[Fake Police Reform “Justice Act”]
Sen Cory Booker: “I think I heard from Republicans that…their bill is 70 percent of our bill. That is fundamentally not true.”
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Wednesday, Senate Democrats blocked the weak police reform bill the “Justice Act” advanced by Republicans in the wake of mass protests after the murder of George Floyd.
The legislation, led by South Carolina Senator Tim Scott did not garner the 60 votes needed to move forward to debate. The Senate voted 55 to 45 on advancing the measure.
Democrats have argued the legislation is a wholly superficial bill that does nothing to address racial police violence–or hold police accountable for the crimes they commit against Black people.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer calling the bill “weak tea” and “junky.”
“If you present a bill, as Republicans have here in the Senate, that does nothing on accountability and say they are solving or dealing with the problem in even close to an adequate way, they are sadly mistaken,” said Schumer.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker pushed back on comments made by Republicans, including Sen. Scott, that the Republican police “Justice Act” contained 70 percent of what is in the Democrats “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”
“I think I heard from Republicans that…their bill is 70 percent of our bill. That is fundamentally not true,” Sen. Cory Booker.
Ahead of the vote, Democrats, including the Congressional Black Caucus, had signaled that the failed legislation was dead on arrival.
Representative Karen Bass, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus issued the following statement on the eve of the Senate’s procedural vote on Senator Tim Scott’s Justice Act:
“We have reached a critical juncture in our history where the steps we take can change a generation. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act championed by the Congressional Black Caucus is the first ever comprehensive legislation to reform law enforcement but also empower communities to reimagine what just and equitable policing must look like. This bill is a direct response to the moral moment as Americans from coast to coast are demanding for real change that includes prevention, training, a registry of misconduct to eliminate repeat offenders, use of force standards, ending qualified immunity and making it easier for the Department of Justice to prosecute civil rights violations. Anything short of this has failed and that is why the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act has received broad support among Members of Congress, major civil rights organizations, celebrities, and the private sector.
“Unfortunately, instead of engaging in a serious, bipartisan, bicameral debate to address the crisis of racial injustice in policing, the Senate is considering the Justice Act, a completely watered-down fake reform bill. We urge all Senators to vote no on the motion to proceed to the Justice Act and commit to a good faith negotiation on the provisions put forward by the House in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”
