[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1037-E1038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF END RACIAL PROFILING ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 6, 2001

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the End Racial 
Profiling Act of 2001, along with additional bipartisan cosponsors. 
Both the President and the Attorney General have said that we need 
federal legislation and that the practice of racial profiling should be 
prohibited. This bill accomplishes both these goals and we're anxious 
to work with the administration to pass legislation during this 
Congress.
  Racial profiling not only undermines constitutional rights, but also 
undermines the trust on which law enforcement depends. Since I first 
introduced racial profiling legislation in the 105th Congress, the 
pervasive nature of racial profiling has gone from anecdote and theory 
to well-documented fact. Data collected from New Jersey, Maryland, 
Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, New York, and 
Massachusetts show beyond a shadow of a doubt that African-Americans 
and Latinos are being stopped for routine traffic violations far in 
excess of their share of the population or even the rate at which such 
populations are accused of criminal conduct. A recent Justice 
Department report found that although African-Americans and Hispanics 
are more likely to be stopped and searched by law enforcement, they are 
much less likely to be found in possession of contraband.
  Racial profiling is a doulbe-barreled assault on our social fabric. 
Nearly every young African-American male has been subjected to racial 
profiling or has a family member or close friend who has been a victim 
of this injustice. Racial profiling sends the message to young African-
Americans and others that the criminal justice system, and therefore 
the system at large, belittles their worth, that message and its impact 
sticks. Second, and relatedly, it causes a breakdown of trust on which 
community policing depends. And unless that trust is built, deep 
seated, nurtured, then the police can't do the job of protecting our 
communities, a job we all want the police to do.
  Our legislation is designed to eliminate racial profiling by 
addressing the policies and procedures underlying the practice. First 
the bill provides a prohibition on racial profiling, enforceable by 
injunctive relief. Second, we condition federal law enforcement and 
other monies that go to state and local governments on their adoption 
of policies that prohibit racial

[[Page E1038]]

profiling and which are enforceable. Third, we provide the state and 
local police with the grant money they have told us that they need to 
train and modernize the police. Finally, we provide for periodic 
reports by the Attorney General to assess the nature of any ongoing 
racial profiling.
  Both the President and Attorney General have called for a ban on the 
practice of racial profiling. There is near unanimous agreement on all 
sides of the political spectrum that it should be ended. The time has 
come to pass this legislation.

                          ____________________