众议院周四批准了一项历史性的、全面的警务改革法案，在两党谈判陷入僵局的情况下，与共和党参议院展开对抗。
在参议员阻止共和党领导的警务改革法案在参议院获得通过的一天后，民主党试图通过众议院通过乔治·弗洛伊德2020年司法警务法案向共和党施加压力。
该法案是为了纪念乔治·弗洛伊德而命名的，他是一名黑人，一个月前在明尼苏达州被警方拘留时被杀害。他的死引发了全国范围内呼吁解决警察暴行和种族主义的呼声，并引发了数周的全国性抗议。
众议院议长南希·佩洛西周四上午在国会大厦台阶上的新闻发布会上说:“整整一个月前，乔治·弗洛伊德说出了他的最后一句话:‘我无法呼吸’——并改变了历史进程。”。
她说:“今天，我们有机会也有义务确保他的死和这么多其他人的死不会白费。”。
众议院当天晚些时候就该法案进行了辩论，并于周四晚上进行了投票。最终比分是236比181。
三名共和党成员打破常规，与民主党一起投票支持该法案:宾夕法尼亚州的众议员布赖恩·菲茨帕特里克、密歇根州的弗雷德·厄普顿和得克萨斯州的威尔·赫德。
2020年6月25日，在华盛顿国会山东前方的众议院台阶上，众议院议长南希·佩洛西在2020年乔治·弗洛伊德治安正义法案投票前的新闻发布会上发言。尤里·格里帕斯/路透社
由国会黑人核心小组主席卡伦·巴斯带头的这项立法将禁止在毒品案件中使用禁止令和禁止令，并改革限定豁免权，使得在民事法庭起诉警察更加容易。
巴斯在新闻发布会上说:“一个你有权力杀人的职业应该是一个你拥有训练有素、对公众负责的官员的职业。”。
众议院法案中的其他要求包括鼓励州检察长调查当地警察部门，并为各州提供拨款，以建立调查警察参与的死亡的程序。
该立法旨在通过建立国家警察不当行为登记处来提高透明度，并要求州和地方执法部门移交按种族、性别、残疾、宗教和年龄分列的使用武力的数据。
该法案还旨在通过规定种族偏见培训来解决警察局中的文化偏见。这将改变评估使用武力是否合理的标准。目前，警察只需要证明使用武力是“合理的”众议院的法案将改变标准，因此官员需要证明使用武力是“必要的”
这项措施将要求联邦执法官员佩戴人体摄像头。
民主党人说，参议院的法案走得不够远。
共和党警务改革法案由共和党参议员蒂姆·斯科特(Tim Scott)撰写，旨在提供联邦激励措施，迫使各部门实施最佳做法、进行降级培训并结束有争议的策略，同时惩罚那些不这样做的部门。该法案需要60票才能开始辩论。
但是，该法案没有执行联邦政府的命令来限制警察使用武力和其他可疑的做法，如限制向地方转移联邦军事装备和创建国家警察不当行为数据库，民主党人说这些缺点使得该法案“存在不可挽回的缺陷”
参议院中唯一的黑人共和党人斯科特抨击民主党人阻挠辩论，并表示此举是“出于政治考虑，拒绝寻求解决方案”
一个月前，乔治·弗洛伊德被谋杀了。一天前，@SenateDems远离警察改革。#公正
——蒂姆·斯科特(@参议员蒂姆·斯科特)2020年6月25日
“我们继续前进。人们会忘记的。你知道会发生什么吗?坏事。我们将回到这里讨论应该做什么，应该做什么，为什么我们现在必须行动，”他在参议院预测。
2020年6月23日，在华盛顿特区国会山，参议院共和党人每周政策午餐后，参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔聆听参议员蒂姆·斯科特对记者的讲话。凯文·拉马克/路透社
参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)表示，“如果取得进展”，有可能再次将该法案提交讨论
“下一次，另一个骇人听闻的事件再次让我们的国家因悲伤和愤怒而反胃，参议院民主党人可以向全国解释为什么他们要确保参议院什么也不做，”麦康奈尔说。
周四众议院的投票预计会按照党派路线进行，双方都很少(如果有的话)倒戈。
麦康奈尔已经明确表示，他无意将众议院法案提交参议院进行不加修改的投票——这意味着任何重大警务改革的通过都有可能在此期间夭折。
众议院的法案得到了主要公司、执法部门、主要城市市长和众多名人的支持。
全国有色人种协进会、国家行动网、城市联盟以及公民和人权领导会议等主要民权和社会正义团体也支持该法案。
House bill's passage expected to force standoff with GOP over policing
The House has approved a historic, sweeping policing reform bill on Thursday, setting up a face-off with the Republican Senate where bipartisan talks have stalled.
One day after senators blocked a GOP-led policing reform bill from advancing on the Senate floor, Democrats were seeking to apply pressure on Republicans by passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 in the House.
The bill was named in honor of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed in police custody exactly one month ago in Minnesota -- his death sparking nationwide calls to address police brutality and racism and prompting weeks of national protests.
"Exactly one month ago, George Floyd spoke his final words: 'I can't breathe' -- and changed the course of history," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a press conference on the steps of the Capitol Thursday morning.
"Today we have the opportunity and the obligation to ensure that his death and the death of so many others is not in vain," she said.
The House debated the bill later in the day and voted Thursday evening. The final tally was 236-181.
Three GOP members broke ranks and voted with Democrats in support of the bill: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan and Will Hurd of Texas.
The legislation, spearheaded by Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Karen Bass, would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases and reform qualified immunity, making it easier to pursue claims against police officers in civil court.
"A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession where you have highly trained officers who are accountable to the public," Bass said at the press conference.
Other requirements in the House bill include incentives for state attorneys general to investigate local police departments, and providing grants for states to create procedures for investigating police-involved deaths.
The legislation seeks to improve transparency by creating a National Police Misconduct Registry, and mandate state and local law enforcement turn over data on use of force broken out by race, gender, disability, religion and age.
The bill also aims to address cultural biases in police stations by mandating racial bias training. It would change the standard for evaluating whether use of force was justified. Currently, officers only need to prove that use of force was "reasonable." The House bill would change the standard so that officers need to prove that use of force is "necessary."
The measure would require federal law enforcement officers wear body cameras.
The Senate bill did not go far enough, Democrats have said.
Sixty votes were needed to open debate on the Republican policing reform bill authored by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., that sought to offer federal incentives to compel departments to implement best practices, train in de-escalation and end controversial tactics, while penalizing those that do not.
But the bill stopped short of implementing federal mandates to curb police use of force and other questionable practices -- like chokeholds and carotid holds -- limiting the transfer of federal military equipment to localities and creating a national police misconduct database, shortcomings Democrats said made the bill "irrevocably flawed."
Scott, the lone Black Republican in the Senate, slammed Democrats for blocking debate and said the move was "about politics, and a refusal to find a solution."
One month ago, George Floyd was murdered. One day ago,@SenateDemswalked away from police reform.#JUSTICEAct
— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott)June 25, 2020
"We'll move on. People will forget about it. And you know what's going to happen? Something bad. And we'll be right back here talking about what should have been done, what could have been done, why we must act now," he predicted on the Senate floor.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell left open the possibility of bringing the legislation to the floor again "should progress be made."
"The next time another appalling incident makes our nation sick to its stomach with grief and anger yet again, Senate Democrats can explain to the nation why they made sure the Senate did nothing," McConnell said.
Thursday's vote in the House was expected to fall along party lines, with few -- if any -- defections on either side.
McConnell has made clear that he has no intention of bringing the House bill to the floor of the Senate for a vote without changes -- which means passage of any significant police reform is likely dead in the meantime.
The House bill has several endorsements from leading corporations, law enforcement, major city mayors and a plethora of celebrities.
Leading civil rights and social justice groups such as the NAACP, National Action Network, Urban League and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights have also thrown their support behind the bill.
