[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 30, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1158-E1159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF END RACIAL PROFILING ACT OF 2013

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 30, 2013

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the End Racial 
Profiling Act of 2013, 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 
changing the policies and procedures underlying the practice of 
profiling.
  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.
  During our 112th Congress Judiciary Committee hearing on racial 
profiling, we approached the issue from the perspective of ``smart 
policing'' and what makes sense in a time of austerity for protecting 
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 the well 
documented problem of racial, ethnic, religious, and national origin 
profiling. 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.
  Recent events demonstrate that racial profiling remains a divisive 
issue that strikes at the very foundation of our democracy. Though the 
death of Trayvon Martin was not the result of a law enforcement 
encounter, the issues of race and reasonable suspicion of criminal 
conduct are so closely linked in the minds of the public that his death 
cannot be separated from the law enforcement profiling debate.
  Ultimately, he is one of too many individuals across the country who 
have been victimized

[[Page E1159]]

by a perception of criminality simply because of their race, ethnicity, 
religion or national origin. These individuals are denied the basic 
respect and equal treatment that is the right of every American.
  Decades ago, in the face of shocking violence, the passage of 
sweeping civil rights legislation made it clear that race should not 
affect the treatment of an individual American under the law. I believe 
that thousands of pedestrian and traffic stops of innocent minorities 
and the killing of innocent teen calls for a similar federal response. 
The practice of using race as a criterion in law enforcement undermines 
the progress we have made toward racial equality. Please join me in 
supporting this legislation.

                          ____________________