[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 188 (Thursday, December 8, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF END RACIAL PROFILING ACT OF 2011

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2011

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the End Racial 
Profiling Act of 2010, along with additional cosponsors. This 
legislation represents a comprehensive federal commitment to healing 
the rift caused by racial profiling and restoring public confidence in 
the criminal justice system at-large. This legislation is designed to 
enforce the constitutional right to equal protection of the laws by 
eliminating racial profiling through changing the policies and 
procedures underlying the practice.
  This legislation can be traced back to the data collection efforts of 
the late 1990's that were designed to determine whether racial 
profiling was a fact versus an urban legend. Based upon the work around 
that legislation, 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. Moreover, many in 
the law enforcement community have acknowledged that singling out 
people for heightened scrutiny based on their race, ethnicity, 
religion, or national origin had eroded the trust in law enforcement 
necessary to appropriately serve and protect our communities.
  At a recent Judiciary Committee hearing on the issue of racial 
profiling, we approached the issue from the perspective of ``smart 
policing'' and what makes sense in a time of austerity in the face of 
the continuing need to protect public safety. I believe that it became 
clear during the hearing that enough agreement exists to allow us to 
re-open the bipartisan dialogue on racial profiling commenced by 
President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft.
  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.
  While 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 and, therefore, 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 eliminate racial, ethnic, 
religious, and national origin profiling that is well documented. 
First, the bill provides a prohibition on racial profiling, enforceable 
by declaratory or injunctive relief. Second, the bill mandates that 
training on racial profiling issues as part of Federal law enforcement 
training, the collection of data on all routine or spontaneous 
investigatory activities that is to be submitted through a standardized 
form to the Department of Justice. 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, with the passage of sweeping civil rights legislation, 
this country made clear that race should not affect the treatment of 
individual Americans under the law. However, recent events demonstrate 
that racial profiling remains a divisive issue that strikes at the very 
foundation of our democracy. 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 through this legislative effort. 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.

                          ____________________