[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 105 (Thursday, July 15, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1341-E1342]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF END RACIAL PROFILING ACT OF 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 15, 2010

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the End Racial 
Profiling Act of 2010, along with additional cosponsors. As a product 
of years of extensive consultation with both the law enforcement and 
civil rights communities, this legislation represents the most 
comprehensive federal commitment to healing the rift caused by racial 
profiling and restoring public confidence in the criminal justice 
system at-large. The introduction of this legislation is a critical 
step in what should be a nationwide, bipartisan effort to end this 
divisive practice.
  The debate over racial profiling has become a central element in a 
much larger history of adversarial relationships between the police and 
communities of color. Over the past two decades, the tensions between 
police and minority communities have grown as allegations of racial 
profiling by law enforcement agents, sometimes supported by data 
collection efforts, have increased in number and frequency. The 
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the ongoing immigration 
enforcement debate have only complicated the profiling issues that were 
traditionally centered on state and local law enforcement.
  The arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and the passage of 
Arizona S.B. 1070 have crystalized the terms of the profiling debate 
and demonstrate that the combination of race and law enforcement 
represents a volatile mix across all strata of the minority community. 
Despite the fact that the majority of law enforcement officers perform 
their duties professionally and without bias--and we value their 
service highly--the specter of racial profiling has contaminated the 
relationship between the police and minority communities to such a 
degree that Federal action is justified to begin addressing the issue.
  When I first introduced the Traffic Stops Statistics Study Act of 
1997, the racial profiling issue was relatively straightforward in 
political terms. Profiling was represented by the classic pretext 
traffic stop, where an African-American driver was pulled over for a 
minor traffic violation and then asked for consent to search their 
vehicle. Today, traffic and pedestrian stops have given way to airport 
passenger profiles and immigrant sweeps. For that reason, racial 
profiling legislation has evolved from a simple data collection bill to 
comprehensive multi-tiered legislation--including a private right of 
action and best practice grants--that is designed to address a more 
complex law enforcement landscape.
  As we move forward, I believe it is important to remind Members of 
just how far we in Congress have come in developing a bipartisan 
consensus on the racial profiling issue. By September 11, 2001, there 
was significant empirical evidence and wide agreement among Americans, 
including President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft, that racial 
profiling was a tragic fact of life in the minority community and that 
the Federal government should take action to end the practice.
  Data collected from Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Louisiana, New York, 
Maryland, Maine, Rhode Island, California, West Virginia, and Oklahoma 
demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that African-Americans and 
Hispanics were 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. Similarly, Justice 
Department reports found that although African-Americans and Hispanics 
were more likely to be stopped and searched by law enforcement, they 
were much less likely to be found in possession of contraband.
  Law enforcement officials have similarly evolved in their views. 
While some still take issue, many in the law enforcement community 
acknowledge that singling out people for heightened scrutiny based on 
their race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin has eroded the 
trust in law enforcement necessary to appropriately serve and protect 
our communities. Rather than seeking to deny the concerns of minority 
community advocates, law enforcement officials have joined the effort 
to create solutions and build trust with their communities. As a 
result, more than 20 states have passed bipartisan legislation 
prohibiting racial profiling and/or mandating data collection on stops 
and searches, in addition to hundreds of individual jurisdictions which 
have voluntarily commenced to collect data programs.
  Congress itself was actually poised to pass racial profiling 
legislation in the fall of 2001, with the express support of President 
Bush, before the terrorist attacks changed the legislative paradigm. In 
the wake of the attacks, however, the Department of Justice promulgated 
a series of guidelines in 2003 which were designed to end the practice 
of racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies. These measures 
do not reach the vast majority of racial profiling complaints arising 
from the routine activities of state and local law enforcement 
agencies. Further, the guidelines provide no enforcement mechanism or 
methods for identifying law enforcement agencies not in compliance. 
Consequently, they fail to resolve the racial profiling problem 
nationwide. In this instance, there is no substitute for comprehensive 
federal anti-profiling legislation.
  The End Racial Profiling Act is designed to enforce the 
constitutional right to equal protection of the laws by eliminating 
racial profiling through changes to the policies and procedures 
underlying the practice. First, the bill

[[Page E1342]]

provides a prohibition on racial profiling, enforceable by declaratory 
or injunctive relief. Second, the bill mandates training on racial 
profiling issues and the collection of data on both routine and 
spontaneous investigatory activities, as a condition of receiving 
Federal law enforcement funding.
  Third, the Justice Department is authorized to provide grants for the 
development and implementation of best policing practices, such as 
early warning systems, technology integration, and other management 
protocols that discourage profiling. Finally, the Attorney General is 
required to provide periodic reports to assess the nature of any 
ongoing discriminatory profiling practices.
  Decades ago, this country made clear through the passage of sweeping 
civil rights legislation that race should not affect the treatment of 
individual Americans under the law. When law-abiding citizens are 
treated differently by those who enforce the law simply because of 
their race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin, they are denied 
the basic respect and equal treatment that is the right of every 
American. With the cooperation of the administration, we have the 
opportunity to develop a comprehensive approach to eliminating the 
practice of racial profiling. I hope that we do not miss this historic 
opportunity to heal the rift caused by racial profiling and restore 
much of the community's confidence in law enforcement.

                          ____________________