[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1240 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1240

 Expressing condemnation for police brutality wherever in the world it 
                                occurs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 24, 2020

Ms. Omar submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing condemnation for police brutality wherever in the world it 
                                occurs.

Whereas, in 2020, there have been significant peaceful assemblies protesting 
        against police brutality throughout the world, including in the United 
        States;
Whereas police brutality may include human rights violations such as the use of 
        excessive force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, 
        and the use of lethal rounds and the unnecessary use of ``less-lethal'' 
        crowd control weapons by law enforcement, in response to peaceful 
        assemblies;
Whereas police brutality may occur prior to an arrest, during crowd control 
        operations, during an arrest, and while an individual is in custody;
Whereas the Small Arms Survey identified that between 2007-2012, 19,000 people 
        worldwide were killed by police annually;
Whereas a 2017 United Nations Development Program report found that more than 70 
        percent of individuals who had joined violent extremist groups across 
        Africa self-reported that ``government action'', including police 
        brutality, was the determining factor in their decision to join such 
        groups;
Whereas the United States is the largest arms exporter in the world, including 
        as the top provider to 13 out of 19 countries in the Middle East;
Whereas the United States is the largest developer and exporter of ``less-
        lethal'' weapons, including tear gas, in the world;
Whereas the United States, especially under the auspices of the wars on drugs 
        and global terrorism, has in recent decades dramatically increased its 
        influence on the tactics, equipment, and purpose of policing around the 
        world;
Whereas during that same period and under those same auspices, domestic police 
        forces at the State, local, and Federal level have become increasingly 
        militarized in both equipment and tactics;
Whereas several United States embassies in Africa released statements in the 
        aftermath of the May 25, 2020, police killing of Minneapolis resident 
        George Floyd, explicitly recognizing the foreign policy dimension of 
        domestic police violence;
Whereas many of those statements included reminders of the importance of an 
        impartial judicial system and accountability for state security forces 
        who commit human rights violations;
Whereas on a global scale, police brutality occurs on every continent, in both 
        democracies and dictatorships, and in countries that are both partners 
        and adversaries of the United States;
Whereas on a global scale, police brutality disproportionately harms already 
        vulnerable people, including racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, 
        women, migrants, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ 
        community; and
Whereas on a global scale, impunity for both individual police officers and 
        departments or units who commit police brutality is an endemic problem: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns police brutality wherever in the world it 
        occurs;
            (2) stands with peaceful protesters around the world in 
        their calls for justice and accountability for police 
        brutality;
            (3) recognizes that police brutality disproportionately 
        targets already vulnerable populations, including racial, 
        ethnic, religious minorities, women, migrants, and the LGBTQIA+ 
        community;
            (4) recognizes that impunity for police brutality 
        undermines the rule of law, erodes public confidence in state 
        institutions and degrades social cohesion;
            (5) calls on the United States Government to--
                    (A) take immediate and significant steps to 
                eliminate police brutality and impunity for police 
                brutality in the United States;
                    (B) prohibit the sales of arms, ammunition, and 
                ``less-lethal'' policing equipment to countries with 
                demonstrated patterns of human rights violations by 
                security forces or impunity for human rights violations 
                by security forces;
                    (C) prohibit other forms of security assistance, 
                including police training, to countries with 
                demonstrated patterns of human rights violations by 
                security forces or impunity for human rights violations 
                by security forces;
                    (D) use its voice, vote, and influence in 
                international institutions to work toward the 
                elimination of police brutality and ending impunity for 
                police brutality around the world;
                    (E) end the use of militarized equipment and 
                tactics in policing both at home and abroad; and
                    (F) reallocate funding in both the United States 
                and abroad to peacebuilding, job training, counseling 
                and mental health programming, and violence-preventing 
                programming; and
            (6) calls on businesses based in the United States that 
        sell lethal and less-lethal policing equipment to adopt strict 
        protocols prohibiting the sale of such articles to countries 
        with demonstrated patterns of police brutality or impunity for 
        police brutality.
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