GOP senators aim for police reforms

Mcconnell taps Scott to lead party on issue

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Tim Scott proposes a national database of police officer-involved shootings. Sen. Rand Paul wants to stop sending surplus U.S. military equipment to local law enforcement. And Sen. Mitt Romney seeks a number of bipartisan bills in response to police violence.

Despite President Donald Trump’s “law and order” approach to demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, Republicans in Congress

are quickly, if quietly, trying to craft legislation to change police practices and accountability following the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.

“I think we should all be optimistic right now,” Scott, the only black GOP senator, told reporters at the Capitol. “We have no reason not to be.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell said the country is still “wrestling with America’s original sin,” a reference to slavery.

“None of us have had the experience of being an African American in this country and dealing with this discrimination, which persists here some 50 years after the 1964 Civil Rights bill,” Mcconnell said.

“The best way for Senate Republicans to go forward on this is to listen to one of our own, whose had these experiences,” he said in tapping Scott to speak for the GOP senators. “With his guidance and leadership we’re going to come together with a proposal that we think makes the most sense.”

With the House set to pass its package mid-month, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer pressed Mcconnell for Senate action before the July 4 holiday recess.

Leading Republicans, with backing from the White House, are signaling a willingness to consider a more streamlined set of proposals, including some from the House package.