WASHINGTON _ House Democrats on Monday unveiled a legislative blueprint for reforming policing policies, responding to the nationwide protests calling for change after the death of George Floyd.
The bill, led by Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Karen Bass, D-Calif., and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., includes reforms making it easier to sue police officers for misconduct in civil court.
It would also prohibit the use of chokeholds by police nationwide, require a national database of police misconduct and give the Justice Department civil rights division subpoena power to investigate local police departments.
"Never again should the world be subjected to witnessing what we saw on the streets in Minneapolis: the slow murder of an individual by a uniformed police officer," Bass said.
Video showed the white officer, Derek Chauvin, with his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes as the unarmed black man was handcuffed and saying he could not breathe. The four officers involved in Floyd's arrest were fired and now face charges in his death.
Before unveiling the police reform bill at a press conference, House and Senate Democrats met in the Capitol's Emancipation Hall for eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence.
"Empathy and sympathy and words of caring for those who have died and suffered are necessary. But it is not enough," Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said at the press conference. "We must change laws and systems of accountability. We must pass legislation that makes our common values and our common ideals real in the law of our land."
Without significant support from Senate Republicans, who control that chamber, any legislation passed by House Democrats is unlikely to reach President Donald Trump's desk.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats aren't going to let the issue fade away.
Bass said the national protests give Democrats confidence that legislation can pass at this time.
