[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1588-S1589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself and Mr. Breaux):
  S. 2112. A bill to prohibit racial profiling by Federal, State, and 
local law enforcement agencies; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, today, Senator Breaux and I introduced 
a bill entitled the ``Uniting Neighborhoods and Individuals to 
Eliminate Racial Profiling Act of 2004'' (UNITE) that I believe will 
put us on the road to preventing problems caused by racial profiling 
and help begin reconciliation in communities torn apart by racial 
unrest.
  Rooted in the belief that education and dialogue are the most 
effective tools for bridging racial divides, our bill bans racial 
profiling by Federal, State and local law enforcement officers. Our 
bill also provides important new tools to help law enforcement leaders 
train their officers in eliminating the practice, including the 
creation of a National Task Force on Racial Profiling within the U.S. 
Department of Justice, a Racial Profiling Education and Awareness 
Program, a nondiscriminatory State-based administrative complaint 
procedure that allows individuals to file complaints with the State, 
and a grant program to assist State and local law enforcement agencies 
in developing programs to eliminate racial profiling.
  I am personally aware of this issue because of the time I spent as 
Mayor of Cleveland. I worked for 10 years to promote understanding and 
positive race relations, and my work there has spurred me to continue 
on this path at the national level. We've heard all too often of 
situations in cities and towns across the country in which poor race 
relations are creating serious divisions between communities and law 
enforcement agencies. Despite the shared interest we all have in 
fighting crime and making neighborhoods safer, mistrust and wariness 
often stands in the way of cooperation.
  To name just a few examples: A January 21, 2004 state study of racial 
profiling in Massachusetts has found that minority drivers are 
disproportionately ticketed and searched by police officers in dozens 
of communities, including Boston. According to a joint study completed 
by the Council on Crime and Justice (CCJ) and the Institute on Race & 
Poverty (IRP) at the University of Minnesota Law School and released on 
September 24, 2003, African-American, Latino and to a lesser extent 
American-Indian motorists are stopped and their cars searched at rates 
significantly greater than white motorists. The study found that racial 
profiling is widespread throughout Minnesota and cuts across urban, 
suburban and rural police boundaries. In February, 2004, a study was 
released by the Steward Research Group analyzing data from 413 Texas 
law enforcement agencies. The study found that based on racial 
disparities in stop and search rates, there is a pattern of racial 
profiling by law enforcement agencies across Texas.
  While studies such as these are not widespread among the States, I do 
believe these results, along with many other cases clearly indicate 
that we have a nationwide problem. And while the overwhelming number of 
police officers discharge their duties professionally and without bias, 
I think we need to address those that do not.
  As I mentioned before, my experience as Mayor of Cleveland and 
Governor of Ohio has taught me that reaching the hearts and minds of 
people is the most effective means of dealing with intolerance and the 
problems that result.
  As mayor of Cleveland I established the city's first urban coalition, 
the Cleveland Roundtable, to bring together representatives of the 
City's various racial, religious and economic groups to create a common 
agenda. When we found that members of the police department weren't 
receiving proper diversity training, we completely revised the police 
academy program, establishing sensitivity training for all Cleveland 
police officers and creating six police district community relations 
committees to open lines of communication between police officers and 
community members. We eventually put all City employees through this 
diversity training, and you know what? It worked.
  As governor, in my first State of the State Address I said, ``We must 
never forget that the infrastructure of good race relations and human 
understanding is more important than any roads or bridges we might 
build.'' We launched efforts to increase community outreach by law 
enforcement in order to foster a cooperative, rather than adversarial, 
relationship between citizens and law enforcement. Through our biannual 
``Governor's Challenge,'' conferences I worked to bring members of 
local communities together with law enforcement officials and members 
of the business community in order to educate and break down barriers 
that lead to intolerance. We recognized and shared ``best practices'' 
procedures so that communities could benefit from the success of 
others--all with an emphasis on rewarding those that are doing a good 
job. We made wonderful progress and outstanding communities were 
recognized for their efforts.
  As I said earlier, the overwhelming majority of state and local law 
enforcement agents throughout the nation discharge their duties 
professionally and justly. I salute them for their dedication efforts 
in what is one of America's toughest jobs. It is unfortunate that the 
misdeeds of a minute few have such a corrosive effect on the police-
community relationship. Based on my experiences in Ohio--10 years as 
Mayor of Cleveland and 8 years as Governor of Ohio, I know what works. 
Through education and dialogue we can help turn situations around so 
that groups who

[[Page S1589]]

once thought they had little in common can realize how much they 
actually have to gain by working together to make our communities safer 
places to live.
  Mr. BREAUX. Mr. President, I rise today with my colleague, Senator 
Voinovich, to introduce the Uniting Neighborhoods and Individuals to 
End Racial Profiling Act, also known as the UNITE Act.
  In the fall of 2002, there was a meeting in my office with a number 
of African-American leaders from Louisiana. They told me that the 
single most important issue they want to resolve is racial profiling.
  I turned to Senator Voinovich, who has been a leader on this in Ohio 
and in the Senate, to come up with the first, truly bipartisan racial 
profiling bill to be introduced in the Senate. After more than a year 
of hard work, we have finally come up with a bill that meaningfully 
responds to the issue of racial profiling while striking the right 
balance between the concerns of law enforcement and the minority 
community. Most importantly, our UNITE Act will begin to end racial 
profiling in this country.
  This bill strives to fix the real incidents of racial profiling 
through education, public outreach and oversight. It also combats the 
perception that law enforcement is engaging in racial biased policing. 
By banning racial profiling, putting safeguards in place and providing 
the public with a meaningful complaint procedure, this bill responds to 
the concerns of minority communities and hopefully helps rebuild their 
trust in law enforcement agencies.
  I believe we have crafted the first, reasonable and passable solution 
to the issue of racial profiling.
  I hope as we unveil this legislation publically for the first time 
today, that both the civil rights and law enforcement communities will 
see this bill as a good starting point to find a solution to this 
serious problem. I look forward to working with my colleagues, law 
enforcement and the civil rights community to get this legislation 
passed and signed by the President this year.
                                 ______