The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
June 9, 2020

Democrats Unveil Police Reform Legislation, Take Knee to Remember George Floyd
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate
introduced their police reform legislation Monday. This is Congressional
Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass.

Rep. Karen Bass: "The Justice in Policing Act establishes a bold,
transformative vision of policing in America. Never again should the
world be subjected to witnessing what we saw on the streets in
Minneapolis: the slow murder of an individual by a uniformed police
officer."

The legislation would make prosecuting police abuses easier; create a
national registry to track misconduct; ban the transfer of some military
equipment to police departments; and ban chokeholds and other practices
that have killed people.
Before unveiling the bills, a group of prominent Democratic lawmakers,
including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer,
Congressmember Jim Clyburn and Senator Cory Booker, took a symbolic knee
on the floor of the Capitol's Emancipation Hall for eight minutes and 46
seconds - the amount of time Derek Chauvin pinned George Floyd to the
ground by his neck while Floyd gasped for air, slowly dying.


.