When not gutting election integrity, the U.S. House passed a “police reform bill” late Wednesday night.
Deemed the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act,” the vote was 220-212, with all but two Democrats, Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Ron Kind of Wisconsin, supporting it.
The bill was drafted by the Congressional Black Caucus last summer and advanced through the House in a vote that included all Democrats and three Republicans, but went nowhere in the Senate.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi immediately played the racial guilt card, claiming the bill won’t “erase centuries of systemic racism and excessive policing” but will be “a tremendous step” toward stopping the violence and stemming the suffering.
“We cannot accept this epidemic of injustice,” Pelosi said. “We cannot stay silent when our most vulnerable and historically marginalized communities are being targeted and sometimes killed.”
The bill, whose fate in the upper chamber is uncertain, since Democrats need at least 10 Republicans to send the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk, comes as Minneapolis braces for jury selection in the Floyd trial Monday.
Critics argue the bill effectively defunds the police via mandates that will cost police departments hundreds of millions of dollars and force major cuts to their budgets.
The legislation is a troubling progressive wish list that also limits or eliminates qualified immunity for police officers; bans the use of chokeholds entirely, further limiting non-lethal options for officers when subduing violent suspects; and eliminates no-knock warrants in drug cases.
”On behalf of the family of George Floyd, we are deeply gratified and grateful for the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives in passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, responding to the mandate issued by thousands of Americans who took to the streets last summer to raise their voices for change,” said Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, attorneys for the Floyd family.
“This represents a major step forward to reform the relationship between police officers and communities of color and impose accountability on law enforcement officers whose conscious decisions preserve the life or cause the death of Americans, including so many people of color,” they added.
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
