[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 116 (Wednesday, June 24, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3201-S3202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE JUSTICE ACT

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to proceeding on 
S. 3985, the JUSTICE Act, and want to briefly explain why.
  On May 25, a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on the neck of George 
Floyd for almost 9 minutes. Mr. Floyd repeatedly said he could not 
breathe and pleaded for officers to stop. The officers ignored his 
pleas and continued to kneel on his neck until his body went limp. 
George Floyd's alleged crime? Using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy 
groceries during a global pandemic.
  As a nation, we have seen far too many unarmed Black men and women 
killed by police. Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back while 
running away from Atlanta police. The police had been called because he 
had fallen asleep in his car and was blocking a fast-food drive-thru. 
Breonna Taylor, an emergency medical worker, was shot eight times by 
Louisville police while asleep in her home. Eric Garner was choked to 
death by an NYPD officer for selling cigarettes. Freddie Gray was 
killed after being taken into custody by Baltimore police for 
possessing a knife. Walter Scott was shot in the back by North 
Charleston police after being stopped for a bad brake light. Stephon 
Clark was killed by Sacramento police in his grandmother's backyard for 
breaking windows. And Michael Brown was shot six times by Ferguson 
police while his hands were raised in the air.
  Over the past month, millions of people--of all races, ages, and 
backgrounds--have taken to the streets throughout the Nation to protest 
these killings and to demand real police reform. We need to respond 
with legislation that truly meets this moment, a bill that actually 
holds law enforcement agencies and offices accountable under the law.
  The Republican JUSTICE Act is nowhere near enough. It simply does not 
impose accountability on law enforcement. Specifically, it does not 
create a national use of force standard. For example, in California, 
lethal force may only be used to prevent an imminent threat of death or 
serious bodily injury to the officer or to another person. It does not 
end racial profiling; in other words, it does not stop police from 
using race to target individuals, a practice I would hope that everyone 
agrees must cease. It does not prohibit no-knock warrants in drug 
cases, the very type of warrant that led to the death of Breonna 
Taylor. It does not reform qualified immunity, a legal defense that has 
allowed officers to avoid accountability even when they have broken the 
law. Instead of fixing these problems, the JUSTICE Act collects more 
information and data on problems we already know exist.
  We do not need more information. We need to address the underlying 
issues of systemic racism and police use of force. That is where the 
Justice in Policing Act comes in. Senator Booker and Senator Harris 
introduced this bill earlier this month. It should be our starting 
point. The bill makes meaningful reforms. For example, it requires that 
police departments ban

[[Page S3202]]

choke holds and carotid holds in order to receive Federal funds. It 
prohibits the use of racial profiling by police officers. It creates a 
national police misconduct registry that would collect disciplinary or 
termination history of officers so potential employers would know of an 
officer's past misconduct. It gives subpoena authority to the Justice 
Department to conduct ``pattern or practice'' investigations. It 
eliminates the defense of ``qualified immunity'' so that police 
officers can be held civilly liable under the law for misconduct. And 
it amends Federal criminal law so officers can more effectively be 
charged for violating people's constitutional and legal rights.
  Meaningful reform is long overdue, and rather than rushing a weak 
bill to the floor, the Senate Judiciary Committee should take up the 
Justice in Policing Act as soon as possible. This is how the Senate is 
supposed to work. We should not be trying to address this important 
issue by rushing an insufficient bill to the floor. Now is the time for 
leadership, courage, and real police reform.
  Thank you.

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