[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 46 (Thursday, March 16, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H2094]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   STOP MILITARIZING LAW ENFORCEMENT

  (Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, for nearly three decades, State 
and local law enforcement agencies across America have been flooded 
with surplus military-grade weaponry through the Pentagon's 1033 
program.
  Late last year, law enforcement in North Dakota responded to 
protesters in Standing Rock in a well-documented, militarized fashion, 
reminding us of the danger which the use of military equipment by 
domestic law enforcement poses to the civil liberties of Americans.
  During the elections, President Trump ran on a promise to restore 
``law and order.'' I am deeply concerned that the administration will 
follow up on that promise by making more military equipment available 
to State and local law enforcement agencies. This would further blur 
the line between the military and civilian police officers and violate 
a founding principle of our Nation.
  For this reason, I am, today, reintroducing the bipartisan Stop 
Militarizing Law Enforcement Act to rein in the Pentagon's excess 
property management program and ensure that our communities are not 
just safe, but that the civil liberties of ordinary Americans continue 
to be protected.

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