But it has little chance of becoming law. Despite calls from both sides for swift action to tackle police misconduct, efforts to find common ground have largely become partisan finger pointing as both sides question the approach of the police. other part.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week that she hoped to bring Democratic legislation to the conference with the proposal from the Senate GOP. However, it is unclear whether the Senate will be able to pass some kind of police measure after the defeat of the Republican proposal on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already rejected the House plan, saying it is overreaching and will not advance in the Senate.
Because efforts to enact reform take place in a presidential election year, chances of finding a compromise in the coming months may be even slimmer than usual on Capitol Hill.
House legislation places more emphasis on setting national standards, such as forcing uniformed federal officials to use body cameras and prohibiting strangulation. The Senate GOP plan focuses more on incentivizing states to take action.
Senate Democrats criticized the Republican Party’s police reform proposal Wednesday as an inadequate response to national calls to address police misconduct, and denied Republicans the votes necessary to clear a procedural hurdle and open a debate on the legislation. .
South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott, who introduced the Republican measure, criticized Democrats for blocking the debate and said the measure was “about politics and a refusal to find a solution.”
“We will move on. People will forget. And do you know what is going to happen? Something bad. And we will come back here talking about what should have been done, what could have been done, why we should act. Now,” he predicted on the Senate.
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