[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 14, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H2201-H2206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     OPENING OUR EYES TO THE EPIDEMIC OF POLICE VIOLENCE IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, once again, we are moved and compelled to 
come to the House floor to deal with the seemingly unending problem of 
police violence in America. Over the last year, we have seen a parade 
of horribles, examples of police violence caught on video for all of 
America to see.
  We are compelled to ask the question: What more does Congress need to 
see in order to understand that we have got a problem that requires 
Democrats

[[Page H2202]]

and Republicans, people in the House and the Senate, working in 
partnership with the President to address?
  I certainly am of the view that the overwhelming majority of law 
enforcement officers are hard-working individuals who are there to 
protect and serve their community; but how can we continue to turn a 
blind eye to the fact that police violence all across America 
essentially has presented an epidemic of injustice that we have got to 
deal with in a free and democratic society?
  What more does the Congress need to see? We have seen 12-year-old 
Tamir Rice gunned down by a police officer in what many view as a 
driveby shooting. Tamir Rice didn't present any danger to the officer 
who simply pulled up and really, without warning, shot him dead to the 
ground, based on a call that had been made that someone seemed to have 
a toy gun.
  Of course, in New York City, Eric Garner was strangled to death with 
the use of a choke hold employed by a police officer, despite the fact 
that, for the previous 20 years, choke holds had been unauthorized as 
part of the policy of the NYPD.
  Eleven different times, Eric Garner, a father of six, said that he 
couldn't breathe, and on 11 different occasions, the officers who were 
there failed to respond to Mr. Garner's pleas for help. As a result, he 
was killed on a New York City street for all the world to see; then a 
grand jury fails to indict even on simple assault.
  Now, of course, we have got the tragedy of Walter Scott, someone who 
was killed running away from a police officer after having been tased. 
It is not clear to me that, if a courageous bystander hadn't captured 
that incident on video, the officer responsible for killing Walter 
Scott may be patrolling the streets of South Carolina today. What more 
does Congress need to see to realize that we have got a problem that 
needs to be addressed?
  Mr. Speaker, I am thankful that several of my colleagues in 
government are here, including the assistant Democratic leader, who has 
got a tremendous history of combating injustice before he got to 
Congress and his two decades-plus in serving the people of South 
Carolina in Congress.
  Let me yield to the distinguished gentleman from the great State of 
South Carolina, the assistant Democratic leader, James Clyburn.
  (Mr. CLYBURN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend Mr. Jeffries.
  I visited with the family of Walter Scott. I attended his funeral; 
and, not long after the services were over, I was approached by two 
women who identified themselves as mothers of two young men who had 
suffered unusual and unnecessary brutality at the hands of the officer 
who perpetrated the unnecessary shooting of Walter Scott.

                              {time}  1845

  Both these women said to me that, throughout the North Charleston 
community, there is significant apprehension as to whether or not they 
could accept or expect any kind of relief for the pain that they are 
suffering.
  I remained in Charleston over the weekend. On Sunday evening, I saw 
that the mayor of North Charleston, Mayor Summey; the chief of police 
of North Charleston, Chief Driggers; along with the sheriff of 
Charleston County, attended the healing services that took place at 
Calvary Baptist Church there in Charleston.
  I applaud them--the mayor, the chief, and the sheriff--for responding 
to these three families, and there may be others, but in a way that 
makes us all proud.
  I am hopeful that, after this weekend and some subsequent 
occurrences, that Congress would take a long, hard look at whether or 
not there is a role for us to play in responding to what seems to be an 
epidemic. I applaud those in the South Carolina Legislature, most 
especially Senator Marlon Kimpson, for his authorship of body camera 
legislation.
  I thank the various newspapers, most recently this morning, The State 
newspaper, for endorsing this concept, saying that it is something that 
the legislature in South Carolina should authorize and fund.
  Now, there are a lot of police departments that are too small to 
raise the necessary funds, and a lot of them are so big that the cost 
might be prohibitive. To that, I want to say, Mr. Jeffries, as I thank 
you, Congressman Scott, and Congressman Richmond, as well as 
Congressmen Gowdy and Labrador, for all the work you are doing trying 
to pull together a piece of comprehensive legislation that will reform 
our judicial criminal system in a way that would make things much 
better going forward.
  Please, I ask, take a look at whether or not it is time for us here 
in the Congress to make the funds available so that all local police 
departments can afford to do something that I think will address a 
national problem.
  I also believe that the time has come for us to maybe mandate from 
this level the body cameras I think Congresswoman Corinne Brown and 
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver have both proposed legislation in this 
area. Let's take a look at their legislation. Hopefully, your task 
force will take a look at their legislation and see whether or not we 
can incorporate that legislation authorization, as well as the funding 
going forward.
  Now, I want to thank the Attorney General and the FBI Director for 
proposing that we deal with this issue of data collection. That is 
going to be very important as we take a look at these issues and these 
incidents and to see whether or not it is time for us to do something 
at the national level to deal with data collection.
  That, too, is an expense. In fact, that is something these 
departments would have a problem with in terms of size, where they are 
so big they can't afford it or too small to raise the funds, and maybe 
we can find a way to help fund the storage of this data so that we can 
create a better climate.
  Now, before I close, I want to say something that I get beaten up a 
lot for raising this issue, but I feel strongly about it. I am not 
easily intimidated, and I refuse to be bullied.
  Therefore, I want to say once again, whoever is funding the 
activities of the American Legislative Exchange Council, they are 
funding the kind of legislation, stand your ground, that creates 
vigilante activity in this country. It is clear that is what is formed 
from that legislation.
  They are also funding legislation that is suppressing voters; and 
when you suppress voters, you are, in fact, ruining activity at the 
community level that I think is very, very important.
  They are also funding the bleaching and stacking of legislative and 
congressional districts, all of which I believe add to the creation of 
a venomous climate throughout our country.
  I started my professional career as a public school teacher teaching 
history. I have studied the history of our great country, and I have 
taught it. I can say that it is clear to me that a lot of the 
legislation that is being proposed today, a lot of the activities that 
we are experiencing today, we went through this before.
  I would ask anybody who may be interested in the subject to just take 
a look at what occurred in this great country between 1872 and those 
new constitutions that went in place throughout the South in 1895. You 
will see that, through that 23-year period, the same kind of vigilante 
activity, all done under the heading of Jim Crow laws, the same 
activity with a different label is what we are beginning to see today.
  I would hope that all the people here in this Congress and around the 
country will really take stock of who we are, where we are, and let us 
do what is necessary to move our country to common ground for all of 
its great citizenry.
  Thank you so much.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the assistant leader, Mr. Clyburn, for his 
eloquent articulation, both of the history of police violence and 
oppressive laws and statutes done on the color of State law designed to 
undermine the constitutional principle of equal protection under the 
law, as well as for suggesting some of the things that we can consider 
doing to improve this situation, one of which will be to make sure that 
we capture police encounters on video in a manner that benefits all 
involved so we can have a real understanding of what took place during 
the encounter.
  New York City has begun an experimental program placing body cameras 
in a few of the precincts throughout

[[Page H2203]]

New York City, including the 75th precinct in the east New York 
community that I represent.
  In talking to the commander of the precinct, the officers, while many 
were initially skeptical, eventually embraced the presence of body 
cameras for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it often defuses 
an aggressive encounter because the officers, upon approaching a 
situation when they are wearing a body camera, are now required to say 
to the individual citizens they are confronting: This confrontation or 
this exchange is going to be recorded.
  What the officers have found is that, in many instances, that will 
defuse a situation that otherwise might go in the other direction.
  Body cameras are something that should be considered. In fact, many 
law enforcement officers in departments across the country who have 
gone down this road have embraced it as technology that benefits the 
law enforcement community, in addition, of course, to making sure 
justice takes place when a police officer crosses the line.
  It is now my distinct privilege to yield to a new member of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, as well as the House of Representatives, 
who has already distinguished herself in terms of being a passionate 
advocate for justice and for progressive change in this country.
  That is the gentlewoman from the Garden State right next door to New 
York, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman.
  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Thank you very much to my esteemed colleague 
from New York.
  I am new to Congress, and I have had quite a few occasions to come to 
the floor and talk about issues that are very pressing to my community 
and to me. I stand here as an African American woman who represents the 
State of New Jersey, but I stand here as a wife, a mother, a sister, an 
aunt, and a cousin to African American men.

  In that capacity, each and every day that one of them leaves our 
presence and leaves their home, I wonder if they will come back safely. 
I know they mean no one any harm, but I don't know that the police that 
they might encounter would see that in them as I do.
  My community has cried out for a long period of time that there has 
been injustice and there has been harm and danger and needless deaths 
facing our young men and even some of our young women.
  As a matter of fact, Mr. Clyburn mentioned the issue of data 
collection as being such an important element here in helping us to 
find our way. I noted that The Washington Post said that, out of 
thousands of fatal interactions between the police and citizens, only 
54 officers have been charged, and of those, most were cleared and 
acquitted.
  We need better data collection; we need greater accountability, and 
we, obviously, need greater justice because, in those instances, the 
majority of these officers are going back into the streets, patrolling 
these communities, and those people who are in charge of them are still 
in charge of them and are still performing what should be a public 
service.

                              {time}  1900

  I understand that not every case that we are encountering is as 
clear-cut as the one we just encountered with Officer Slager. I 
understand that there are other cases that have resulted in other 
findings. I do not understand how some of these findings could have 
occurred given the things that we have actually seen.
  I stand here recognizing that this Congress can, indeed, help these 
local police departments with things such as body cameras. In the cost-
benefit analysis, is a life worth enough to invest in them for the 
police departments? I say ``yes,'' but there are other things that, I 
think, Congress should be considering and on which, I think, we should 
be leading the way in the discussion.
  One of those is that there are consequences that should not only be 
felt by the officer who was actively engaged in the misfortune, such as 
in the Slager case or even in the Brown case in Ferguson; but what 
about those individuals who knowingly participated in the policies that 
ended up creating this disparity in our society, this injustice in our 
society? They are given the opportunity to walk away. They are given 
the opportunity to retire. They are given the opportunity to resign. 
They are given the opportunity to move on with their lives and to 
benefit from the pensions and other benefits that have been accrued by 
the number of years they have been working as public servants, even 
though it is clearly demonstrated that their service was not to the 
public. There need to be consequences that need to be addressed with 
regard to that also.
  There is a lot that needs to be done. We can see it, but we can no 
longer be silent on it. Congress does have a role here. Congress has a 
responsibility to ensure that the laws of this country are protecting 
all of our citizens. We need to do things like invest in body cameras, 
not just to catch those who are doing these things which are harmful to 
our community but to protect the good policemen who are sometimes the 
subject of complaints that aren't verified. I honestly believe that 
those who don the blue uniform do so with the expectation and the 
desire to protect, preserve, and to serve, but those who do not and 
those who allow those who do not to continue to do what they are doing 
need to be accountable.
  I look forward to working with my esteemed colleague who is in charge 
of this Special Order hour and with all of those who are working to 
ensure that there is justice, safety, and security and that, as a 
mother, I don't have to worry, that, as a wife, I don't have to worry, 
that, as a sister, as an aunt, as a cousin, and as a friend, I don't 
have to worry every time a Black man who is associated with me leaves 
my home.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from New Jersey 
for her very eloquent and passionate remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we clearly have to grapple with 
in this country is the fact that the criminal justice system is broken, 
and there are many components to that. We have got a situation in which 
far too often a police officer crosses the line, engages in unlawful 
conduct, and is not held accountable for that conduct. What kind of 
incentive does that create for good conduct to take place moving 
forward if, in the overwhelming majority of instances when police 
officers cross the line, such as in the Eric Garner case, a grand jury 
or a local prosecutor will often fail to hold them accountable?
  The other problem that we have got to address is of 
overcriminalization in America, of mass incarceration. If you look at 
some of these encounters that have taken place and that have gone wrong 
and that have resulted in tragedy, they often have begun with what was, 
really, overly aggressive, unnecessary policing strategy being deployed 
to tackle, at best, nuisance-like activity.
  Eric Garner is dead today because he was selling loose cigarettes, 
and someone at One Police Plaza gave the order to aggressively police 
this activity. Crime is down in New York, but there are still a couple 
hundred homicides committed every year. There is still some gang 
activity. There are still some assaults taking place. But we want to 
use police resources to aggressively go after someone who is selling 
loose, untaxed cigarettes?
  That is an overcriminalization problem connected to broken windows 
policing. Walter Scott is dead today because he had a broken taillight. 
Four children are without a father because Walter Scott had a broken 
taillight. We have got to evaluate this overly aggressive policing 
strategy connected to the phenomenon of mass incarceration.
  I am pleased to have had the opportunity in this Congress to have 
worked closely with someone who is one of the leaders in the House of 
Representatives and in the Capitol in dealing with our broken criminal 
justice system and who works closely with colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle, like Trey Gowdy and Jason Chaffetz and others, who are 
interested in trying to figure out, collectively, how we can make 
America a fairer, more efficient place in terms of our criminal justice 
system.
  Let me now yield to the distinguished gentleman from the great State 
of Louisiana, who represents the wonderful city of New Orleans. We 
refer to him, of course, as the ``franchise'' because of his prolific 
baseball

[[Page H2204]]

abilities, but he is also one of the most talented legislators here in 
the Capitol. I yield to my good friend, the Honorable Cedric Richmond.
  Mr. RICHMOND. Thank you, Representative Jeffries, for allowing us to 
address this most important issue.
  Mr. Speaker, as we talk about it today and as members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus address this country and address this 
Chamber, let me just start with: this is not a Black problem; it is not 
an African American problem; it is not a Hispanic problem; and it is 
not a minority problem. This is an American problem that is eroding the 
fabric and the core of who we are and what makes us exceptional. As we 
talk about police violence and as we assess it, we try to figure out if 
we have a few bad apples or whether this is a systematic problem that 
needs to be addressed. I prefer to believe that it is the former--a few 
bad apples who need attention. With that, I will use an example.

  Representative Jeffries, I am sure you know that we had a police 
shooting in the New Orleans airport a couple of weeks ago when a man 
who was otherwise peaceful lacked medical attention and was paranoid 
and went to the airport and intended to do harm. In fact, he did do 
harm, but in the process, Lieutenant Heather Sylve had no choice in 
this situation but to fire, to discharge her firearm, and she killed 
Richard White. She had no choice, and she saved many lives. I would 
like to believe that there are more Heather Sylves out there than what 
we are seeing on the news every day. Yet the preponderance of what we 
are seeing every day is of shootings that are not justified.
  When we talk about what we can do, body cameras won't stop the event 
from happening; but like red light cameras and these automated traffic 
tickets, what they do is change behavior because, hopefully, officers 
will realize that there is nothing done under the cloud of darkness 
anymore, that whether it is body cameras or civilians standing up and 
recording the interaction, whatever you do will be recorded to show an 
independent version of what is going on. Maybe--just maybe--that will 
change behavior and make officers just take notice that today is not 
yesterday and that you can't do the things that you used to do.
  As we address it, one of the things we can also look at is the 
diversity of these police departments and at the diversity of the FBI, 
the DEA, and the ATF. Those departments and those police forces and 
those law enforcement organizations should reflect in their makeup the 
great diversity in this country. U.S. attorneys in this country should 
stand and fight for civil rights violations just as they do the 
headline-grabbing public corruption and all of the other things that 
they focus on.
  We have the new cases, but I have old cases in New Orleans. After 
Katrina, I had Henry Glover. An officer on a second-floor balcony shot 
him dead with a sniper rifle, saying that he posed an imminent threat 
to that officer on the second floor. Not only was he shot and killed 
but the police took the body, in an abandoned car, to a levee and 
burned it. If we get past Henry Glover, we can go to the Danziger 
Bridge, where officers engaged in a firefight with six civilians. 
Today, we learned all of them were unarmed, and none of them fired on 
the police. Two of those civilians were killed.
  This is a very hard conversation to have. It is a conversation that 
we have to have because the longer we ignore it the longer it will 
fester. The urban communities have been singing this song and have been 
reporting this for years and years and years, and it is not until new 
technology that we see that this was not a fabrication but a concerned 
community that was watching their sons and their fathers be killed at 
the hands of law enforcement.
  We are part of the greatest body on Earth, which is the United States 
Congress, and we can solve problems when we have the will because, as 
my grandmother always said, Where there is a will, there is a way. It 
is time for Congress to dig up that will to make this country a more 
perfect Union. We all know that it is not perfect--it was not perfect 
when it was created, and it is not perfect today--but with the courage 
of legislators like Representative Jeffries from New York, 
Representative Johnson from Georgia, who will speak next, and with the 
will of strong legislators who are not afraid to have an ugly 
conversation, we can wrap our hands around this, and we can make our 
streets safe for everyone because all lives do matter.
  I think that it is time that both Republicans and Democrats and 
Whites and Blacks sit down and say that this is unacceptable, because 
the hate and the disgust and the hurt that is growing in African 
American and urban communities around this country is playing out to be 
justified.
  The only thing that I can hope and pray for, Representative Jeffries, 
is that we are bigger and that we are better than that as a country. I 
look forward to working with you, and I look forward to working with 
this Congress to find solutions to these problems so that we do not 
have to bury another father or another son whose life was snatched from 
him by the hands of either an inexperienced officer or, worse than 
that, by an officer who just had ill intentions.
  Every day, good people put on that uniform and go out and risk their 
lives to make sure that our communities are safe, that our children get 
to and from school, that our husbands and wives get to work and get 
home. They do that every day, risking their lives, and they sacrifice 
much so that we can be safe. We need to make sure that we root out 
those bad apples to make sure that it doesn't happen to any more 
families.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman from New Orleans 
for his thoughtful and eloquent exposition of the situation and for 
pointing out that, while this is not an easy conversation for us to 
have around the police's use of excessive force, often resulting in the 
deaths of unarmed individuals such as Walter Scott and Eric Garner, it 
is a necessary one if we are going to continue our march toward a more 
perfect Union.
  I now yield to another distinguished member of the Judiciary 
Committee, who has taken an active role within the Congressional Black 
Caucus and beyond to introduce progressive pieces of legislation that 
are designed to address this problem. He is the distinguished gentleman 
from Georgia, Representative Hank Johnson.

                              {time}  1915

  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. I thank my colleague, Congressman Jeffries 
from New York, for organizing this very important Special Order.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for hosting this.
  We are here to talk about a very important subject, the extrajudicial 
killing of Black males in America. It seems to be an epidemic, but it 
is really not. It is just simply the fact that we are hearing more 
about it. We are hearing more about the deaths that are occurring. We 
are seeing with our very eyes, looking at video, we are seeing that 
some of these killings appear to be unjustified. When we understand 
that we are seeing what has been going on for a long time but which has 
not been addressed, we understand that if we don't do something to 
address the problem, then these killings will continue.
  Now, why is it that we have what appear to be unjustified homicides 
of African American males at the hands of law enforcement repeated 
daily? In the 108 days or so since the Michael Brown killing in 
Ferguson, we have heard of so many African American males losing their 
lives. It is very disturbing.
  Why is it that it continues to happen? Well, I would submit, 
Congressman Jeffries, that one of the reasons is because there seems to 
be two systems of justice involved: one for police officers and the 
other for civilians. It seems that there has been a reluctance to 
prosecute police officers when their actions go across the line.
  Now, you, as well as I, know that most of the law enforcement people, 
law enforcement officers out there, male and female, top to bottom, 
from the East to the West, are good people honestly trying to do a good 
job, and their job is to protect and serve us. A lot of times we make 
it very dangerous and we make it very hard for them to do their job; 
but that is their job, to protect us and to serve us.
  When one of us goes astray, when one of us runs away, that doesn't 
give a license to a police officer to pull out a gun and stop the 
individual, shooting them in the back. It has happened

[[Page H2205]]

more than once. It has happened more than twice. It has happened 
frequently. Sometimes we don't hear about it because the person is 
injured and there is no video. Other times there is video, and the 
person is killed, and we find out about that and we see it. But I would 
submit to you that it happens far too regularly, and it happens without 
any penalty for misconduct.
  Now, I have said that most of our law enforcement officers are 
seeking to do the best job that they can be, but nobody is perfect and 
they err sometimes; and when you err and you do it and you violate the 
criminal law, then you should be prosecuted yourself.
  So I want to take this opportunity to commend the officials in North 
Charleston who immediately, when they saw the video, they saw the 
evidence, they didn't waste any time, they didn't try to cover up or 
hide, they went and did the right thing. They charged the officer just 
as they would have charged a civilian had a civilian shot someone and 
it appeared to be unjustified.
  I will give you an example in my State of Georgia where, on New 
Year's morning, 3 a.m. in the morning, one of our local police chiefs 
was asleep in the bed next to his companion, who happened to be his ex-
wife, and due to some problems that he heard, he went and grabbed his 
service revolver. He went downstairs to check on some noise but didn't 
find any disturbance. He came back upstairs, put the gun, according to 
his testimony or his statement, on the bed, and then went to sleep with 
his wife beside him, his ex-wife. He was awakened to a gun firing, and 
his wife, his ex-wife ended up being shot in the back. He called the 
police to report that ``I have shot my wife.'' He was not arrested. He 
has not been arrested to this day, although about a month ago the 
solicitor who handles misdemeanor cases--excuse me. The prosecutor, the 
district attorney who handles felony cases said that he intended to 
take the case to a grand jury to ask for a misdemeanor indictment 
against the officer.
  But there are two different systems of treatment, two systems of 
justice: one for the police, because if he had not been a police 
officer under those circumstances he would have been arrested right 
there that same night, charged with a felony, and he would have been 
forced--after being arrested, he would have had to get a lawyer to have 
to break the case down into something like a misdemeanor, if he was 
fortunate to have a good lawyer, if he could afford one.
  So, when these kind of things happen and people don't get charged, 
then it is a license for other officers to be reckless themselves; and 
so what we have had is a cascade of reckless behavior which has 
resulted in people being killed and there being no penalty, and so it 
just continues. That is why it is important for Congress to take 
action.
  There are things that we can do here on the Federal level, and 
Congressman Jeffries, I know that you have been working on some of 
these measures. I have been working on some, too. I will tell you, body 
cameras is a step in the right direction.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. The gentleman raised a very important point that I want 
to make sure is not lost, and then I certainly look forward to you 
articulating some of the things you have been working on in terms of 
legislative proposals.
  But most of us, most folks in America do believe that police officers 
generally are entitled to the benefit of the doubt in the context of a 
police encounter because of the inherent dangerousness of what law 
enforcement officers do. Certainly the former mayor of the city of New 
York famously said--this is Rudolph Giuliani:

       In every case, I am going to give police officers the 
     benefit of the doubt.

  But there is peril in the misapplication of that standard because if 
it goes too far, as the gentleman points out, there are some who 
believe that even if I cross the line, there will be no accountability. 
And in this particular case what was so chilling about the video, after 
Walter Scott is gunned down, is that this officer, not knowing that 
this entire encounter was covered on video, felt that he could drop 
something next to the body of Walter Scott and presumably, in his mind, 
that would be part of the narrative that he would use to get himself 
exonerated because he understood that he would be entitled to the 
benefit of the doubt. In the absence of video, in this particular case 
he could potentially have gotten away with murder.

  So I thank the gentleman for raising that point. We have got to have 
a real conversation. In America, yes, the overwhelming majority of law 
enforcement officers are hard-working individuals dedicated to 
protecting and serving; but there is a problem with the misapplication 
of the benefit of the doubt standard in every instance because, in the 
absence of video, you may allow some officers who have crossed the line 
to get away with being held unaccountable. That is a terrible thing for 
justice and for encouraging proper behavior moving forward. I thank the 
distinguished gentleman.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Thank you for yielding again.
  I will also note, Congressman Jeffries, that in watching that video 
of the shooting in the back of the gentleman a week ago, what I saw was 
another police officer who arrived at the scene as the subject officer 
walked back, or actually ran or trotted back to the body. And as the 
video was slowed down in slow motion, you could see something coming 
out of his hand landing next to the victim, and it is thought that the 
item that he picked up, that the video shows that he picked up, was a 
taser; and it appears that it was the taser that was then dropped 
beside the body of the victim with the other officer looking at the 
scene as it unfolded.
  So I would think it is reasonable to assume that that officer, the 
first one to arrive at the scene, who happened to be an African 
American it looked to me, apparently, I would think that it is 
reasonable to assume that he saw the officer deposit that item, which I 
believe to be the taser, beside the victim.
  So what does that tell us? It tells us that there is a thin blue line 
over which law enforcement officers do not step. They protect each 
other. When they see wrongdoing, they do not call it out; they do not 
expose it. So when that happens, Congressman, it impugns the character 
of all law enforcement. If law enforcement is operating under that 
mentality, that we see no evil, hear no evil, and certainly will not 
speak of it if we do hear or see it, that reinforces the systemic 
problems that we obviously have in law enforcement insofar as it 
relates to African American males.
  Our lives do matter. It is important that if law enforcement officers 
as a group are to uphold the standards of their profession, they must 
step across that blue line when they see something that another law 
enforcement officer does which is illegal or that is not within the 
bounds of propriety. They must police themselves.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank Representative Johnson for raising a very 
important point. This is a difficult conversation. I understand it. It 
is not easy to have a conversation about law enforcement conduct that 
crosses the line into illegality, but we have got to ask the question: 
Is there a blue wall of silence that exists such that good officers who 
observe inappropriate conduct engaged in by bad officers are afraid to 
speak the truth about encounters that take place that cross the line?
  If, in fact, there is this blue wall of silence, I ask the question: 
How can that be good for our democracy when it means that a victim of 
police violence in most instances will never get equal protection under 
the law consistent with the 14th Amendment because of this almost 
impenetrable blue wall of silence?

                              {time}  1930

  As we have this conversation about what we are going to do about 
police violence, it should be a Democratic conversation and a 
Republican conversation, a Black, a White, a Latino, and an Asian 
conversation, a blue State conversation--it happened in New York--a red 
State conversation--it happened in South Carolina. This is an American 
problem.
  I thank the distinguished gentleman for raising this issue. It is a 
difficult one, but we weren't sent here to the United States Congress 
to run away from difficult issues when it is impacting the people we 
represent. We have got to run toward difficult issues and try to 
confront them.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. That thin blue line or that blue wall of 
silence is not a good thing for a democracy; it is

[[Page H2206]]

not a good thing for freedom. The truth is that, when one's freedom is 
taken away, it affects potentially all of us in having our freedoms 
taken away.
  The truth is that all Americans are at risk when bad actors in law 
enforcement are allowed to act badly and with impunity. All Americans 
are at risk.
  I know that, Congressman Jeffries, you represent New York, and I know 
that when the two officers lost their lives at the hand of a bad guy 
who ambushed and killed two innocent police officers in New York, 
thousands of police officers came to the funeral to see off their 
fallen brothers, as they should do. Many other Americans watched on TV.
  I was, quite frankly, greatly disturbed when the police officers--
some of the New York officers--turned their backs on the civilian head 
of the city of New York. They turned their backs to the mayor as he was 
speaking at the funeral, a sign of disrespect for civilian authority.
  That attitude contributes to the thinking of some law enforcement 
officers that it is okay and that whatever they do is acceptable. The 
police organizations must come to grips with the fact that they have a 
responsibility to do the right thing when one of their own does the 
wrong thing. They have a responsibility to do so.
  I know that many, many police departments don't pay their officers 
very well. Civil servants, in general, are not paid commensurate with 
the value of their services to the people that they are serving, and 
police are no different than that.
  Police officers have the same concerns that we have, that civilians 
have. Sometimes, they have problems at home with their wives. They have 
problems with their children. They have bills to pay. They might be a 
little bit behind. They have a lot of pressure.
  I think we should do a little more in the area of mental health 
evaluation and counseling and help for our officers. We should 
encourage them to come forward if they are hurting. It should be a part 
of the culture of law enforcement that you are not too big and not too 
powerful to be able to ask for the help that you need. Our society 
should be willing to give them that help, and we should be willing to 
pay for it as well.
  This issue of Black males being killed by police officers, there are 
no simple solutions. There are a number of solutions that can help make 
this situation better. That is why we in Congress and others in State 
legislatures and city councils and county commissions should be 
discussing this issue.
  We should be trying to do what is necessary to break down the 
systemic problems that have led to this result and to do something 
about those problems, to get those problems alleviated and eventually 
eliminated.
  I am so happy that you have seen, Congressman Jeffries, the need for 
this to be a topic of discussion, and I deeply appreciate the 
opportunity to come here and to participate in this discussion with 
you. I will let you know that I am looking forward to continuing to 
work with you as we do what we know that we need to do in order for 
Congress to address this issue.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his continued 
leadership and involvement in this issue in trying to bring about 
resolution.
  As we prepare to close, let me, again, make clear that, in my view 
and the view of, I believe, many throughout this body and across this 
country, we know that the police officers--the overwhelming majority of 
law enforcement officials--go to work every day trying to do the right 
thing.
  It is a difficult job; but, because you have the capacity to take a 
life, we have got to make sure that, when you exercise deadly force, 
that it is deployed only in circumstances where it is absolutely 
necessary, not a choke hold resulting in the strangulation of someone 
who is selling untaxed cigarettes, who pleads for his life 11 times and 
is killed on video for all of his six children to see.
  We don't want to see deadly force used when someone who has been 
tased is running away. The Supreme Court said in 1985 that you can't 
use deadly force to stop a fleeing felon. Walter Scott wasn't even a 
felon. He stopped him because he had a broken taillight.
  We just want to make sure that, in America, there is a balance 
between effective law enforcement on the one hand and a healthy respect 
for the Constitution and for civil rights and for equal protection 
under the law for everyone on the other. That is our objective.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on April 4, 2015 in 
North Charleston, South Carolina, following a traffic stop in broad 
daylight, Walter Scott was fatally shot by police officer Michael 
Slager. This tragedy once again brings to the forefront an issue that 
continues to plague communities nationwide--the alarming rate of 
African American deaths at the hands of law enforcement officers. 
Particularly troubling about this tragedy, is the video footage showing 
the officer firing eight times as Walter Scott is running away.
  Walter Scott was a human whose life had value. He was a father, a 
brother, a son and a friend. His status as an American citizen gave him 
the right to due process. He should not have been killed by a police 
officer who acted, without authority, as judge, jury and executioner.
  Time and again, African American families have grieved over their 
fathers, brothers, husbands and sons, who have been taken too soon by 
officers deputized with the power to protect them. The frequency of 
these tragedies continues to play into the deeply painful narrative 
that black life is not valued in this country. When I think of Walter 
Scott, I think of Edward Garner, Anthony Baez, Amadou Diallo, Anthony 
Lee, and Oscar Grant. I think of their grieving families and their lost 
futures. I am deeply saddened that the list of unarmed black men killed 
by police continues to grow.
  Where do we go from here?
  I would echo the words of Albert Einstein: ``the world will not be 
destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without 
doing anything.'' We must all act to protect the lives of our friends 
and neighbors. As a country, we must commit to recognizing the humanity 
in others. Before we identify with any race, religion, gender, or 
sexual preference, we are all human.
  It is not likely that, in the absence of Mr. Feidin Santana's cell 
phone video, Michael Slager would ever face criminal charges. It is not 
likely that the investigators who investigate the police would have 
concluded that the officer's account of the shooting was fabricated. It 
is likely that, in the absence of one bystander's courage, Walter Scott 
would have been villainized and the police officer who gunned him down 
would have gotten away with murder. From this point forward, we must 
all have the courage to speak up and confront injustice.

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