WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after voting against the motion to proceed to the Republican police reform bill, the JUSTICE Act:
“Senate Republicans’ proposal on police reform fails to meet this historic moment with the real change that the young people on the streets are calling for. We owe it to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, and all of the Black and Brown lives we have lost to brutal acts of racial injustice to take real action to bring about justice and accountability.
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“I hope that Senator McConnell will now allow Republicans and Democrats to sit down across the table and try to work together in good faith to reach a bipartisan agreement. Let’s seize this moment and work together. Let’s finally make the necessary changes that will create a safer, more just America.”
Yesterday, the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter expressing opposition to the Senate Republicans’ JUSTICE Act and calling for the Senate to pass the Justice in Policing Act. Additionally, 139 civil rights groups, led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, sent a letter to the Senate strongly opposing the Senate Republicans’ bill, calling it an inadequate response to the decades of pain and hardship Black communities continue to endure.
Durbin is a cosponsor of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, a comprehensive approach to hold police accountable for misconduct, change the culture of law enforcement, and build trust between law enforcement and our communities.
