Condemning all acts of police brutality, racial profiling, and the use of excessive and militarized force throughout the country.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 988 Condemning all acts of police brutality, racial profiling, and the use of excessive and militarized force throughout the country. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 1, 2020 Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CON- NOLLY, Mr. COX of California, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. MCCOL- LUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. POCAN, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. TLAIB, Mrs. TRAHAN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. OMAR, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. BASS, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, and Mr. WELCH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Condemning all acts of police brutality, racial profiling, and the use of excessive and militarized force throughout the country. Whereas police brutality and the use of excessive and milita- rized force are among the most serious ongoing human rights and civil liberties violations in the United States and have led to community destabilization, a decrease in VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jun 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR988.IH HR988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 988 IH public safety, and the exacerbation of structural inequi- ties; Whereas the system of policing in America, and its systemic targeting of and use of deadly and brutal force against people of color, particularly Black people, stems from the long legacy of slavery, lynching, Jim Crow laws, and the War on Drugs in the United States and has been perpet- uated by violent and harmful law enforcement practices; Whereas contemporary police practices that employ policing for low level offenses or so called ‘‘broken windows’’ polic- ing, as well as expanded and excessively militarized polic- ing, has led to mass criminalization, heightened violence, and mass incarceration that disproportionately impacts Black and Brown people; Whereas data shows there is a direct correlation between the increased militarization of a police department and cor- responding levels of police brutality; Whereas police use of force is among the leading causes of death for young men of color; Whereas Black people, including Black women and girls, Na- tive Americans, and Latinos are killed by police at dis- proportionately higher rates than their White peers; Whereas people with disabilities and other historically marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ individ- uals, immigrants, and those experiencing homelessness are significantly more likely to be criminalized and tar- gets of police violence; Whereas police brutality and the use of excessive force have robbed countless communities of precious lives, have in- flicted intergenerational harm and trauma to families, and are intensifying our Nation’s mental health crisis; VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jun 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR988.IH HR988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 988 IH Whereas police in the United States, through acts of brutality and the use of excessive force, kill far more people than police in other comparable nations and have been histori- cally shielded from accountability; Whereas the killings of hundreds each year, and the dem- onstrations that followed have brought sustained national attention to the racially biased police violence against people; Whereas the House of Representatives finds that the conduct of police officers who engage in racial profiling and exces- sive force, which can include shootings, brutal beatings, fatal chokings, and any other excessive treatment is a violation of the Constitution of the United States; Whereas the House of Representatives finds that the rule of law in the United States is undermined when police offi- cers engage in conduct inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States; and Whereas the House of Representatives has a moral and con- stitutional obligation to protect the civil rights and lib- erties of all people from police abuses: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) condemns all acts of brutality, racial 2 profiling, and the use of excessive force by law en- 3 forcement officers and calls for the end of milita- 4 rized policing practices; 5 (2) supports strengthening efforts to eliminate 6 instances of excessive use of force, and conduct 7 stringent oversight and independent investigations 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jun 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR988.IH HR988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 988 IH into instances of police brutality, racial profiling, 1 and excessive use of force, and hold individual law 2 enforcement officers and police departments ac- 3 countable, including— 4 (A) calling on the Department of Justice 5 to— 6 (i) reinstate its role in investigating 7 individual instances of police brutality, vio- 8 lence, and racial profiling, and police de- 9 partments that violate civil rights; and 10 (ii) take on a role in filing briefs urg- 11 ing courts to reconsider decisions that per- 12 mit unreasonable and excessive police prac- 13 tices and establish meaningful oversight of 14 consent decrees; and 15 (B) establishing independent all-civilian re- 16 view boards, with the authority to effectively in- 17 vestigate incidents of police misconduct, to en- 18 sure meaningful community level oversight, 19 transparency, accountability, and discipline of 20 police officers; and 21 (3) calls for the adoption of sound and unbiased 22 law enforcement policies at all levels of government 23 that reduce the disparate impact of police brutality 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jun 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR988.IH HR988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 988 IH and use of force on Black and Brown people and 1 other historically marginalized communities. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jun 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR988.IH HR988 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS