Republican senators move to restrict chokeholds
Proposal to include database of police use-of-force incidents
WASHINGTON— Driven by a swift-moving national debate, Senate Republicans are on the brink of introducing an extensive package of policing changes with new restrictions on police chokeholds and other practices as Congress rushes to respond to mass demonstrations over the deaths of George Floyd and other Black Americans.
It’s a sudden shift of GOP priorities with U.S. President Donald Trump signalling support. The White House is set to announce its own executive actions on law enforcement procedures in a matter of days, a crush of activity that shows how quickly police violence and racial prejudice are transforming national politics.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opened the chamber Monday declaring that Senate Republicans are developing “a serious proposal to reform law enforcement.” While the emerging GOP package isn’t as extensive as the sweeping Democratic proposal, which is headed for a House vote next week, it is perhaps the most far-reaching proposed changes to policing procedures from the party long aligned with a “law and order” approach. Confronted with a groundswell of public unrest over police violence, in cities large and small countrywide, even the most conservative senators are joining the effort.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the sole African-American Republican in the Senate, has been crafting the package set to roll out Wednesday. He said the chokehold, in particular, “is a policy whose time has come and gone.”
Over the weekend, the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks by a white officer in Atlanta led to a renewed public outcry, more street protests and the police chief’s swift resignation.
Democrats have said the GOP package doesn’t go far enough to match the outpouring of support for reforms. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warned Republicans not to settle for minor changes.
“Now is the time to seek bold and broad-scale change, not change around the margins,” Schumer said Monday.
With the political debate fluid, it is unclear whether the parties will be able to find common ground. The proposals share many similar provisions but take different approaches to address some of the issues. Neither bill goes as far as some activists want in their push to “defund the police” by fully revamping departments.
Central to the Republican package would be the creation of a national database of police use-of-force incidents, a way to improve transparency so law enforcement officers cannot transfer from one department to another without public oversight of their record. The Democrats have a similar provision.
The GOP bill would encourage police body cameras and include a long-stalled effort to make lynching a federal hate crime.
Additionally, the Republican package is expected to restrict the use of chokeholds by withholding certain federal funds to jurisdictions that continue to allow the practice, according to a Senate Republican unauthorized to discuss the pending bill and granted anonymity.