Biden Pressures Congress to Pass George Floyd Justice in Policing Act by End of May

President Biden urged Congress on Wednesday to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, highlighting one of his campaign’s main issues and a topic that has been at the forefront of national debate since last year.

“We have all seen the knee of injustice on the neck of Black America,” Biden said during his first speech to Congress, referring to the death of George Floyd, who was killed last May after an officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck, was convicted earlier this month of murder and manslaughter.

“Now is our opportunity to make real progress,” the president continued. “We have to come together. To rebuild trust between law enforcement and the people they serve. To root out systemic racism in our criminal justice system. And to enact police reform in George Floyd’s name that passed the House already.”

The President’s remarks come as he approaches the 100-day mark of his administration, marked by an ambitious national vaccination campaign aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden, on the other hand, hasn’t shied away from multitasking.

Following his election victory over Trump in November, Biden made a bold promise to Black Americans: he will have their backs, and he has attempted to follow through with that promise.

Police reform is one of a few policy goals to which Black legislators and Biden have agreed.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which Rep. Karen Bass first introduced after Floyd’s death, was passed by the House in March, but it has since stalled in the Senate, evenly divided.

The bill, if signed into law, would make significant improvements to federal police standards.

Chokeholds, carotid holds, and no-knock warrants would be prohibited at all levels of law enforcement; eligible immunity for officers would be overhauled, and a nationwide police brutality registry would be established such that officers who were fired for such discretions could not be employed by another police department.

The bill does not require state and local governments to implement such reforms, such as the chokehold prohibition, but it does tie in the new federal guidelines as benchmarks for police forces to follow if they wish to continue obtaining federal funding.

Even though the bill failed to gain Republican support in the House, police reform is a bipartisan topic.

Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the upper chamber, introduced his own police reform bill after Floyd’s death, and he’s been in talks with Bass and Sen. Cory Booker since March.

Qualified immunity, which protects state and local government employees, including law enforcement officers, from civil suits unless they violate a specifically defined constitutional right, is a red line for Scott and other Republicans.

Biden pressed all parties to pass the bill by May 25, the first anniversary of Floyd’s death, in his lengthy speech.

“I know the Republicans have their own ideas and are engaged in productive discussions with Democrats. We need to work together to find a consensus,” the president said.

“Congress should act,” he added. “We have a giant opportunity to bend to the arc of the moral universe toward justice.”