WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Democrats urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday not to hold a key procedural vote this week on a Republican police reform bill that critics say does not go far enough to address racial disparities in American policing practices.
The chamber’s top Democrat and two Black senators wrote a letter urging McConnell instead to consider stronger reforms contained in a sweeping Democratic bill the U.S. House of Representatives is due to consider on Thursday, following widespread protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody.
“Bringing the (Republican bill) to the floor of the Senate is a woefully inadequate response, and we urge you to bring meaningful legislation to the floor for a vote,” said the letter written by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Cory Booker and Senator Kamala Harris.
Schumer and his fellow Senate Democrats reject the Republican bill as too weak because it relies on incentives to encourage reforms.
Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis, with a white officer kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes, sparked weeks of worldwide protests and stirred strong public sentiment for stopping excessive force by police, especially against African-Americans.
Last week, Trump signed an executive order aimed at guiding police reforms https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-congress-legislati/factbox-whats-the-difference-between-three-u-s-plans-for-police-reform-idUSKBN23O3KW.
But nearly a month after Floyd’s death, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have pursed separate partisan bills to rein in police misconduct. Neither bill has enough support to win approval from both chambers and be signed into law by Republican President Donald Trump.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)
