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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hopes to unveil within days the Democrats’ plans to overhaul policing in the wake of continued nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man in Minneapolis.
“We will in the next few days be putting forth – House and Senate Democrats – proposing to address the issue of police brutality and law enforcement disparity in enforcement of certain laws,” Pelosi said on a conference call Thursday with reporters about revamping immigration laws.
“It will be very comprehensive. I want you to pay attention to our press conference on Monday, but it will the fruit of the labor of House and Senate Democrats, where we’ve worked on these issues for a very long time,” she said.
Read:Black college graduates react to the protests surrounding George Floyd’s death
Sen. Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate Democrats, also said on the call the hope is to have a unified party position across both chambers. Sen. Cory Booker, from New Jersey, and Sen. Kamala Harris, from California, have been his caucus’ point people in working with the Congressional Black Caucus on the issue, he added.
“Senators Booker and Harris are working very closely with the House and the CBC and the House Judiciary Committee, so we’re very hopeful we’ll have legislation that can be supported at least by the Democrats in both houses, and hopefully we’ll get some Republicans to join us,” Schumer said.
The House is currently scheduled to be out of session until June 30, with committees working remotely until then. But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday the members could return sooner if a legislative package addressing policing was put together, likely including language from bills already introduced.
“There are many, many proposals that have been filed by very many members, well over 40 pieces of legislation, maybe over 50 pieces of legislation,” Hoyer said.
“They want to be directed at obtaining justice, undermining violence, and they want to be sure that the legislation they propose will be effective in stopping the murder of people who are either under arrest or being pursued either by police or by private sector individuals,” Hoyer said of the CBC effort.
