WASHINGTON _ The House has formed a bipartisan working group to look at solutions to improve relations between law enforcement and the African-American community, Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Tuesday night at a town hall event in New York hosted by CNN.
"I think it's very important that we calm down in this country, we start listening to each other, we start talking about solutions," Ryan said. "We're already forming a bipartisan group in Congress to do just that _ about training, about communities. And we (need to) look at those success stories that are out there in our communities and see if we can replicate that."
Ryan did not specify who would serve on the working group but Washington Republican Dave Reichert, a former sheriff, has said he'd been leading an effort to form one so he's likely to be one of the GOP members.
The formation of the working group follows last week's sniper attack in Dallas that left five police officers dead. Ryan expressed his support for law enforcement but also his understanding that there are people in the country who don't feel safe because of the color of their skin.
"The fact that people think that and feel that is a problem in this country," Ryan said.
Through mutual respect and listening, Ryan said he hopes the House working group can begin to find solutions to fix that problem.
