amendment abolished slavery, it replaced it with a new system of racial control that allowed black people to be arrested on minor offenses and put to labor as punishment. You are still living with the legacy of that decision today. The prison rate for black people is more than five times the rate for white people. The Prison Industrial Complex<\/a> has devastated generations through jim crow and the war on drugs and the killing of men and women and children today. The killing of george floyd, Breonna Taylor<\/a>, air garner, tamir rice, and so many others are just a long line of modernday lynchings that cry out for justice. Responsibilityn to finally correct the painful yearsices of the past 155 between must pass the George Floyd Justice<\/a> in policing act, because george floyd mattered, and because black lives matter. First, this bill makes it easier to hold bad cops accountable and recover damages from officers who violate a persons civil rights. The doctrine of qualified immunity has created a system where it is virtually impossible to get justice of the thames of Police Misconduct<\/a> and racial bias. The officer of aps can escape liability by virtue of his badge and gun is a system that must end. Never again should officer feel empowered to choke the life out of an unarmed black man whose crime was selling loose cigarettes. Never again should the police shoot and kill an unarmed black man in his back as he runs away. We have to end the error era of police, due militarizing them. Without police, it is hard to build trust when a Law Enforcement<\/a> officer looks more like an occupying soldier. We need Police Department<\/a>s to be trusted institutions in our community and advocates for the people who live there. This bill increases transparency while encouraging apartments to meet a Gold Standard<\/a> in training, hiring, and deescalation strategies. It establishes the first ever database of civilian Police Encounters<\/a> and includes traffic stops and includes collection, analysis, and release of such data and requires collection of data on Police Misconduct<\/a> to track and prevent bad cops from moving from one department to another to avoid accountability. It addresses bias by cracking down on racial and religious profiling, banning chokeholds and no knock warrants, like those used on george floyd and Breonna Taylor<\/a>. It helps save lives, assure accountability, and improves Public Safety<\/a>. All of us here today know that we can do better. We can and systemic racism we can and must do that. This,mmunities do deserve and so do the overwhelming number of officers who do their job honorably every day. In 1966,. King said the appalling silence of the good people is as serious as the vitriolic words of the bad people. Not becolleagues, do silenced. Rise to this moment. Set aside politics. Join us in fixing what is broken in america, and we will be able to look back on this day and know that together, we made a difference, and as George Floyds<\/a> brother reminded us, your names also will become famous like his brother if you do the right thing and respond to Racial Injustice<\/a> in our country. With that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. Chairman nadler the gentleman yields back. The gentleman is recognized. You, mr. Chairman. Republicans will not support the defunding of police, the dismantling of police, the demonizing of police. We will not turn our streets over to the chaz war loads. Though some have come and perhaps others in the United States<\/a> congress would. Though some have, and perhaps others in the United States<\/a> congress would. For our colleagues in the recent days, the death of mr. Floyd, the death of Law Enforcement<\/a> officers who seek to keep our communities safe, the death of those who otherwise have passed in these riots. Life intoeathe meaningful reforms, and i think that is what we have the opportunity to do today, and i want to congratulate the bill sponsor on bringing together ideas that give me hope that we can breathe life into meaningful reform. The president has unquestionably lead on these issues. The president s executive order yesterday builds upon the hearing we had last week. It builds upon the themes that were developed, the evidence that was presented, and i am grateful that President Trump<\/a> did not wait around to take action, that he took action immediately on issues like chokeholds, bad cops, and databases that can inform more sound policing. I believe even more can be done. I believe the reform is on no knock warrants have mary. I believe there are some immunities that we can look at to assure that policing is improved, and i am hopeful that my democratic colleagues will undertake the spirit of reform in a bipartisan way and will view our suggestions as offered in good faith. Dakota,leman from north his amendment unquestionably is offered in good faith, and i would like to speak about it for a moment. There is no excuse for a federal Law Enforcement<\/a> in this country not to take a recording of an interview so that we are not peoplestioning different characterizations and memories from these interviews. I believe that the legislation on body cameras is very productive, but if we can move policing into the 21st century on body cameras, can we at least move the federal Government Entities<\/a> that we control into the 20th century . Can we at least assure that we do not have another circumstance like the russia hoax, where as a consequence of federal agents who had well exceeded their authority as lawenforcement officers, where they became political actors, when they wanted to deprive the people of this country of a duly elected president , when they took interviews and then characterized them falsely, politically . We did not have recordings to go back to in all of those circumstances. And if these things can happen to general flynn, if they can happen to people working on a president ial campaign, i can only imagine the number of times where the fbi might have had someone in an interview, and the lack of a recording allowed the government to deprive people of their rights, to characterize things inaccurately. And so i know that republicans are notified motivated to adopt this because in part we saw the devastating consequences of the lack of a clear record in the russia hoax, and that was very embarrassing for the congress, and i presume it might have been embarrassing for many of you when the facts finally came out in that case. But i think it is demonstrative to the broader point that if our desire is to improve policing and to create better balance in the relationship that police have with those they are serving, this is undoubtedly a good amendment. I will conclude with this. If the overall theme is to keep police engaged and proactive in their communities, you are going to find president s and republicans in congress very willing to work with the democratic majority in the house on those issues. However, if the goal is to keep the cop in the car, if the goal is to have police so stripped of so immunities, so deprived of all of the use of force that they might need to preserve their own life, if the goal is to have police essentially on a level Playing Field<\/a> with cartels and criminals and it comes to their equipment, then we would be unable to support that, because that would be the manifestation of an effort to defund, dismantle, and demoralize the police, not an effort to improve the police. We want a reform. We want to improve. We want to Work Together<\/a>, and we hope the democrat colleagues will take this amendment and others offered in good faith and that you will speak out against the dangerous efforts to demoralize those who are serving us. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Chairman nadler the gentleman yields. I move to strike the last word. Thank you. And i want to offer my deepest condolences to our colleague, mr. Sensenbrenner, on the loss of his wife. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and thank you, chairwoman bass, for doing such good work, so timely and really needed. These past few months have given us just too much to fear, too many lives to mourn. We have lost loved ones to a virus we have never experienced before and loved ones to an issue that has affected our country for decades, that took my son from me. But our strength has always been to come together to address our greatest challenges. We are coming together as we checked on our neighbors with preexisting conditions who cannot go to the store. We are coming together as we march against injustice. Honor we come together to the life of george floyd and Breonna Taylor<\/a> and so many others, and we are doing it with action, and for that, i am completely filled with hope. This bill will strengthen our communities, restore trust in Law Enforcement<\/a>, and assure the safety of all americans. This bill will save lives. I have been thinking a lot about thealm, that says when righteous cry out for help, the lord hears and delivers them out of all of their trouble. The righteous are crying out, and they are marching and hearding justice, and we you, and we see you. So many of our officers nationwide are truly upholding their duty to protect and serve. They have the trust of their communities, and as a result, are better at ensuring everyone safety. These officers know the people that they serve. They see them as brothers and sisters and neighbors, and their departments reflect the diversity of their communities. We do have officers who served with honor, who respect the dignity of every citizen. This bill is about making sure that every officer and every department is held to the high standards set by officers like these. It does that by ending racial and religious profiling, because everyone deserves to be treated equally under the law. This bill invests in communityoriented policing. In my district in georgia, our officers know that they must earn the respect of those that they serve, and they do earn it. Last weekend, i walked with families, community leaders, city officials, community leaders, and Police Officers<\/a> in a solidarity march through roswell, georgia. I walked with a pastor and the police chief. As aayed together community. We talked about rebuilding and strengthening the trust that keeps our communities safe. We talk about where to go from here and how every one of us has a role to play. In George Floyd Justice<\/a> policing act reflects a spirit that affirms that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and viewed equally in the eyes of the law. Our bill underscores commitment to communityoriented policing that promotes everyone safety. And assures accountability for those who fail to uphold their duty to protect us. And it rewards cities that are finding new ways to promote Public Safety<\/a>. Very proud of how we have come together as a nation, finally come together as a nation, to work towards these i am reallynd filled with hope for the first time. I am truly filled with hope that these actions that we take today, these collaborations, republican and democrats, together, will truly save lives. I know that there are kinks to work out, and i know that there are amendments to be made, but this step that we take today is a first step in truly creating the culture of safety and preservation of life that people in this country are crying out for. We have a responsibility and an accountability, and dare we not do what needs to be done, this is 400 years overdue. Let stand in the gap and do what has to be done for all of our citizens in america. And i yield back the balance of my time. Ler chairman nadler the gentlewoman yields back. The comment was made earlier that we do not want this bill aware of and i am not any republican that has an amendment that would weaken the bill. We would like to make it thatger and deeply regret we were not consulted to help make this a truly bipartisan bill coming out of the gate. Peoples an awful lot of on our side of the aisle who understand we need to make the law better and should. And many of us have worked in Law Enforcement<\/a>, spent many years in it, and have good insights. So the process we are left to is my friend, mr. Armstrong, has a good amendment here. The only issue i have with anything that he said or in the amendment is when he said we need to bring the federal authorities into the 21st century. As my friend, mr. Gates, pointed out, if we could just bring the fbi into the 20th century, it is a big help. And for anyone who knows that there is still some racism in would contendt, i it is a tiny percentage, but it is still there. We have seen it. Allowing the fbi to simply write down their version of what is said by a witness instead of doing what every cop on the street knows needs to be done, and that is a recording of what is said, the fbi is going to be able either by faulty memory or s way the manner in which a witness statement is by intents way the manner in which a witness statement is portrayed. Preeminent lawhe Enforcement Agency<\/a> in the world. That has been sorely blemished. I do not think Christopher Wray<\/a> has helped at all. But this would go a long way toward preventing any officer, any fbi agent, any federal intent fromhas ill being able to carry that out because the statement is a matter of record. It would be recorded. It could not be edited. To be played as it was, and that would help temptation of the any federal officer to be less than candid in efforts to recall what was said by a witness. It could mean the difference in orn many, many years being the free person that he or she should be. So i hope that we can come together. This would have been a great provision to have in the bill, and it would have been suggested and encouraged if we had been consulted before the bill was brought forward. So i really hope we can come together on this. There is no reason not to have federal officers as proficient and accurate as local Law Enforcement<\/a> in some of the smallest counties in the country. And with that, i yield back. Chairman nadler the gentleman yields back. I move to strike the last word. Mr. Sawell i moved to strike my last words. It was powerful testimony that we received last week from mr. Floyd and mr. Underwoods sister, and we have continued to see in this country individual and institutional tragedies that must move us to act. Otherwise, they will persist. And we are not helpless. People in the streets, they feel helpless. They feel they are not being listened to. But we are not helpless. We are elected to represent them and bring them the change they are calling for. But i think it is important for all of us to calibrate where we are at, because it seems like my colleagues on the other side want welcome and embrace needed police reforms. Not to say that all cops are bad cops but that we are seeing too many exceptions today. I say that the son of a police chief, the brother of two officers, and a former prosecutor myself. Things have to change. No one is talking about in this bill defunding the police. We are talking about policing the police and improving the police and reforming the police. When i say we need to recalibrate where we are all at, i have heard a lot of my colleagues on this side say black lives matter. And i will be honest. When that Movement First<\/a> emerged, i do not necessarily understand what that meant. All livesple say matter, and i thought, yes, all lives matter, right . Would say, oh, you have white privilege, and i would say i grew up in 11 different houses going to 13 different schools, first my family to go to college. No privilege there. And then it was explained to me by my africanamerican friends that even though you and so many others may have had hardships, your opportunity was not limited because of the color of your skin. That is what people say when they talk about a white privilege. Which is real and should be acknowledged. The founder of black lives black lives matter does not mean that your life is not important. It means that black lives that you are seeing without value with White Supremacy<\/a> are important, given the disproportionate impact violence has on black lives, we understand that when black people get free, the benefits will be wide reaching and transformative for society as a whole. When we are able to end the hyper criminalization and hypersexuals elation of black people and end the surveillance of black people, every single hyper criminalization and hyper sexualization of black people and their surveillance of black people, every Single Person<\/a> benefits. Black lives matter, period. So i would yield to any of my colleagues on the republican side who can unequivocally say, as we calibrate where we are right now, that black lives matter. The gentleman for yielding. Does the gentleman believe that all lives matter, as well . I believe can anyone on the republican side say unequivocally that black lives matter . Unequivocally, all lives matter. Why is that a problem . Reclaiming my time. I think it is clear that my colleagues on the other side would like to put up a straw man to not have the uncomfortable conversation that we need to have about race. Typically in police shootings, most of the focus is on the conduct of the officer, and we never get to the harder part about the systemic issues we have in our country. Nobody is disputing that what the officer did here with mr. Floyd should be defended. So we have to have the harder conversation about systemic issues in policing. Instead, we get this strawman of, well, you are trying to defund the police. Nowhere in this legislation is anyone seeking to defund the police. So until you are willing to get rid of the straw man, get rid of the confusion, get rid of all of the tactics you are using to avoid the hard conversation about race in america, we are not going to get where we need to be to have equality, not just in policing, but in jobs, in education. Black lives matter. Lives do matter, unequivocally. Precious, is godgiven, and black lives matter, unequivocally. Thank you. I yield back. Nadler the gentleman yields back. Mr. Jordan . Mr. Jordin thank you. I support the gentleman from north dakotas amendment. It is a good amendment, and the gentleman from florida, right on target. Cams. Ear body but interviewing a general is not recorded . That makes no sense. Remember, in january 2017, the agents on the Michael Flynn<\/a> case, a threestar star general, served our country for over 30 years, the agents want to drop this case, they did not want to pursue it, but what happened . The director of the fbi told peter, no, no, no, do not drop the case. We are going after Michael Flynn<\/a>. The next day, january 5, 2017, jim, he meets with then president obama and talks about Michael Flynn<\/a>, and what happened 19 days later . What happened 19 days later . Words, jims, not my theysmr. Comey does not follow proper process. He sneaks them in to set up Michael Flynn<\/a>. And, there is no recording of that interview. There are the 302 notes. Guess what they do with the notes. They change them months later and prosecute a general, prosecute an american citizen based on that. All the gentlemen as asking is, lets fix that. Lets have the audio recording of that conversation that took place. Democrats say, we need to study it. Lets just pass it. Lets get with the times. We are doing a virtual hearing. We cannot even see half the democrats. Somehow, the fbi can interview american citizens and charge them with something that turns out not to be a crime. The Justice Department<\/a> said there is nothing there. You guys want to study, making an audio recording of those type of interviews. This is as straightforward as it gets. The gentleman from north dakota knows what he is talking about. He has worked in this area. Lets adopt this amendment, common sense, thoughtful, good amendment that needs to happen in light of what we have lived through the last three years. This is as straightforward as it gets. I am happy to yield the remaining two minutes to my colleague from florida if he still seeks some time. I thank the gentleman. I would just comment that in the effort we are here on tougher amendments that would apply to all americans equally as we are here to craft legislation, the theatrics of serving us up a question on a political theme seem to be misplaced. It would be as if i were willing to yield to any democrat willing to say that Blue Lives Matter<\/a>. Not super productive. Allink if we acknowledge lives matter and there are definitely problems we need to solve and that congresswoman beth has put together. And the president has already acted on some of her ideas and trying to get to the root of these challenges and problems, i would hope that would be the way we continue the hearing. Yield back. Man, i chairman nadler gentleman yields back. Thank you, mr. Chairman. We are here today for george floyd, Breonna Taylor<\/a>, tony mcdade, John T Williams<\/a>, and all the names that we will never know whose lives were cut short by police. We are here to answer the cries for justice we have heard in streets across the country. With the George Floyd Justice<\/a> and policing act. Hey bill the New York Times<\/a> a bill says the near time says is the most aggressive towards police in recent memory. I am grateful for your hard work to bring this bill forward. In my district, people of color are 30 more likely to have police point a firearm at them then white people. Seattle is 7 blank. Like people accounted for nearly 29 of the incidents of use of force. We have been under a Consent Decree<\/a> for eight years. While we have made some important progress, the truth is we are far from finished. The Immediate Use<\/a> of force on the streets to the Peaceful Protesters<\/a> show us the work we need to do. What we see locally traction actually tracks nationally. A report found an increased likelihood of police use of force against people of color, people with disabilities, lgbtq people, people with Mental Health<\/a> concerns, people with low incomes and those at the intersections of these groups. They also found a troubling lack of data on the issue. A problem that leaves us piecing together reports in order to understand the depth of the problem that so many black and brown people across the country already know to be true. Mapping Police Violence<\/a> found police did note kill someone and black people are three times more likely to be killed by police then white people. Stunningly, officers were not charged with a crime in 99 percent of the killings by police from 2013 to 2019. Tends of wonder that thousands of people across the country are heartbroken and furious that we have not done sufficient work or anything to address these grave injustices and the constant lossoflife with no accountability . The justice and policing act is a crucial step forward to begin addressing centuries old pervasive violence against the black community and communities of color. The bill bands chokeholds the bill bans chokeholds. It establishes them as a civil rights violation. A policeishes misconduct registry that tracks completes at the local, tracks complaints at the local, state and federal level. It improves eta collection by requiring the reporting of all incidents of use of force stops and searches and the demographics of those involved. The bill provides grants for black and brown communities across the country to reimagine how we ensure unity safety for everyone so black mothers and fathers do not have to constantly warn their kids to stay away from Police Officers<\/a> instead of seeking help from them. This bill begins to make the changes that walled offer everyone regardless of the color of their skin to be safe. Some in the media and some of my colleagues on this committee would like to change our focus from these essential reforms to things like digitally altered pictures on fox news that spread lies about what is happening in my district. Were communities come together to reenvision Public Safety<\/a>. Not be distracted. Let us keep our focus on what is in this bill and what Philonise Floyd<\/a> demanded we do to not allow george floyd to be a picture on a tshirt. The justice and policing act says to the families of george floyd so many others, the wrongful death of your loved ones will not be in vain. We must listen and respond to the cause of black organizers, advocates and civil rights leaders and do the long culture shifting work to change how we approach Public Safety<\/a>. 20 seconds. Police on the front lines responding to decades of defunding of things people need. Mental health, housing, education, reforming a broken criminal Justice System<\/a> and so much more. This is part and parcel of what we must fix. It is not enough to say black lives matter. We must do the work to cement this essential into policy and practice. I yield back. Thank you. Representative buck. Rep. Buck i want to state that black lives matter. I want to state that you have with you have lived a privileged life should want to welcome you in so many others on your side of the aisle to the prolife movement. I keep hearing about the sanctity of life. I think it is time we deal with this issue and find Common Ground<\/a> on other issues and protecting life from conception to natural from conception to death is natural. I welcome my friend on all those issues. Outstanding it is and i thank the gentlelady from california and the chair of the subcommittee here for recognizing the difficulty that Police Officers<\/a> face in their daytoday lives and how we as a legislative body and how state legislatures across the country have failed in dealing with Mental Health<\/a> issues and so many other issues and how we place on Police Officers<\/a> and unfair burden. While i agree with parts of this bill, there are parts that would place and even greater burden on the Police Officers<\/a> protecting our young as they go back and forth to school, as they protect citizens as they go to the store to protect to pick up a prescription, as they are picking up citizens in their daily lives. I think it is essential that we recognize and i thank you gentlelady for that recognition that Police Officers<\/a> have a tough job. Mentioned to my friend and colleague, mr. Armstrong, that i cannot support this amendment. I understand the compelling reason behind the amendment and i believe the fbi should be held accountable for the gross misconduct it engaged in in investigating the trump campaign. I think when we require out of custody interviews to be recorded, we are going to seriously limit the fbis ability to carry out its mission in the antiterrorism area, the white collar area and so many other areas where it is difficult to predict when an interview is going to take place much less how to foster the best atmosphere for that interview. I have reservations about this. I think one of the serious failings of the Judiciary Committee<\/a> in the past year and a tof has been its failure fully investigate the gross misconduct the fbi engaged in with the Trump Administration<\/a> and the trump campaign. Actions andk at the what has been revealed so far in the press and the senate, compose this committee it compels this committee to study the issue, hold hearings on the issue, to publicize, sign light on that misconduct and to make sure that misconduct does not happen again. It is so unfortunate that my democrat colleagues feel it is so feel it is ok to sweep something under the rug because it was the target of this investigation, the target of this misconduct were republicans. Somebody they do not like, President Trump<\/a>. While you conducted a witchhunt, a partisan impeachment hearing down the line in the house, down the line vote on impeachment, how annot even look at federal agency abused its power to engage in political activities, something i think we all find incredibly offensive and sad that the fbis leadership would tarnish the image and the great work being done by so many fbi agent. I think my colleague, mr. Armstrong, for bringing this amendment. I thank him for shining this light on the serious problem we have in the fbi. I look forward to making sure we do everything we can to expose that behavior. I yield back. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair. I think it is an opportunity for america why we are gathered here today. We are here for fundamental change. Change that our communities are calling for. The death of george floyd, Breonna Taylor<\/a>, Ahmaud Arbery<\/a> and over the weekend, Rayshard Brooks<\/a>. Pain and more division in our country. For,the people are asking what they are peacefully marching for is change. All of us today have the opportunity, my republican colleagues, my democratic colleagues, we have to have the courage to confront the crisis headon. We have the responsibility in congress and this committee to pass laws at the federal level that will hold Law Enforcement<\/a> accountable for their actions and ensure that they are protecting and serving our community. I know we can all agree on that. My constituents in my district have overwhelmingly indicated that is what they are asking for. Greater accountability. My Office Conducted<\/a> a survey last week and we got over 1200 responses from constituents on both sides of the aisle. Different ages and races. What were they all in agreement with . That they wanted to see greater accountability for officers accused of misconduct. What have we seen . We have seen thousands of americans from all walks of life marching together demanding change. What the people want to see is changes in Police Oversight<\/a> and responsibility for those who failed to uphold the law. They want to know the law is applied equally to everyone, every american citizen. Witnessed from personal experience in my area that Law Enforcement<\/a> in miami are making changes. I have met with them. I commend a large number of officers working to serve and protect the people they serve, but accountability means transparency. The efforts in this bill establishes a National Registry<\/a> for Police Misconduct<\/a> and requires reporting on the use of force. We need these meaningful changes to build trust in our community. It also means working on the front end to Reform Police<\/a> practices and to address systemic racism that is in our society and in our government. The reality is people of color live with an face prejudice throughout their entire life. Our federal and state Law Enforcement<\/a> agencies need to enact reforms that are responsive to the nations pleas and that live up to the standard of equal protection under the law. Endsed to take action that racial profiling, bans chokeholds. What the president signed as an executive order yesterday does not go far enough. We have seen that when a new president takes over, they can repeal the executive order signed by previous president s. That is why in congress as an independent branch of government, we need to take the responsibility to enact all of these measures into law and ensure we ban chokeholds not only under certain circumstances. I am proud to support the George Floyd Justice<\/a> and policing act because it works [indiscernible] community [indiscernible] oversight andorts builds bridges between the police and community. Through officer fair and open investigations and work to shape public trust. Miamidade county has looked at the idea of revising civilian oversight. It is only effective if it is structured correctly. That is my hr 7120 sets a baseline for effective civilian oversight and i think more work can be done in the future. Lets not get distracted by political talking points. We should not be political today. Lets show the American People<\/a> that we are going to take action and we have the will to make sure we hold Police Department<\/a>s accountable. Thank you. I yield back. Chairman nadler the gentlelady yields back. For what purpose does the gentlelady from pennsylvania seek recognition . It is gentlemen. I under stand things are fluid today. I understand things are fluid. Chairman nadler gentlemen is recognized. I heard some of my colleagues talk about the fact that the Democratic Party<\/a> does not want to defund the police. Lets look at their own words on this matter. This is all in the words of individuals in the Democrat Party<\/a>. Brian fallon in early june. He is the executive director of demand justice. He is the former press secretary to Hillary Clinton<\/a> and is the spokesperson for eric holder. He tweeted, defund the police. On june 5, representative omar she represents minneapolis she tweeted and i quote, the Minneapolis Police<\/a> department has proven themselves the andriy form. It is time to disband them and reimagine Public Safety<\/a> in minneapolis. Neapolis city Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison<\/a> who is the son of Minnesota Attorney<\/a> general keith ellison, he tweeted and i quote, we are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police<\/a> department and when we are done, we are not going to glue it back together. We are going to dramatically rethink how we approach Public Safety<\/a> and emergency response. It is really past due. Allison also publicly pledged his support to the leftist terrorist organization antifa. Lisa bender tweeted, we are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police<\/a> department. Once to see wents to see police abolished entirely. Steve fletcher, Minnesota Council<\/a> city member, he stated he and the City Council President<\/a> and the chair of Public Safety<\/a> are calling to disband our Police Department<\/a> and start fresh with a communityoriented nonviolent Public Safety<\/a> and outreach capacity. L. A. , mayor garcetti is looking to defund the police to the tune of over 250 million of cuts. Leftnstantly hear from the that words matter. That is the mantra of the left. Words do matter. If democrats want to and this is in their words, if the democrats want to defund, dismantle and abolish the police. Mr. Chairman, these are there words. There words these are their words. Their words matter. I heard one of my colleagues try to minimize the autonomous zone in seattle that antifa has taken over. I have heard it minimized like it is a peaceful protest. Something we would see in the summer of love. Let me quote the chief of police in seattle. Seattle police chief said and i , robbery and all sorts of violent acts have been occurring in the area and we are not able to get to them. Chaz, rape,nimize robbery and all sorts of violent acts. Lets call this for what it is. It is a terrorist organization that is taken over six city blocks in seattle, a quote unquote autonomous zone. My colleagues are minimizing this behavior and allowing rape, robbery and all sorts of acts to occur under the name of quote unquote peaceful protest. I yield to my friend and colleague from north dakota. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I appreciate the comments. I think this is where we are at. This type of reform is hard. It is hard to do well. Not all differences are ideological. He is a prosecutor. I am a defense attorney. I would be more susceptible to his argument if the fbi has not circumvented what they consider a custodial bridges a noncustodial interview for a decade. We are asking state and local departments from the federal government to do a lot of things. At the very least we could do when we do that is what we have said. Require basic fundamental fairness with what is supposed to be the premier Law Enforcement<\/a> agency in the country. To mr. Chairmans point, i was in rules. I watched the amendment die in a some blackhole that i do not get to be in the room when that happens. We need to do these things here. Before my time runs out, i have some unanimous consent requests. Titledo dated 323 2006 electronic recording of confessions and witness interviews. Doj dated 512 2014. It recordings recordings of statements. Report by the Northwest School<\/a> of law for wrongful convictions. The justice project. Friend, the grand jury target tracking key issues in white color prosecution. I yield back. Chairman nadler without objection. I recognize miss gendler. Ms. Scanlan. I moved to strike the last word. Chairman nadler gentlelady is recognized. Could i yield to ms. Bass . I need to correct my good friend since you called out my city, los angeles. I will tell you by mayor did not defund the police. We have 40,000 people who are homeless. 40,000. What he did was reallocate money to address the problems the Police Department<\/a> never wants to deal with because they should not. I yield back. Thank you. Everyone who has worked so diligently to bring the George Floyd Justice<\/a> and policing bill before us. We are witnessing a long overdue moral reckoning in this country. We cannot wait any longer to act. In the weeks since we held our last hearing, and other black man has lost his life at the hands of the police. When he was shot in the back in atlanta. We have to act now. I want to thank the gentleman from her the coda for bringing this, sing bill to our attention. I look forward to working with him to included in the final bill. I appreciate him bringing his experience as a prosecutor to propose a substantive amendment. Defense attorney. Sorry, defense attorney. Breen that experience bringing that experience to this field to make the bill better. I appreciate the seriousness with which he approaches the issue of actually addressing Police Accountability<\/a> rather than making relevant political arguments or suggesting toothless proposals that will not make the changes we need to dismantle systemic racism in our country. I yield back. Gentleladydler yields back. Chairman . Thank you, mr. Chairman. I move to strike the last word. Thank you. Wanthairman and members, i to say i respect representative bass and i think she works hard. There are parts of this withling bill that i agree and i think there parts of this underlying bill that most republicans and the president could agree with. It is disappointing that from what i have been told, there was no reach out to republicans to work on this bill. There are parts of this bill i cannot support. The reason i cannot support it is because i talked to constituents and Law Enforcement<\/a> officers, a wide variety of Law Enforcement<\/a> officers. They said portions of this bill will undermine their ability to protect communities. In response to representative swalwell wanting a republican to say black lives matter, mr. Swalwell, of course, black lives matter. Of course. Grandsons, their lives matter. My life matters. Date of native american lives matter. Dwight lives matter. Everyones lives matter. Ally unborn children born from 8 born alive from a botched abortion, which republicans have brought forward 80 to 100 times saying, please give medical care and save the life of unborn children born alive. The democrats have failed to let us hear that bill. All lives matter. I yield to mr. Armstrong. Need any moret time. I yield back. Mr. Chairman . Mr. Chairman . Chairman nadler mr. Lou seeks recognition. Recognize mr. Cohen. Chair. K you, mr. This is one of the most important hearings this committee will have because what has happened in minneapolis has brought the nations attention to problems this country has had since 1619 when the first slaves were brought to this country. Until 1863 1865. The emancipation proclamation, juneteenth. Then we had jim crow. Whiche had post jim crow, was a southern strategy. A continuation of a racist policy we have had for years to keep like people down, do not give them rights, to not give them opportunities to not give them rights, to not give them opportunities to participate in the american dream. To have health care, to have education, to have job training, to not be discriminated against in housing, to not be discriminated against and eight employment. In employment. That is the issue that brought us here today with george floyd. Killed by a Police Officer<\/a> with no concern for humanity in one of the most cruel acts ever witnessed, live, by individuals on the street and thereafter by video recordings to where we all knee on officer put his the neck of the man who said i cannot breathe and he did not give a hoot because he was a policeman who had been upset that mr. Floyd apparently did not cooperate in getting in the backseat of the car and he was going to teach him a lesson he would remember for eight minutes and 46 seconds, not forever, but for mr. Floyd, it was forever. Eight minutes and 46 seconds came forever because he did not do what a policeman what him to do. A policeman does not have that power. He did not have that power in atlanta. Wendys ran at the away. He had a taser, but a policeman is not up as im supposed to kill someone because they are running away with a taser. They did it for the same reason mr. Floyd was killed. That officers ego was hurt. That man got away from the officer. That man got the officers taser. Police should not be teaching people lessons. They ought to teach them lessons that you should not do this and let me explain you why. There are a lot of policeman who do that. There are some and quite a few bad apples. They are mostly focused on africanamericans because they focus on people with the least power in society because that is where they get off. But i heard last week and today for my republican colleagues has been disheartening, disheartening and disheartening. America should be repulsed by it. This hearing is about police, it is about racism, it is about over use of force against individuals. It is not about abortion. Mueller. About ,t should be more about mueller but it is not about trump, rns lives matter orange lives matter. It is not about defunding the police. It is not about officer underwood. It is about police over use of force against africanamericans and america not doing what it should have done rightfully by the people they enslaved and treated as secondclass citizens for 70 years. Subterfuges isse a disk respect i disrespect it right thinking american. This Committee Last<\/a> week, they did not ask questions about the bill. They talked about defunding the police. Then they come up and go, this democrat may be for defunding the police. Steve king talked about White Supremacy<\/a>. I does not mean every republican was a white supremacist. That is the way they are interpreting one person talking about defunding the police. Ms. Underwood was brought here to talk about the rights. The riots. That was a switch too. Officer underwood was killed by a guy who killed a santa cruz sheriff. That is when they saw he used a white van and found out he used find out he killed officer underwood. A member of a group called glue that wants to bring about a civil war. They are not talking about getting rid of a white supremacist. They did not know that was the case and they brought him up. They wanted to switch it from protesters to writers. We are all against rioters. I am for the police. Lets get to the issue today. That is unjust policing and unjust practices against africanamericans. I yield back the balance of my time. Chairman nadler gentleman yields back. I rise to strike the last word. Chairman nadler gentleman is recognized. I want to get one for the response to mr. Swalwell. Apparently he has not been listening to his colleagues. I think everyone of us has said unequivocally there is inherent dignity in every single life. Not just american. I have said in every interview, i have said in our subCommittee Hearing<\/a>s in this hearing before any Opening Statements<\/a> that it is not just that lives matter. It is that every single human life has dignity and value. Our values are not related to the color of our skin, where we come from, where we went to school, how talented we are, what we contribute to society. None of that is relevant. Every human light has human life has been a t and value has dignity and value. Explained this is an essential thing to who we are as americans. Creed, wendational find it listed in the second paragraph of the declaration of independence. America is the only nation in the world founded upon a creed. It is listed with theological lucidity. We hold these truths to be selfevident. Something you cannot not know. Why is that . It is stamped upon your heart by your creator. We hold these truths to be selfevident all men are created equal. Declaration does not say we are born equal. It says we are created equal by someone, by god. Because we are crated by god, he gets he gives everybody the same inalienable rights. Among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Up to that lived ideal. The first paragraph, the first line of our constitution says we the people do this in order to form a more perfect union. With the House Judiciary Committee<\/a> is about is working together. I do not know how you have missed all this. We are all united on that. We all agree there needs to be meaningful reform. What we are doing is having thoughtful dialogue and debate, the kind envisioned in our founding, to inform and come together with the best answers and solutions that will advance the ball for American People<\/a>. That is part of the process. Part of the thing we have lamented today is we have not been part of the process. The democrats proposed this bill, went together in a room somewhere and did not allow us in it. We respectfully requested to be a part of the process. Staff reached out to staff. We were rebuffed. If everything mr. Cohen just said is true, if you want to have meaningful reform, if you want to improve american policing in a way that will work and maintain Public Security<\/a> and safety, then it seems like you would be open to the thoughtful ideas we have on the others. We ought to be doing this together. The American People<\/a> expect that and they deserve it. We do not need partisan squabbles. We need all of us to Work Together<\/a> and treat one another with the dignity and respect our declaration entitles us to and the founders recognize was a selfevident truth. Acknowledging the thoughtful amendment of congressman armstrong. He comes to this very thoughtfully. We had a meeting last night. This is his background. He has a lot to offer. You ought to listen to him. We have 20 other amendments equally thoughtful. We ought to have an important debate. I hope the American People<\/a> are watching this. I hope they are recording everything we say. Lets not engage in the squabbles about whether we all think life is precious. Every single one of us does. When we get beyond the squabble, we can get to the important work of the committee. In response to the gentleman from tennessee, he said the hearing is about police. It is not about mueller. I know it seems like impeachment was a long time ago, but the amendment does not target mueller for the operations of his team. It seeks broadly to affect this process. Circumstance we describe occurred before he was appointed. Before there was a basis for this embarrassing hoax. You had jim comey telling the track generalnd flynn and they did not use recordings. It would seem illogical to say we are here in discussion about police and Law Enforcement<\/a>, but we are going to observe from that discussion our own fbi. I think the fbi is a relevant topic when talking about police. Chairman nadler the time of the gentleman has expired. Him. Ou if we have thank you, chairman nadler for your hard work on this legislation. I went to start by noting it was a white Police Officer<\/a> that put his knee on George Floyds<\/a> neck for eight minutes and murdered him. A member of a rightwing group that was arrested for killing Patrick Underwood<\/a>. We are here because black lives matter. The Lieutenant General<\/a> has not set appeared most republican members of congress have not been able to say it. Why does that matter . You cannot fix a problem if you cannot identify a problem. If you say black lives matter and then qualify it with all lives matter, that shows you do not understand the problem. The problem is we have a system that does not treat all life as precious. It is a system that consistently undervalues black lives. Do Blue Lives Matter<\/a> . Of course. The system already protects blue lives. It is all life precious . Absolutely. Except the system does not view it that way. That is why we are here. Let me give you an example of what i mean by the system. It was not one rogue cop that killed george floyd. Additional two Police Officers<\/a> that had their knees on his body. This whole training involved. They were trained in procedures that obstructed peoples airways. And there was the Minneapolis Police<\/a> department spokesperson. Then there were the civilians and Police Officers<\/a> who knew about Derek Chauvins<\/a> prior misconduct and did not take Strong Enough<\/a> action. It takes an entire village to allow the systematic motor of black americans by government systematic murder of black americans by government. If you think this is about a few rogue cops, you do not understand the problem. Right now, black americans are killed at a rate twice as high as white americans by Police Officers<\/a>. That is not a few rogue cops. It is an entire system. Are there good cops . Our most cops good . Absolutely. Just like most people in this committee, i hope all of us think we are good people too, but good people can perpetuate the bad system. We are part of a system that has repeatedly discriminated against minorities. Take this pandemic. Blacks, latinos and native americans die at higher rates than lights. There are huge disparity than whites. There are huge disparities. We are part of that system. Does that make us bad people . That is for historians to judge. Now that we have been made aware of the Police Brutality<\/a> against like americans, we have a responsibility that against black americans, we have a responsibility to fix it. The first thing we have to do is understand the problem. The problem is that black lives are being undervalued. Usher you can help us to fix to fix this problem or you can allow the inherent racism of our society to continue. We have a great bill here. Systemic problem. It is not a matter of a few rogue cops. Please understand that. Please be able to say black lives matter without qualifying it. Show us you get the problem. I yield back. Chairman nadler the gentleman yields back. Who seeks recognition . The gentleman is recognized. We seem to have gone far afield from the amendment before us. Mr. s amendment civilly requires federal Law Enforcement<\/a> to record interviews with suspects and witnesses. One of the provisions of this bill i support is the encouragement of Police Cameras<\/a> to accurately document Police Encounters<\/a> and interviews with the public. There is a very important reason for that. It provides us with an eyewitness that has a perfect would, a video that protect Police Officers<\/a> and the public alike from false charges. Mr. Armstrongs amendment is aligned with this provision. Just as the police video eliminates all doubt about what happened in an encounter including what was said, this provision eliminates all doubt about what was said in a particular interview. I do not see how anyone who supports the use of Police Cameras<\/a> to document encounters would oppose a provision that would use a Police Recording<\/a> to document interviews with suspects and witnesses. I strongly support this amendment and would ask the majority consider it. Chairman nadler the gentleman yields back. I would remind the gentleman that for the safety of their colleagues, they should be Wearing Masks<\/a>, mr. Jordan. I know recognize mr. Raskin. I now recognize as to raskin. Im sending my condolences life is precious as the wrecking member reminded us as the Ranking Member<\/a> reminded us. Life is precious. In the midst of this pandemic, lives, wecost 115,000 can show we believe life is precious by Wearing Masks<\/a> when we are not speaking in this committee room. Mr. Chairman, the whole premise of government, civil government, is we will be safer inside the social contract than we will be outside of it in the state of nature, which Thomas Hobbes<\/a> says was a state of war, solitary, nasty, brutish and short. We exchange the habits of revenge and tribal justice for trust in the rule of law and the Impartial Administration<\/a> of justice. The American Social<\/a> contract has never been like that for the america for the africanamerican committee. It has been a dream laced with violence and speckled with racist poison. Where was the social contract for george floyd as officer show open crest officer chauvin pressed to the air out of his body, murdering him over eight minutes and 46 seconds . Where was the social contract for Breonna Taylor<\/a>, the 26yearold emergency room technician who was shot eight times in her body in her own bed never even having been charged with a crime by officers executing a no knock warrant . Where was the social contract for 12yearold tamir rice gunned down after a snowball fight in part in cleveland . Where was the social contract for Michael Brown<\/a>, eric garner, Rayshard Brooks<\/a> . Where is the social contract today for africanamerican citizens who experience fear of the police, whose salaries they are paying . The justice in policing act is the beginning, just the beginning of repairing the broken social contract. It bans chokeholds in stranglehold it requires deadly force in stranglehold. It stops militarizing Law Enforcement<\/a> and stopped confusing the police whose job it is to protect and defend our people with the army, which is trained to kill the enemy. It requires already cameras and dashboard cameras. Andnds racial, ethnic religious profiling in america. Removes the perverse doctrine of qualifying immunity so that neither federal or state and local officers can escape liability for a violent assault against citizens sickly by showing simply by showing their misconduct had not taken place exactly the same way before. Changes ateaningful the bare minimum any of us should accept care not knowing should accept. Not knowing whether our families would be a citizen with a knee on our neck ra swat team or a swat team in our bedroom. The Founding Fathers<\/a> would be proud of this. The vast majority in the bill of rights are to control the police power. The third amendment, no quartering of troops. The fourth amendment, no unreasonable searches and seizures. Warrants based only on probable cause. The fifth amendment, the privilege against selfincrimination. The eighth mm, no the eighth amendment, no no double jeopardy. Our founders understood tierney begins with the abuse understood tierney begins with the abuse of police power. Protecting the safety and security of each and every citizen and their families. An officer who irrigates to himself the power to kill a citizen who has been subdued appoints himself not just cop but legislator, prosecutor, judge, jury, executioner. Officer chauvin appointed himself god when it came to the life of george floyd. The good comps in america, most of the cops in america favor reform and oppose the disgraceful actions of Derek Chauvin<\/a> and those who stood by and did nothing and watched him wear a citizen. The good comps and much to murder a citizen. Here, we do not believe in collective guilt, guilt by association and mass punishment. The principles we have had to invoke repeatedly in this committee. I yield back. Chairman nadler what purpose does mr. Klein secret commission . Seek recognition . I would like to strike the last word. In the wake of his tragic murder. I am glad we are here to address it. I was moved by the testimony we heard last week and had high hopes we would be able to find a bipartisan way to move forward on real reforms. While im still hopeful we can find Common Ground<\/a>, i am disappointed the debate over solutions has been sidetracked by a coddling of leftist anarchists and a refusal to reject those in society in seattle and other places across the country who want to defund the police. This simply is not a realistic option and distracts from real reform. Our dedicated Police Officers<\/a> work to ensure lawlessness does not prevail in our streets and neighborhoods. Unfolding as an example of what defund the police would look like if im fomented across america if implemented across america. There are ways we continue to Work Together<\/a>. Congress should be working in a bipartisan manner to ensure Law Enforcement<\/a> utilizes the tactics to keep our communities safe while protecting the rights of the people they serve. While hr 7210 is wellintentioned, we must make additional changes to strike a balance on reform while respecting the need to maintain rule of law. Many of the policies included are ideas that can achieve consensus. Prohibiting the use of chokeholds and no knock warrants. Making lynching a federal crime. Findn potentially bipartisan consensus. Unfortunately, this bill was crafted without the input of republicans. We need to make revisions finale totect citizens not make revisions to ensure we protect citizens. It means spending more time in this room today. We could have avoided a lengthy day today with consultations occurring before the markup today. As a committee, we should be working together to find solutions to pervasive problems and ensure all americans are being accessed are being afforded access to justice. The president made clear through his executive order he is committed to keeping the Community Safe<\/a>. I truly hope we can seize this moment in time so americans can come together. I hope as legislators, we can craft a solution to make our Community Safe<\/a> and strengthening the bonds between our fellow americans. Chairman nadler gentleman yields back. I moved to strike the last word. Chairman nadler gentleman is recognized. Thank you, chairman nadler, for bringing up the justice in policing act. I also want to thank chairwoman bass for her incredible work over these weeks in crafting this legislation. I know she has engaged a broad group of stakeholders of the house as well as the administration and i thank her for her leadership. ,n addition to her many duties she has taken it upon herself to be a mentor to new, young black members of Congress Like<\/a> myself. I am grateful for her mentorship. I also want to say i appreciate my friend from north dakota in terms of his thoughtfulness. I recognize he approaches this issue in good faith. I will be unable to vote in support of his amendment. I think mr. Buck raises important points with respect to unintended consequences. I think it is worth studying as we move the bill to the floor. I want to talk about why we are here today. As a nation, we continue to feel immense pain and distress over the killings of george floyd and Breonna Taylor<\/a> and so many others. These killings did not appear out of nowhere. They are rooted in generations of inequality and injustice. It is Time Congress<\/a> create meaningful and instructional reform. Which is why we are taking up the policing act. I believe it will increase Public Safety<\/a> and ensure accountability, establishing a national use of force standard, bringing transparency to policing and providing additional tools for the department of justice to root out misconduct. Want i also want to emphasize why this is so important. The Civil Rights Division<\/a> has the power to investigate unconstitutional patterns and practices of violent policing. It has been a successful tool in reforming systemic policing in the past. It is a tool mr. Barr has refused to use and ultimately a tool the Trump Administration<\/a> has discarded. There is no question these investigations, the resulting Consent Decree<\/a>s have fed an impact. They have played a central role in reforming the Police Department<\/a>. Likely aer reforms are capablef having a more infrastructure and more robust training. The doj has demonstrated it is unwilling to use the tools congress has provided to address these issues. Must look to our state attorneys general. We have worked and oppose and proposed an amendment that would provide express authority to stay attorney generals to conduct these investigations. State ags are in a unique position. It is imperative they fill in this gaping hole that has been left by the attorney general. I am grateful to chairman nadler for including this amendment before the committee and support its passage. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation. I appreciate my colleagues considering it. I would urge them to support this bill. I yield back. Chairman nadler who seeks recognition . From the gentleman from california. You, mr. Chairman. Can you hear me . Chairman nadler yes, we can. I would like to move to strike the last word. Chairman nadler gentleman is recognized. Let me express my condolences to our colleagues for their losses i. Like to thank you. , mr. Chairman families l osses. This represents a lifetime of work for you. I totally agree with you. We must have change. Change has to happen now. Has to be meaningful change because our communities, our streets demand we regain the public trust of our Public Safety<\/a> officers. You said something in your Opening Statement<\/a> that struck me, which was that we should not expect police to fix our social issues. You have a very good point. One of the issues i would like to take note is our National Drug<\/a> policy right now. Federal cannabis policy outlawing cannabis. About know, when we talk disparities cannabis related, over 650,000 americans are arrested every year for violating cannabis law. According to the aclu, in every single state, black folks are more likely to be arrested for Marijuana Possession<\/a> and in some states, 10 times more likely to be arrested than others. Many communities have lost loved ones to incarceration because of cannabis related convictions. Of inreform in term terms of common eyes asian will not undo the practices, decriminalizing cannabis will be a major step in the right direction. Last week during our community hearing, professor butler stated the legalization of cannabis will help create equal justice. Congress in my opinion must move to address decriminalizing cannabis. With that, esther chair, i would like to yield mr. Chair, i would like to yield the balance of my time. Garcia isadler ms. Recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and i also want to express my condolences to their loved ones and think the chairman and chairwoman for the extraordinary work you have done on this bill. , asontinues to baffle me some suggested, this is all about defunding police. Hope that those who have read i failed to see anywhere in this bill about the funding the police, disrespecting police, or anything that would cause anyone to think that. Mr. Chairman, i think we need to take a deep breath and really look at what we are talking about today. Congress toime for make systematic changes on issues of racism, Police Brutality<\/a> brutality, and racial profiling. End to the an unnecessary use of force by police that resulted in the death of one too many black and brown americans. As a person of faith, i believe the responsibility falls on each and every one of us that everyone is treated as a child of god. The reality is george floyd was not treated as a child of god when he repeated his last words, i cant breathe. Ascannot go back to business usual and allow george floyd to be forgotten, like many others before him. We must lead on this issue to ensure that george is not just one more black life killed by the system. As elected officials, it is important we reform our federal civil rights statutes to protect black and brown americans who just want to live and breathe and just walk down the street without fear. Justice demands that we must put an end to brutality, racial andiling, White Supremacy<\/a>, vicious racism that continues in america. Justice demands that longsuffering americans be made whole for being denied their rights as americans. Is there anything history has our lossesit is that only affirm that yes, black lives matter. We cannot keep ignoring this as a country. In the latino community, we top are affected by Police Brutality<\/a> and racial profiling. As we seek out the truth and seek justice and equality for all, its important for latinos to stand with our Black Brothers<\/a> and sisters on this issue. Because we are affected together. I believe that this bill is the right step for the due process that is necessary. As you know, i come from texas. A state that is home to millions of latinos and blacks, and unfortunately its also a state that has been deeply affected by multiple incidents of Police Brutality<\/a> over the past few years. Incidents have been conducted with unjustified force. I firmly believe this bill will make americans safer by guaranteeing Police Accountability<\/a> under the law and policeng Trained Community<\/a> relations. This bill will save lives in response to the gross injustices that have resulted in the deaths of so many George Floyds<\/a>, eric mcdonald,amir rice, sandra bland, and pamela turner, among others. I say their names because today we are honoring them with actions. Mr. Chairman, i cannot support this amendment and i strongly support and urge all my colleagues to vote for the underlying bill. It is so critical to make real transformational change in this country. We must do it and we must do it now. Thank you and i yelled back the balance of my time. The gentlelady yields back. I move to strike the last word. The gentleman is recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I think chairwoman bass as well. I dont doubt this amendment is offered in good faith, but i do not support it and it has also led us into a discussion that is irrelevant as it relates to the question at hand. Of George Floyds<\/a> murder was not brought to me by a fellow member of congress. It was not brought to me by my chief of staff. E by mynot brought to m legislative director. By my brought to me young black son. After Breonna Taylor<\/a> presented the video to me and simply said, its happened again. Dad, what are you going to do about it . Thats why we are all here. Not to talk about Michael Flynn<\/a>. Thats why americans of every race are in the streets, demanding justice and systematic change. What are we going to do about it . Its not about Michael Flynn<\/a>. ,hat are we going to do about garner . O and eric what are we going to do about samir rice and walter scott and oscar grant . What are we going to do about sandra bland . And Stephan Clark<\/a> and Breonna Taylor<\/a> . What are we going to do about george floyd, who narrated his own death . For eight minutes and 46 seconds. We are not here to talk about Michael Flynn<\/a>. Thats beneath the daytoday this is beneath the dignity and the institution in the lives that have been lost. So like so many other young people across america, my youngest son says that he wants to go and protest. And like any father, i have concerns, but i let him do what he thinks is right in brooklyn. But i have to have that conversation with him again. That so many of us have had with our young black children. Make sure you have your id with you. Because you are a threat. Not because you are a threat. And not his drivers license, because he is too young to be able to drive. I. D. ,cause without that someoneh school i. D. , in Law Enforcement<\/a> may think you can detaint and ge you for that reason alone. And some may even look at usa threat because of the color of your skin, just like they did 12yearold samir rice. And then of course i had to say do not respond or react to any against you. Buse that is what eric garner did. He said, ive had enough. And then he said, i cant breathe 11 times and was choked to death. So even if you are completely on the right, you are being harassed, you are being abused, you cant respond because it may result in your life being taken. And then of course i had to say, and if you are detained, dont say anything, dont sign anything. You that yousay to will be let go. What do you think happened to the central park five . They were given false confessions by Law Enforcement<\/a> to sign. So we are not here to talk about Michael Flynn<\/a>. Problemere to solve a of Police Violence<\/a>, harassment, and the absence of dignity that has occurred not month after month, not year after year, but decade after decade after decade. Thats why we are here. And thats why i support the justice in policing act. I yield back. The gentleman yields back. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I strike the last word and move to the gentleman from north dakota. Anybody who thinks this amendment is irrelevant to what were doing here has no idea how lawenforcement works. And before we get too far into this, under the spill without this amendment, this is what happens. Federal agents are required to wear a body camera, required to have a dashboard camera. And the scenario we talk about, gets detained off to the side, turn it off. You dont need it anymore. When you are being talked to, when you are being dealt with. And just so you know, i said this last week, i come from a state that is 88 white. So these issues are a little different to me. But ive seen a native American Woman<\/a> charged with obstruction because she was clearly intoxicated and not represented by counsel in her first interview and shockingly her second interview did not match up. I have seen ns panic that speaks broken english not allowed interpreter nor a lawyer pleasant to get his plea deal revoked because his first interview was different from his second interview. Im guaranteeing you this, both of those clients which those interviews were at least audiorecorded, and none of them were in custody according to federal agents. I yield back. Reclaiming my time, i would like to yield to the gentleman from texas. Thank you. And to followup on mr. Armstrongs comment, if you truly believe 100 in your heart that there is no one who is racist at all in any federal Law Enforcement<\/a> department, then it would be totally appropriate for you to vote against this amendment. But if there is the possibility that any federal, even one federal Law Enforcement<\/a> officer anywhere is racist, then you ought to vote for this amendment, and i do appreciate all the wonderful speeches everyone is making, but failed to address this good amendment. Thank you for the good speeches. But this amendment is what we are talking about right now, and it would make a difference. It will make Law Enforcement<\/a> better. Ifwill prevent people, even they have any racist inclinations, from exhibiting those because it will all be recorded, and you cant hide it in a written 302. So i applaud the amendment and im thankful for that. Totally express my sympathy for jim sensenbrenners loss, and imrs grateful everybody is so sensitive to that. Thats wonderful. But i yield back to my friend from ohio. I would also like to add to my condolences to the spouses who passed away, ms. Sensenbrenner and ms. Barr. These are truly great people in this hearing as important as we all know. There are many things we could work out in a bipartisan manner had we been consulted ahead of time. Im hoping that a number of the amendments we had three, well be working with senator tim scott to get these into law if at all possible. Because there are a lot of good things we can do in this area to Reform Police<\/a>. The vast majority of whom are professionals and work extremely hard, put their lives at risk every day, but apparently theres not bipartisanship. We will see perry we have more time left in the committee, but we keep seeing shots across the bow from the other side, which is unfortunate, and i would now like to yield to the gentleman from ohio. The gentleman from north dakota is right, the two examples that he gave, we sure do wish those interviews were recorded. My guess is the example mr. Jeffries talked about probably wished those interactions were recorded. Flynn wishesneral his interview was recorded. Because we know what they did after that. They change the very notes they took the day it happened. And by the way, those two agents said after the interview with general flynn they did not think he was lying. They thought he was being straightforward and honest. But they changed it because the fbi was out to get him. I think ever example, the example from the gentleman from north dakota, the sponsor of the amendment, the example that mr. Jeffries gave that is against the amendment, they probably wanted their interview recorded, and i know general flynn wanted his interview recorder, yet the majority is going to vote no, vote against. Makes no sense. Theyre going to vote against it. I hope you have a change of heart, past the amendment, and get on to the other amendments we will offer. The gentleman yields back. Mr. Chairman the gentlelady is recognized. Here athairman, we are yet another historic moment. While i have no doubt that mr. Armstrongs desire to improve our legislation, i have to express my doubts about some of my republican colleagues. I feel like i need to remind folks why we are here. , George Floyds<\/a> brother sat in front of us after his brothers murder. I asked our colleagues to stop political games and focus on why we were present and focus on what is in the bill. Unfortunately, not surprisingly, they didnt. Most of the members of the Minority Party<\/a> chose instead to focus on the defund the police movement, which is not in the bill. Today in the beginning of the hearing, the Ranking Member<\/a> told us there would be thoughtful amendments offered. I would like to remind everyone why we are here. In the face of horrific Police Brutality<\/a> and systemic racism that demands a just and honest response, in the face of hundreds of thousands of americans marching in the justice,fighting for our First Amendment<\/a> we are debating is about the Russian Investigation<\/a> . Our republican colleague surprised when the American Public<\/a> believes they have yet to understand the movement being held in our country . This moment is a reckoning, and we either rise to the moment or we dont. Its about time that we face the racism that has found its way into our institutions. Its about time that we call it out and its about time we take action. Until there is that recognition and action against the corrosive and deadly roles that racism plays, change wont happen. Political games are an insult. Enough of time wasting. Commissions, taskforces, incentives, i support this bill because black lives matter. I support this bill because it finally forces the reckoning for lives needlessly lost. Unfortunate, no community is exempt pra. Elandro, in my own community, too many unarmed people have been killed by local Law Enforcement<\/a>, many suffering from mental illness. No community is exempt and these tragedies will continue until we act. I believe that the countless dedicated Law Enforcement<\/a> professionals across the country are as hungry for reform as we are. Reform protects good cops and it exposes bad cops. Reform keeps communities safe, everyone in the community, whether they wear a badge or not. Its time for justice. That cant happen in until we have honest conversations. I again urge my colleagues on the other of the aisle, its not too late to think of the innumerable lives lost needlessly at the hands of brutality. Work with us towards justice. Esther chairman, i yield the remainder of my time to my colleague. Thank you, congresswoman escobar, for those powerful words. I just want to correct the record because my city was again named by the congressman, and i wanted to convey that i spoke to my chief just now about the portrayal of her comments by my colleague, and she has told me to convey for the record that her comments have been taken completely out of context. They were not about the protest area at all. And i know my colleagues want to rely on fox news, but do not. I want to point out that recording is completely false and constantly debunked. Reports like those that local Business Owners<\/a> have been approached by armed people who demanded mob protection payments have been completely debunked directly by Business Owners<\/a> who have said local businesses are racking up muchneeded sales after being hardhit by coronavirus. Fox news has admitted to photo shopping images and showing scenes of a burning city that were not even in seattle. It is offensive to keep bringing this up and a distraction from the real work in front of us. This is my district and i welcome anyone who wants to see whats happening to come and visit me. I will happily take you around. In the meantime, lets stay focused, as congresswoman escobar has outlined for us come on the real task ahead of us, the bringing about of real meaningful justice as the justice and policing act before us does. Not a half measure, not something less than what is needed, but something that brings about justice for all of those who are demanding it for their families. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. The gentlelady yields back. For what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition . The gentlelady is recognized. Consideredmittee has several pieces of this bill previously, but never before have we considered the bold, broad reform that this bill encompasses. And its absolutely necessary that all of the measures in this bill be adopted, not the half measures that are being discussed in the senate. It is heartbreaking to think of those who have been murdered by police and really heartbreaking to listen to our colleagues, mr. Theries, whose son brought video to his attention. This cannot it continue in america. Having said that, i do believe that the amendment obviously this is a mark up we have amendments that the amendment offered by mr. Armstrong has merit to it. We do know that this is a problem for defendants. However, a concern, which i have relayed to mr. Armstrong about the lack of itice in the provision, and wanted to explain why im not able to support the amendment at this moment. Mr. Chairman,g, we can work with mr. Armstrong between now and the floor to get clarity on that aspect of the amendment. Because it would strengthen the bill, although, as mr. Jeffries has noted, it is not the core function of the bill. And with that, mr. Chairman, thank you for recognizing me and i will happily yield back. The gentlelady yields back. As i said with reference to the amendment, the question now occurs on the amendment from the gentleman from north dakota. All in favor say i. Opposed say no. The nays habit. Roll call. The clerk will call the roll. Mr. Nadler votes no. Ms. Lofgren votes no. Ms. Jackson lee votes no. Mr. Johnson of georgia . Mr. Johnson of georgia votes no. Mr. Deutch . Mr. Deutch votes no. Ms. Bass . Ms. Bass votes no. Mr. Richmond . Miss to richmond votes no. Mr. Jeffries . Mr. Jeffries votes no. Mr. Cicilline . Mr. Cicilline votes no. Mr. Lou . Mr. Lou votes no. Mr. Raskin . As to raskin votes no. Ms. Jayapal votes no. Ms. Demings votes no. Mr. Correa votes no. Ms. Scanlan votes no. Ms. Garcia . Ms. Garcia votes no. Mr. Negus . Mr. Negus votes no. Commissioner bass . I vote no at this moment, but i look forward to more discussion. Ms. Bass votes no. Mr. Stanton . Mr. Stanton votes no. Ms. Dean . Ms. Dean votes no. Im with miss mcbeth, i would the possibility of getting this through, but at this moment i vote no. Ms. Escobar . Ms. Escobar votes no. Mr. Jordan . Stir jordan votes yes. Mr. Sensenbrenner . Trish abbott . Mr. Shabbat votes aye. Mr. Gomer votes aye. Mr. Colin votes aye. Mr. Buck . Miss robie . Miss robie votes no. Mr. Gates . Esther gaetz votes aye. Mr. Johnson of the louisiana . Mr. Johnson votes aye. As to biggs votes aye. Mr. Mcclintock votes aye. Ms. Lesko votes aye. Mr. Risch and dollar votes aye. Mr. Klein invites aye. Mr. Armstrong votes yes. Mr. Steube votes yes. [indiscernible] i also vote no, but after we have discussed the biggest problem with Law Enforcement<\/a>, the fact that the unredacted memo report was never given to this commission i want to vote and speak as well. Mr. votes no. Votes no. Len miss dimmicks . Demmings votes no. Is everyone who wishes to vote voted . Ms. Demmings, if you would turn on your video. I vote no. Ok. Demmings votes no. Report. K will mr. Gomer, how did you vote . I voted yes. And i would like to make a speech like mr. Coyne did. The gentleman votes yes. Mr. Chairman there are 13 ayes and 25 nos. The agreement is not agreed to and the committee will now stand in recess for one hour. [gavel pounds] [captions Copyright National<\/a> cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [gavel pounds] the committee will reconvene. Are there any other amendments to the amendment . Mr. Chairman . Who seeks recognition. Thank you, mr. Chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. And the nature of a substitute to hr 71 120, at the end of the bill the following, recorded. I have an instruction to the amendment. The gentleman is recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, over the past few weeks we have seen thousands of americans exercise the right to peacefully protest. I applaud these individuals for spurring the important debate we are having today about police conduct. However, we are also seeing rioting, looting, and violence. This destructive and frankly despicable behavior led to the murder and maiming of Law Enforcement<\/a> officers, including david Patrick Underwood<\/a> and david dorn. And these destructions and the destruction of cities and the destruction of my owned businesses. Violence is not protected by the First Amendment<\/a>. Those participating in such reprehensible actions should face the full force and extent of the law. One such group inciting violence in our communities is that of leftist extremist Political Movement<\/a> antifa. Antifa has engaged in violent and threatening acts against american citizens, Law Enforcement<\/a> officers, elected officials, and even our military Service Members<\/a>. To shareman, im going just a few incidents of their violence and their threatening behaviors. 2017, the day after President Trump<\/a>s inauguration, six Police Officers<\/a> were injured and over 200 violent leftwing protesters were arrested on vandalism and assault charges. The protesters smashed storefront windows. They smashed bus stops. They hammered out windows of cars. They launched the rocks at the police. 2018, antifa, activists threatened to vandalize fox news commentator tucker carlsens residence. This while his wife was in the house. 2019, a leader of antifa from washington, d. C. Was arrested and charged in oonnection with assaulting tw u. S. Service members in philadelphia. , three 2020 pop were accused of inciting riots and looting in a target in austin texas. There are additional examples, and theres additional accounts. I have included some in the text of my amendment. I think everybody here gets the idea. No mistaking antifa is involved in the recent violence we have seen following the murder of george floyd. Attorney general bill barr has even noted the deal g has evidence that antifa and other similar extremist groups, as well as actors of a variety of different political persuasions, have been involved in instigating and participating in violent activity. Groups who spew hatred, who engage in violence and intimidation, we cannot let these groups control our communities through fear and Important National<\/a> dialogue. My amendment would require the fbi to study antifas tactics and operations, as well as whether antifa should be labeled labeled a Domestic Terrorist Organization<\/a>. Awould also require report to be provided to congress on antifas terrorist activities. I think this is just common sense. I think this is just being proamerican. If you support Peaceful Protesters<\/a>, if you want to ensure violence is not drowned out their voices, you should vote for my amendment. If you support small Business Owners<\/a>, those small Business Owners<\/a> whose lives and livelihood has been destroyed by looters, you should vote for my amendment. Colleaguearks, my we memphis, tennessee said are all against the riots. If you believe that violence, rioting, and looting is wrong, you should vote for my amendment. If you believe it did not reflect the values of america, you should vote for my amendment. Comely hope we can together to protect our communities and speak with one voice against hatred and violence. I yield the balance of my time. Recognize myself in opposition to the amendment. The amendment is aaron nonsense. There have been no arrests whatsoever in the u. S. Is it appropriate for a chair to be calling amendment nonsense . Yes. I bic to differ with the gentleman. The amendment is aaron nonsense. Arrest inbeen not one antifa, of anyone from or of antifa, with respect to any crimes or accusations whatsoever. Amendment, is beating a nonsensical dead horse. I yield the balance of my time to the gentlelady from texas. It deals with the transformational effort and reimagining of the nations Police Department<\/a>s. We emphasize and to sympathize with our officers, many who work every day to protect us, and we thank them. No one in this committee has ever taken to charge any officer of goodwill and good work of not doing their job. Americans onith believing in law and order. We also believe in truth. I cannot understand how this relates to the eloquent plea of the floyd family asking for justice. Tears in their eyes. I dont see how this comports with the eight minutes and 46 seconds when an officer of the serve,orn to protect and officer of the law sworn to intervene, a lot of men to die on the streets of america. This particular amendment doesnt have any relation to that. As my chairman has indicated, this is factfinding, and we need to find the facts. Surly 30. Ze to be it should also tell us what role uber has been playing in the devices and acts against Law Enforcement<\/a>. We understand an arrest was made of someone affiliated that is alleged to have killed a sheriff and Law Enforcement<\/a> officer on the front steps of an oakland california. I dont hear any amendments on that issue. That means this amendment fails because of its incompleteness, but also because of the issue we are addressing is trying to assume the American People<\/a> are with us today. They are with us today because they want a nation of law and democracy. Good friend from maryland indicated what we were founded on. That is the numerous bill of rights that gives to the civilian population its right to oversee the government. Today, that is what we are attempting to do, legislation that gives justice to all of those names we have encountered over and over again. Shot almostwho was 20 times in the back. Whoyoung man in atlanta could have gotten the cup of coffee and been home with his daughter on saturday for a birthday party, and not seeing the pain of their family. Rice. Se who watched tamir the officer didnt know he was 12 years old. When i went to the street where Michael Brown<\/a> was killed to see how narrow it was, how much deescalation, which is in this bill, would have saved his life. I think there is an unreadiness with this amendment. It is certainly incomplete. It certainly has inaccuracies. It doesnt count for right wing extremist groups killing individuals who happen to be people of color and threatening and attacking them, such as the perpetrator who killed those that mother emanuel. I believe the amendment is not one that i could support, because it may be and remain, but it is not relative to police. It is incomplete, it is bias, it directs us against a Group Without<\/a> looking fairly and squarely at those who lift violence, raise up guns, and kill not only officers, but people of color. That doesnt answer the crime from the floyd family and all of the other families who have suffered, who are crying out for justice. Those families who lost their loved ones, they want justice and they want it now. I yield back. The gentlelady yields back. The gentleman is recognized. I was listening to the gentlelady from texas. Suggesting the amendment was incomplete because it focuses on violent leftwing extremists and she would like it to focus on right wing extremists. I would suggest a conforming amendment. Im certain the gentleman from pennsylvania will be willing to accept the suggestions of the gentlelady. I would yield to the gentlelady. If we were to satisfy your concern so we can get to the root of the issue about leftwing and rightwing extremist groups that would use these protests to cause harm and chaos, would the gentlelady join us . If you are yielding, i will be brief. I would like the gentleman of florida for his graciousness. I believe it requires far more study and review. A friendly amendment without discerning whether or not the amendment on its face is accurate. I think it would be premature. I look forward to working with you on this question. These issues are extremely important to me. At this moment, it is not the amendment that is fully vetted. I would not be able to support it, even if amended. I think the gentlelady. Im hopeful we can work on that. Probably push back against the characterization that it is unrelated. I have listened carefully as my democrat colleagues have said if we move money away from police to homelessness or other issues, we can get to the root of some of the violence and concern that creates chaos on our streets. I would suggest when we look at whats happening in the chaz. In seattle, we have seen this antifa group cheerleading that effort. Gentlelady from Washington State<\/a> we were mischaracterizing that, that it is really a place where there are Community Garden<\/a>s. I looked up the Community Garden<\/a>s, and they are racially segregated. I was raised and studied law school that separate was inherently unequal. Where have reporting antifa is cheering on violence. This is reporting from Channel Seven<\/a> news. An auto shop was in this particular area. It got no response to dozens of 911 calls. This is what the owner said. He said our lives are on the line. The mayor and governor need their act together. It is beyond a protest. We heard the gentlelady say the her commentsce, were taken out of context. Can only take her at her actual words were she said rapes, robberies, and violent acts have been occurring in the area. It doesnt seem like it would be taken out of context. There is reporting from pj media. Speakershaz reputation putting up cash for black people. Withineo was a demand the zone that everyone who was white gives someone who is black 10. I have never seen that happen at a Community Garden<\/a> in my district. Theres also a report from the daily caller. I have been scared every day. Seattle resident speaks about life behind the border. There is a discussion about the lack of sleep, the screaming, the gunshots. And the terror in the community. Im from north florida. We dont really have a lot of gunshot or racial segregation, or demands for racially based payments. That as we come together, to condemn violence against people who should not die and just as we have all come together to condemn rights. I think we would come together and say it is not something we want to see visited on the streets in our district. We have heard today that two people in this group have been arrested for killing Law Enforcement<\/a> officers. One, whos sister was brought appeared to make it look like it was the rioters. Would you agree that should be the major group we should look at right now . A group who want to incite and kill Police People<\/a> . I would suggest we dont have to make that choice. I was persuaded by some of those comments. Equally persuaded that what we see going on in seattle is not the behavior we should tolerate. I have a cnn article that says they are not a white supremacist group. They have mixed ideologies and identify with all sorts of stuff. The gentlemans time has expired. The gentlelady for florida seeks recognition. Thank you so much. I also want to thank the chairwoman for her leadership. My condolences to my colleagues who have lost their loved ones. I was in opposition to this amendment. It is interesting listening to my colleagues about looting and rioting, rightwing wing, leftwing extremists. And Law Enforcement<\/a>. I would ask if my colleagues really know it all, who Law Enforcement<\/a> is, what it means. What Law Enforcement<\/a> takes an oath to do. Who the good men and women who do the job well, who they really are. Lawou really understand enforcement officers are held to a higher standard, as they should be . As i was when i was among the ranks . Better, we are supposed to do better. I served as career Law Enforcement<\/a> officer. I loved the job, because i went to work every day trying to make a difference. But i do notb, love bad cops. We have my colleagues an opportunity right now, here today, to take our rightful place in history and pass this law that will hold bad cops accountable. I ask you who among us would not want to do that . I had one of my colleagues say this is hard. No its not. We need to stop saying doing the right thing is hard to do. It is not hard. Not if we have the political will and the courage to take our place in history and right the wrongs in our system of justice. Brutalyds murder was and senseless. Person ingod every our nation, every member of congress, every Law Enforcement<\/a> officer committed to doing the job right, and persons around the world believe that. Us inat everybody joins holding them accountable. Who among us would not want to prevent Something Like<\/a> that from happening . I have also heard a lot of discussion about all lives matter versus black lives matter. Important. Mely as i thought about that phrase all lives matter and black lives ofter, i think the founder the movement said it best when she said all lives will matter. When black lives matter. Untilves cannot matter black lives matter. I beg, i appeal to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, lets get this right. Every good Law Enforcement<\/a> officer needs us to do that. The families who have suffered at the hands of bad Law Enforcement<\/a> need us. Frankly, for the future to do that. Down in opposition of this amendment. For that, i yield back. Purpose does the gentleman of ohio seek recognition . To support the gentlemans amendment. The amendmentaid one fromnse and no antifa had been charged or arrested, which is not true. All you can do is look at the amendment. He gives perfect examples. On november 17, and antifa member was arrested after attacking conservative demonstrators in portland, oregon. The leader 2019, from washington, d. C. Was arrested and charged with assaulting United States<\/a> Service Members<\/a> in philadelphia. June 29, multiple antifa activists targeted a general in portland, oregon. Following that, he stated antifa regularly attacks journalists. We can go on. All the amendment says is lets figure this out. Lets find out about it and get the information back to the Judiciary Committee<\/a>, representatives, and as my good friend from florida said, if there is other things we need to do on the floor, lets do it. Just like our First Amendment<\/a>. It makes so much sense. Yet they will vote against. I support the gentlemans amendment. It is clear, it gives the examples. It contradicts what the chairman said, that no antifa member has been arrested or charged. There are all kinds of examples. With that, i yield the remainder of my time. I think the Ranking Member<\/a>. I heard my colleagues say the amendment is nonsense, irrelevant, there is no proof. There is ample proof. The attorney general himself, and i read the quote, he said there is evidence antifa and other similar extremist groups, as well as actors of a variety of political persuasions have been involved in instigating and participating in violent activity. Thats our attorney general. In my amendment, you will find multiple examples. 2019, a leader of antifa from washington, d. C. Was arrested in connection with u. S. Serviceo members in philadelphia. Would my colleagues across the aisle say thats nonsense, irrelevant, that there is now no proof . 29 june, 2019, a journalist who was reporting in portland, oregon was assaulted. He was targeted by antifa. ,e cap or himself that antifa regularly attacks journalists. It is reprehensible. For the journalist, is this nonsense . Is it irrelevant . Is it not proof . An armored 2019, antifa supporter attacked and hurled in city area devices at a nice facility in took home a, washington. Is that nonsense . Is that not proof . There is ample proof. I encourage my colleagues from across the aisle to vote for this amendment. We are trying to get support to congress to get more information. Why block this . It is simply an attempt to get back to congress so we can deal with what i believe is domestic Terrorists Organization<\/a> that has already attacked Law Enforcement<\/a>, u. S. Service members, and journalists. Yield to the Ranking Member<\/a>, my colleague from ohio. The gentleman, i thank him for his statements. Unless the majority says the examples given by the gentleman, the examples i gave, required to the most recent that took place just last week. Arrested in members austin, texas for rioting and looting. There is a clear pattern. We want to report back to congress. As the gentleman from florida said, you want to add Something Else<\/a>, we are fine with that. Lets get the information for the House Judiciary Committee<\/a>. I yield back. Does theurpose gentleman from georgia serve to seek recognition . Thank you. I want to extend my heartfelt ,ondolences to my colleagues mr. Brenner and mr. Barr, for the loss of their dear wives. Extend my deepest condolences to the wife of Rayshard Brooks<\/a>, who lost her husband this week. I hope you wont feel offended that i mention Rayshard Brooks<\/a> wife as i mentioned our colleagues in congress. We are all equal. His wife and his three baby daughters, and his 13yearold stepson, will miss him. He was taken away from us on friday night. Offense ofitted the being caught in a drive through wheel ieep behind the dont know what kind of a day he had, but the police thought he was drinking. In, theled the Police Police<\/a> who arrived at the scene and tapped on his window and told him to park in the parking space and sleep it off. He thought to himself as he was walking back to the car, what am i going to do with this guy . He made the decision to call in the dui task force. Abouti task force arrived 10 minutes later. Over the next 30 minutes, they administered one field sobriety test after another. Guess what . Each andbrooks passed every one of them. The stupid heel toe test, no one walks with one heel in front of the other. People lose their balance all the time who are not under the influence of anything. Because they have balance issues. Not mr. Rayshard brooks. Perfectly did that. Did all of the other things the officer wanted to do. Turn, shake your beauty with your eyes closed, all kinds of crazy tests they administered over the next 30 minutes. Earing on mr. Brooks patience. Messing with him on a friday night. Finally, the officer pulls his inherently unreliable field breath test and told him to blow into it. He blew into it. He did Everything Else<\/a> they told him to do. He blew a. 10. They decided to do what they wanted to do at the very beginning, which is arrest this black man. He resisted, ran away, and got shot in the back twice. This is what we are here to talk about today. This is not about antifa. There is no such thing about antifa other than those who power rightwing, white militias, nationalist groups, people who oppose them in the streets are called antifa. This is nothing more than a figment of Donald Trumps<\/a> imagination and those willing and complicit followers. We are not here to talk about antifa, we are not here to talk about violence, rioting, and looting, we are not here to talk about defunding the police. We are not here to talk about chaz in seattle. We are not here to talk about abortion. We are not here to talk about the impeachment hoax. We are not even here to talk about benghazi. Or Hillary Clinton<\/a>s emails. We will hear that before the day is over. We will hear the talk about the legislation that we justice and policing act we are considering. Thats what we are here to talk about. Needed as, mr. Brooks guardian the other night. He did not need a warrior. Instead, warriors showed up, took him down, took him out. His time out for warrior training and time out for warrior duty by cops who will use unnecessary and deadly force with a trigger finger, with a trigger mentality, roaming the streets of our cities, towns, and villages in this country. Floyds what the George Justice<\/a> and policing act gets at. These commonsense measures. I would ask that we stop the nonsense and get down to the business at hand. That is to pass this legislation through this committee. With that, i yield back. The gentleman yields back. What purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition . Gentleman is recognized. I dont often agree with my colleague, mr. Johnson from georgia, but i want to acknowledge two things he said. Of course, the widow and children of Rayshard Brooks<\/a> deserve our prayers and sympathy, like everybody else. You are also right to call it an impeachment hoax, but i will move on. I want to clarify what i was saying earlier. Theres a lot of talks about these groups. I think they are making a great point that we should expand our point. Mr. Jackson made a good point. On this movement, this is a lengthy article from cnn breaking down who these people are. I want to take a moment to redo these excerpts so were clear about who this group is. Incarnation of extremism that seems to defy easy categorization. They are no factor in the gone ongoing effort to puddle out the political sympathies of the agitators showing up to the mostly peaceful george floyd rallies. They have destroyed property, looted businesses, or in case of the boogaloos, walked around the streets with assault rifles. Boogaloo members appeared to hold conflicting biologic ideological views. Others rejecting formal titles. Benjamin deiters, apparently one of the leaders, does an interview with cnn and said he identifies as an anarchists mission in minneapolis was to protect protesters from police and White Supremacists<\/a> whom he deplores. It goes on and says far from a cohesive group, this is quoting jj mcnabb, a fellow at George Washington<\/a> university, he says while there are pockets of White Supremacists<\/a>, boogaloos, while there are boogaloos support police, groups detest them. While there are boogaloos who want to discredit protests, there are younger boogaloos want to join the protests. They share a love of firearm and a desire to use violence to gain power, but they do not share a common goal once power is achieved. Again, i will quote this anarchist, a troublemaker, one of the leaders of this group, he recently attended a process test a protest against the covid19 lockdown. He said, quote, i am a member of the lgbt community. He said people think i am in a nazi group and i am not. This is very complicated and there are a lot of troublemaker groups. This is just the latest. Will you yield . I will yield. , i knowt want to say speaking about Racial Injustice<\/a> and the brutal killing of george floyd is hard. It is hard to talk about, hard to watch, hard to experience. I just ask you to think about the families who represent those who have been victims of Police Violence<\/a> who are watching this hearing and they are hearing listen. I know what your point is. You dont like what my point is . No, i dont like michaelng about antifa, flynn i dont like your point because you are politicizing this and we are not. Amendment that is germane and something we all ought to be concerned about. All the troublemakerall the tro why would you have a problem with that . I take offense and so do all of my colleagues when you pretend like we do not empathize with, care about, sympathize with these losses. We are on record saying it. Stop saying otherwise. For what purpose does the gentlelady from pennsylvania secret should . Seek recognition . I move to strike the last word. I want to add my sympathies and prayers to the families of mr. Brenner for the passing of his wife and mr. Barr for the passing of his. And for Representative Ilhan Omar<\/a> on the passing of her father from covid and so many others who are suffering during this time in our countrys history. We are considering this bill today because the world watched joyce george floyd and murdered by a Police Officer<\/a>. Eight minutes and 46 seconds necka deranged knee to the as the man cried out, i cant breathe, and cried for his dead mama. Thats what we are here today about. I raise my voice in opposition to this amendment, which is not about that. With ourts are filled fellow citizens, tens of thousands have filled the streets because of what happened to george floyd. His death gave birth to a civil rights movement. Rebirth to a civil rights movement. What happened to george floyd sadly is not an aberration. It is a shameful norm. Last week we were told this is a civil rights moment, lets treat it as such with that seriousness. Right now there is no National Government<\/a> registry of police misbehavior involving shootings since the uprising in ferguson, missouri, the white Washington Post<\/a> have endeavored to catalog every fatal shooting. Since 2015 they have found 5000 such shootings. Over 100 of them in my own state of pennsylvania. Thatthey found is africanamericans are three times more likely to die as a result. This demands our action. The demands could not be louder. The death toll rises literally every day. Just this weekend we witnessed the murder of Rayshard Brooks<\/a> in atlanta, another young black man. 27 years old, a father. 27 years old like my youngest son alex. This black man was shot for falling asleep in a drive through line. It should not have been a death sentence, falling asleep at the wheel as you are stopped in a drivethru. In a functioning society that would have resulted in mr. Brooks driven or escorted home. Instead he is dead. I am the mother of three white sons. Every mother worries for the safety of her sons. The same wayy africanamerican moms worry. I dont have to have that talk. One of my sons spent a little time on the edge of trouble, being pulled over by cops. He did not wind up dead. When we say black lives matter, what we are saying is black people deserve the same room to live that white people are afforded. It is not a competition. It is a call to live up to that ideal that is our countrys founding. We have seen a democratic proposal to deal with police systematic racism. That is what we are here to talk about. I dont think my colleagues on the others are going far enough. I dont think they want to address the root cause of racism in our criminal Justice System<\/a>. If they did, they would want to ban chokeholds. They would want to mandate dashboard cameras, body cameras, establish a Police Misconduct<\/a> registry, reform qualified immunity. Ban noknock warrants. Require deadly force be used as a last resort, not in a drivethru line at wendys. This proposal is reasonable, it is necessary, it is long overdue. Colleagues, as mr. Floyd told us, we are at a civil rights moment. What is not worthy of this moment is talk of defund the police. Thisis nowhere in proposal. Not worthy of this moment is to bring up abortion. That is not the topic of this markup. Perhaps you walked into the wrong markup. Not worthy of this moment is Michael Flynn<\/a>, donald trump, hoax this, hooks that. About black lives matter and. It is about reforming our policing. Our colleagues on the other set of the aisle when they raise these ruses, they show a lack of seriousness about the murder of george floyd and what it represents. I will be voting no. The world is watching. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. The gentlelady yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition . Strike the last word. I am struck here because i think this amendment is related. I think it is relevant to what we are talking about, to the underlying purpose of this bill. I listened to my friend from texas, representative jackson shouldlk about, maybe we expand, its not complete, the suggestion was made from the gentleman from florida that maybe we expand it. I was surprised to hear this one ,rom the gentleman from georgia that there is no such thing as antifa. Maybe hes right and i have missed this. Where would i go . Im not going to go to fox because fox has been castigated multiple times in this hearing today. Im going to go to a source that i think everyone can agree should be an expert on this. Cnn. What do they say . Short forantifa is antifascist, used to define a broad group of people whose political beliefs lean toward the left, often far left, but do not conform with the Democrat Party<\/a> platform. How did the group start . The exact origins are unknown, but antifa can be traced to nazi germany, i was stunned when i read that. A militant group founded in the 1980s in the u. K. Modernday members have become more active in making themselves known at public rallies and within the progressive movement. Quote, what they are trying to do now is not only become violent at highprofile rallies, but to reach out through small meetings and social networking to cultivate disenfranchised progressives who here to forward peaceful. Look on page four of the amendment proposed by the gentleman from pennsylvania and ,he attorney general is quoted if you want to see that, you can go to abc news from the same day where he says, the doj has found evidence antifa as well as actors of a variety of political persuasions have been involved in instigating and participating in the violent activity we have seen. This is why this amendment becomes important. Get at theng to root of good policing, at reestablishing peace and safety for all americans. Goes on, this abc news article goes on to say that they have found and you are correct. It is not just antifa that has been violent. Brew ofe is a witches extremist organizations. To get at that, maybe we could expand this, come to some kind of consensus on this amendment and include this in the bill. That is what i think would be reasonable here. With that i yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from pennsylvania. I am truly troubled by the fact that my colleagues across the aisle want to treat antifa with kid gloves. The fact that the victims have been minimized as, quote unquote, rightwing nationalists, the fact that antifa has been described one my colleagues as a figment of the president s imagination. Maybe the fbi is a figment of the president s imagination. The fbi has said the director of the fbi, this is director wray, he provided remarks about protests where he noted, and i quote, the fbi have quite a number of ongoing investigations of violent anarchist extremists, including those motivated by antifa or antifalike ideology. Since june of this year, the department of justice has found charges against 75 individuals allegedly involved with recent riots, including targeting Law Enforcement<\/a> officers Setting Police<\/a> vehicles on fire in the third precinct of minneapolis minnesota will the gentleman yield for a question . No, i reclaim my time. Before we minimize the victims of antifa, i ask for Law Enforcement<\/a> officers, rightwing extremists . Before we dismiss a Domestic Terrorist Organization<\/a> as a figment of the president s imagination, can we not look at the crimes that have been committed . Can we not account for how these victims have been terrorized by antifa . Theor what purpose does gentleman from louisiana seek recognition . I move to strike the last word. Ask the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Chairman. Let me start by saying i am sitting here offended and angry as hell. Whato explain to my we always say is how we refer to each other, my good friends on the other side. By the time i am finished it will be clear we are not good friends. Who went to the fifth best Public High School<\/a> in who was a victim of Excessive Force<\/a>, who has a black son, who has worries you all do not, to my colleagues, especially the ones that keep introducing amendments that are a distraction from what we are talking about, you all are white males. You never lived in my shoes and you do not know what it is like to be an africanamerican male. You are saying is, if opposed to this legislation, lets have a vote. But please do not come in this room and make a mockery of the pain that exists in my community. It reminds me of the argument the 1964 Civil Rights Act<\/a> or the 1965 Voting Rights<\/a> act. 120 six people voted against the Civil Rights Act<\/a>. 85 people against the Voting Rights<\/a> act. They had all these side issues. Either man up and say you dont believe in it or lets talk about the real issue. We are not interested in a watereddown version of this bill. Equalityinterested in with all deliberate speed. This is a crisis. People are losing their lives. So if we have other things we want to fix, fix them in another bill, but people are dying as we talk, so i am not interested in moving at a snails pace. I am not interested in a watereddown bill that mandates nothing. I am not interested in studying antifa. Im not even interested in studying sovereign citizens right now. That is not the imminent threat black men face on a daily basis. Right now, too often, it is Law Enforcement<\/a>. Those who were sworn to protect and serve. Today is toe asking deal with that. I dont mind dealing with other pieces of legislation. I dont mind dealing with other issues you all may have. Thisi dont want to leave conversation with, why am speaking now instead of later, is because i dont want you to leave here saying, we did not know. We did not know thats how you felt. I want to be Crystal Clear<\/a> and i will give you the benefit of the doubt it is unconscious bias im hearing, because at worse, it is conscious bias, and that, i would hate to assume from any of the people on the other side. Will the gentleman yield . Sure. Chris i appreciate your passion. Our use adjusting your certain none of us have nonwhite children . You reflected on your black son and said none of us can understand stop. I am not about to get sidetracked about the color of our children. I reclaim my time. You said i reclaim my time. The gentleman reclaims his time. I said i reclaim my time. I know there are people on the others that have black grandchildren. It is not about the color of your kids. It is about black males. Black people in the streets that are getting killed. If one of them happens to be your kid, im concerned about him to. Clearly i am more concerned about him than you are. So let us be clear about that. You are claiming more concerned for my family . Who in the hell do you think you are . You dont know you should take those words back. Love your family suspends eman was that a nerve . The gentleman from louisiana. I appreciate you yielding. You are my good friend. We come from the same state and i respect you and i say this honestly. If all that you said is true and i believe it is, why didnt the democrats allow us to assist . Why draft the bill in the dark of night and presented to us . If you wanted to Work Together<\/a>, and we want to, why not give us an opportunity . I do have an answer for that. You all were in charge for a while, we have been in charge. I have been singing the same song since 1991. People on the streets right now are demanding action right now. We saw what was just presented in the senate. It was a watereddown bill. This is a national crisis. We dont want to move with all deliberate speed. Those ideas that are good, we are willing to meet and talk about a bill. Congresswoman bass has indicated willingness to continue work as we go forward. , this is aight now critical emergency for people in this country. We should not debate everything flynn to all this other stuff. We know what we are talking about here. Vote it up or down. The gentleman time has expired. Lastmoved to strike the word. The gentlelady is recognized. I think we need to take a deep breath, all of us, republicans and democrats, care about the recent issues that have happened. I do support, as i have said before, parts of this legislation. I do respect congresswoman bass. I know she works hard and means well. There are other parts i dont and it is because Law Enforcement<\/a> has said it would undermine their job. With that, i yield the balance of my time. I think my colleague from arizona. We are being presented a false choice. We have a lot we can agree on. Transparency, training, terminating bad actors. We pretty much all agree we should have body cams. We can agree to more transparency. So why not take a look, have a study on antifa . Police in seattle are not allowed to go in to the capitol hill autonomous zone. That when calls across the aisle minimize the victims of antifa, usually Police Officers<\/a>, journalists, members of our military, when colleagues across the aisle minimize these unquote,s, quote rightwing nationalists, we do a disservice to not just the victims, but we turn around and we dismiss antifa, which is a terrorist organization. A Domestic Terrorist Organization<\/a>. When we downplay as my colleague from drogheda did georgia data, antifa as a figment of the imagination of our president , we disrespect the victims of this Domestic Terrorist Organization<\/a>. What my colleagues from new york and texas say, that this is irrelevant, that there is no proof, again, we are minimizing the damage antifa has done, we are minimizing the victims that have been targeted by antifa. To these victims deserve have antifa looked at. Reportongress deserve a of a Domestic Terrorist Organization<\/a>. Abc in june of this year reported the federal intelligence bulletin had stated, and i quote, anarchist extremists continue to pose the most epic and threat of targeted significant threat of targeted assault against police as well as government buildings and Police Vehicles<\/a> were damaged , sometimes with improvised incendiary devices. I dont think our police are rightwing extremists. Report,think an abc according to the fbi, is a figment of the president s imagination. In june of this year, reports , somete antifa activities of them seized control of a six block area in downtown seattle. I referred to this a moment to this a moment ago as the thomas zone. Local law the autonomous zone. Local Law Enforcement<\/a> has not been allowed to engage even though Business Owners<\/a> are suffering and there is a report of assault in the autonomous zone. I dont think those six syllable city blocks, and i have been there many times, is a bastion of rightwing nationalists. When you call that area a rightwing nationalist area, you are minimizing the victims of antifa. I dont think the autonomous zone is a figment of mr. Trumps imagination. I have already talked about andy ngo, who is a journalist. He was targeted specifically. I do not think andy ngo is a rightwing nationalist. I dont think when jake tapper said antifa attacks journalist, it is reprehensible, i dont think that is a figment of the president s imagination. Lets not minimize the victims of antifa. Lets take them seriously as a Domestic Terrorist Organization<\/a>. I yield to my colleague from florida. I think the gentleman for yielding. It is so insincere for the gentleman from louisiana to say vote no. I dare you, if you are not interested in our feedback, our suggestions, our contribution to the legislative process, any , just of this committee do it. Dont complain. We come in good faith. I said at the hearing with mr. Floyds brother, at the start of basshearing, i thought ms. Has put together good ideas and we want to work with you. Instead of pretending you know about our personal experience the time of the gentlelady has expired. Purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition . I moved to strike the last word. I think mr. Richman for his powerful words. I asked my friends on the other side of the aisle to imagine in this moment, this historic moment, when we have before us the single most transformative piece of legislation to reform policing in america, the eyes of the nation are on this committee , and families who have lost loved ones to Police Violence<\/a> are watching. Our republican colleagues are saying cant we talk about Something Else<\/a> . Please. We dont want to talk about Racial Injustice<\/a>. We dont want to talk about Police Brutality<\/a>. We dont want to talk about fixing policing in america. Instead, lets talk about robert mueller. Lets talk about antifa. Lets talk about Michael Flynn<\/a>. Can we talk about abortion . Lets talk about anything else but the really hard issue of fixing policing in america. Two families who have lost loved ones i say, do not worry. This committee will not be distracted. We will remain focused on this comprehensive bill on the death of george floyd and the justice in policing act which will make a difference in the lives of all american americans. Inall understand growing up a healthy and Safe Community<\/a> that our children can thrive in is important. We also know there are too many politicians in this country who describe people as dangerous based on nothing more than what they look like, where they come from, where they live, stoking fears seems like a strategy for those politicians to avoid taking responsibility for the decisions they are making. Let us reject those messages of fear and division and come together. People from all racial and ethnic groups, and work for reforms that will in fact make policing work for everyone in this country. I say to my republican colleagues, can you hear the voices of the thousands and thousands and thousands of people that are protesting peacefully across america, demanding that we do something about this very serious problem to fix policing in this country so people dont have to worry about being treated differently because of the color of their skin, so they can have confidence like chokehold are barred forever, that we have accreditation in police apartments, that we hold Police Officers<\/a> accountable . I was the mayor of the city of providence. The good Police Officers<\/a> wanted reform more than anybody because they did not want to be painted with a broad brush when they see the killing of someone like george floyd by a Police Officer<\/a> with a knee on his neck. That requires us to do something. At the very least, it requires us to focus on the problem at hand. Forthnsider solutions put in the George Floyd Justice<\/a> and policing act. Intention,s not your but let us not dishonor the life that is lost by refusing to talk about this issue. I know its hard. These are uncomfortable conversations. You know what is harder . Living the experience mr. Richmond spoke about. Living the experiences of all the people we have seen lose their lives at the hands of police. The traditional effort to distract, to deflect, to focus on Something Else<\/a>, simply is not going to work this time. The American People<\/a> are not going to tolerate. They are demanding action. I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment. In an effort to get back to the here is theand, overwhelming proof in the Washington Post<\/a> to be made part of the record. Without objection, and the gentleman yields back. Strike the last word. The gentleman is recognized. I want to thank the gentleman from pennsylvania for offering his amendment. The chair of this committee, obviously you have considerable power and ability to run this committee virtually in any manner that you want to according to the rules, but it is inappropriate for you to comment on a member on either side, though i am guessing it is generally going to be on this side, to say his amendment is nonsense when it is clearly not. Many folks, and i would hope on both sides of the aisle, would hate hate groups on the left and the right. Atifa is without a doubt domestic terrorist group. Most of the people on this committee know it. Some will admit it. Others wont. Mr. Rensselaer knows it. The president of the United States<\/a> knows it because he wants to label it a Domestic Terrorist Organization<\/a>. Even twitter, who has gotten some criticism, knows it, because they shut down antifa affiliated accounts. Spreadsthat antifa hate, promotes violence, encourages rioting, and in fact participates, even leads it. The protesters obviously had every right to be out in the streets protesting what happened. The violence. Much of it was antifa connected. We think. What is less clear is how antifa is organized and how they are funded, which is critical to their operations. This amendment seeks to find answers to those important questions so that we can make sure antifa and antifa related groups are stopped so they can no longer divide this nation. Protests have arisen in cities all over america. They have every right to speak out under our First Amendment<\/a>, and peaceably, i would emphasize peaceably, assemble. What happened to george floyd should never have happened in america or anywhere else. Notnately, not only all the protesters have acted peacefully. Windows have been broken. Police cars, police cars, Police Officers<\/a> have been targeted. Anmy district in cincinnati officer was struck in the helmet by a bullet. That type of conduct is just as unacceptable as was the despicable killing of george floyd in the first place. I believe we should investigate and bring to justice the group or individuals behind these acts of violence just as the individuals responsible for the death of george floyd must be brought to justice as well. I would yield my remaining time to the gentleman from pennsylvania. I think my colleague from ohio. Maybe it is the former district judge in me or the former prosecutor, but i cannot get my head around the fact that victims of crime, victims of this Domestic Terrorist Organization<\/a> have been minimized as right wing extremists, rightwing nationalists, by my colleagues across the aisle. This minimization of victims is really troubling. Especially when the victims are journalists, when the victims are members of the police, i would be remiss as a former naval officer if i did not draw attention to the incident that took place when a leader of antifa from washington, d. C. Was arrested and charged, and for those across the aisle asking, where the proof is, an arrest and charges are proof. At least proof this could be going on. I digress. Was arrested for assaulting two United States<\/a> Service Members<\/a> from my home state of pennsylvania, from philadelphia, and this took place in 2019. When you minimize the victims as, quote on what, rightwing nationalists, you are really calling those members of the u. S. Military rightwing nationalists, which frankly is offensive. When you say such ludicrous things as antifa is a quote unquote pigment of the president s imagination, when you say antifa and this amendment is nothing but nonsense, it is irrelevant, there is no proof, i direct you andhe litany of examples would put at the top of that list the assault that took lace took place on u. S. Service members in philadelphia. Theor what purpose does gentlelady from california seek recognition . I move to strike the last word. We keep having this conversation on antifa. I have no idea why. I dont believe there is one person over here on the democrat or republican side of the aisle that has anything to do with it, any concern about antifa. When we raise the question of the relevancy, that is why we raise it. What does it have to do with us . My colleague raised that it is not connected to the Democratic Party<\/a>. I think over here we are all democrats, so i dont know what antifa has to do with anything. It seems there is a lot of concern about leftWing Organization<\/a>s. I hope my colleagues acknowledge there are rightwing movements, but there does not seem to be the right the same concern about that. My colleagues have also said there was no outreach on our side of the aisle to republicans. Since i am the chief sponsor of the bill, i did want to correct that. That is just false. It might be true that the individuals that have spoken i did not speak to, but i have spoken to many republicans here and in the senate and with your leadership and with the white house. There was participation. After this bill passes out of the committee in the house, there will be more discussions. That is why my colleagues that i sit next to her saying, why are we having all of this extraneous conversation . Either we talk about the bill or move on. Bring another amendment or something. We keep having these conversations about nothing that has to do with this bill. With that i would like to ask my dear friend from seattle if she would like to Say Something<\/a> about her city since her city seems to be so popular. Im not sure how many people were there lately. If you would like, i would be happy to yield time to you. Thank you, chairwoman bass. I am stunned how much seattle is coming up over and over again. If we want to talk about seattle , i would say there are many things we should talk about. We should talk about the killing of John T Williams<\/a>, a seventh generation woodcarver, an extremely talented artist who has battled problems with alcohol for much of his life. He was shot by an officer driving his patrol car who saw John T Williams<\/a> walk through the crosswalk, hunched over with something in his hands, and he was shot because that was seen to be dangerous. That was proven to be absolutely false. Williams was holding a scrap of wood. His single blade pocket knife he used to carve the wood that was closed. No criminal charges were filed against that officer. A pregnant woman with Mental Health<\/a> issues was shot dead by Police Officers<\/a> in front of her children. Police thought a man was reaching for a gun. There was no gun. He was doing Everything Police<\/a> asked him to do. No charges were filed against that officer. Three people shot dead and those are just a few examples. At least congresswoman bass, taelors wife was given the recognition we are trying to give with the justice in policing act when two years after his death his brother and a number of families killed by police had members who were killed by police works to put together a Deescalate Washington Initiative<\/a> that changed the incredibly restrictive standard of proof of malice that was required for accountability and provided training for Police Officers<\/a> to deescalate. That initiative passed overwhelmingly across our state with the support of major Law Enforcement<\/a> groups. The things that keeping set in this hearing are false keep sadg a sad in this being in this hearing are false. What are we in Congress Going<\/a> to do about the murders of george floyd and so many others . What are we going to do to bring real accountability and to provide the kind of justice people across this country are fighting for . You can keep talking about seattle if you want. Nothing you have said so far is true. The reality is that our mayor, police are, you said not allowed, that is false. The chief of police has been there every day. It is a peaceful protest zone. Fox news or whoever else you are reading, it is not true. If you want to talk about seattle, lets talk about the murders of these people and many others and our attempt to provide justice. I think you congresswoman bass for giving the time. I invite any of my colleagues to visit me in seattle. Im just a few miles away from the autonomous zone. Can the time of the gentlelady has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek recognition . Georgia, im sorry. Thank you, mr. Chairman. To this today, the issues of legislation and what amendments are good and what amendment are bad, i have said for 18 months, most of that as Ranking Member<\/a>, i have heard republican members referred to on many occasions as stupid, foolish, other things. I know my friends on the others of the aisle, including the gentleman from louisiana, we have worked on stuff before. The gentleman from new york. Bills that get into lawmakers difference. Bills that get talked about our soundbites for the cameras. The reason it was brought up his wife there was not a lot of discussion run up is why there was not a lot of discussion. We did discussion for several years. Committeeen on this and for some of us, including mr. Richmond and others, we were in houston, in detroit, on the Police Working<\/a> group under the previous congress. Should some of the ideas have been moved on faster . Yes, but we did not have the chance until now. Yes, there are many of us on this side, most all of us, who cannot bear the thought of what is happening and we want to get it fixed. It is not unfair to say there some amendments i would vote for and some i would not. That is the committee process. To say vote and move on is not being honest with the American People<\/a>. You do not pass laws that way. The senate has got to have a say and they happen to be controlled by republicans. One of the things, it is not that we have to do anything to fix within, but let us find bigger issues. Bill, there are parts i would love for us to have detailed discussion on. Why do we use this word . Its too broad. Its going to hurt people. It is going to bind our Police Officers<\/a>. It is going to take our communities and get them frustrated area frustrated. You did a great job talking about this and i appreciate it. Lets go back to something bigger. Say, let us pass this bill because we have to do something, fine. Also remember as you look forward theres going to be a time we are going to have to conference if we want this past. If we want the president to sign this, we are going to have to come together, and that means like the gentleman said, i would love to have seen more in the first act. I could not get it. My colleagues could not get there. We kept negotiating. The gentleman from new york was outstanding. Let us begin to understand this process now. This is how we are supposed to get it. Are we not hearing the voices of those in the streets . We are hearing. , the voices also also for ones who were incarcerated, and nobody cared area nobody cared for the ones who were shackled while they were giving birth. It took members on both sides of the aisle and having that discussion in debate and committee and outside of committee that actually made a difference. I understand passion. As many of you know, i understand both sides. I have been a prosecutor. Watched him come home from confrontations that broke his heart. When we talk about participation, participation means when amendments come up, you debate them, you vote them up or down like a bill. What was said by the gentlelady from Washington State<\/a>, you describe several events of Mental Health<\/a>. We passed a bill and we worked together because we passed it, it was a comprehensive Mental Health<\/a> and criminal justice act. We gave money and grants so federal officers could train on how to identify Mental Health<\/a> conditions with those they come in contact with without immediately going to they are actually able to do their job. Let us work through this. You may disagree with amendments. I may disagree. Be, itwant this to starts in this room, it does not finish in this room. Im willing to work on this because i have been working on it long before we got here. The votes on the others of the aisle know that. If you dont believe me, go to georgia. I am criticized for it regularly. So get over it. Let us get something that works and move on so the American People<\/a> can say congress did their job. I yield back. For what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition . The gentleman is recognized. I dont know where my friend from georgia has been the last eight days. We had a hearing on this topic. Sitting right over there. Without a mask. I remember. We had an opportunity to talk about the bill, to make suggestions, to ask the experts. They did not do it. They talked about defunding the police, a sham issue. They brought ms. Underwood appear up here. She did not know at the time. I talked to her briefly. They did not know it was this Boogaloo Group<\/a> that is the most significant crowd shown to have participated in trying to mess with rioters and change the discourse because of their behavior to try to get some benefit for them and anarchy were white separatist or whatever it was some are White Supremacists<\/a>. I read your piece from cnn. Some of them are. None of them are black lives matter. They are the most focused, most identified group to have interfered with this protest that exists. Yet we get antifa. Antifa is not a group like the ku klux klan. They do not put on hoods and robes and do their thing around across. They are not organized at all. There has been no proof they have done anything at these riots. This is all about real estate. One of our members who is a real estate appraiser when he is not the most expensive real estate in the District Of Columbia<\/a> is between donald trump sears. We are seeing a lesson in real estate. If you read john boltons book, there is not a lot between those years. He thought finland was part of russia. Much of what he said was not true according to mr. Bolton. That is the most expensive real estate in d. C. To a lot of people here and that is why they are talking about antifa. Police practices need to be reformed to make people respect the police and make police respect all people and to see to it are not subjugated to police and others because of the color of their skin and the history of racism that has gone on since 1619 and continues to pervade our debates, politics, social life, economic life, and culture. If anyone doesnt get it, they dont get it. There is racial bias. Pta group to got it ms. Gu got it. It is hard to escape. It is harder for some people to admit it. Said according about the voices on the streets. Have you listened to the voices on the streets . You dont have to. Listen to your conscience, if you have one. Vote for this bill and stop this malarkey about antifa, about defunding the police, about mr. Underwood. Get back to reality. I yield back the balance of my time. The gentleman is recognized. Im going to ask you to be fair and im addressing the chair right now. When a democrat goes over, they go over by 30 seconds and you gavel it down. When a republican goes over three seconds, you gavel it down. We need fairness. We also need fairness when the gentleman from tennessee makes derogatory statements about the president of the United States<\/a>. That is against the rules of the house and he should be gavel down and warned about that. Thelso need fairness when gentleman from tennessee talks about other members, if you have a conscience, that is a derogatory statement you should not make about other members of the house. We need fairness in how we conduct these hearings. I yield to my friend from georgia. Im going to make it very clear. Thank you, you prove my case again. 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