Biden hopes ‘dark memory’ aids bill
US President Joe Biden and Vicepresident Kamala Harris — facing renewed pressure to overhaul policing practices after the killing of Tyre Nichols — met members of the Congressional Black Caucus yesterday to explore the possibility of getting such a bill back on track.
“My hope is this dark memory spurs some action that we’ve all been fighting for,” Biden said before the start of the Oval Office meeting.
At the White House were Senators Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Cory Booker of New Jersey — two of the three black senators — and Representatives
Steven Horsford of Nevada, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Joe Neguse of Colorado.
Horsford, the caucus chairman, said it was long past time to have a “genuine” conversation about policing in America. “I am working to make sure that we have a clear plan.”
At Nichols’ funeral in Memphis, Tennessee, Harris said the White House would settle for nothing less than ambitious legislation to address police brutality.
“We should not delay. And we will not be denied,” Harris said.
Bipartisan efforts in Congress to reach an agreement on policing legislation stalled more than a year ago, and Biden ended up signing an executive order named for George Floyd, whose murder at the hands of Minneapolis police set off nationwide protests nearly three years ago.
Even some political allies of Biden are frustrated with what they view as his excess caution on the issue.
“I think the president is missing the opportunity to be a historic president when it comes to the social issues that continue to plague our country,” said Representative Jamaal
Bowman.
The solution, Bowman said, was not “thoughts and prayers, come to the State of the Union after your kid gets killed,” a reference to Nichols’ mother and stepfather being invited to attend next week’s speech.
Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he was in touch with the White House last week about whether the situation could be a catalyst to “get things moving again”.
House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy has signalled an openness to discussing the issue. AP