Senate Republicans unveiled their new policing package Wednesday that will attempt to strike a balance between supporting and improving police in the country, with leaders pledging to take up the legislation before lawmakers leave town for the Fourth of July holiday.
Sen. Tim Scott, the sole black Republican senator, said major themes in the bill are “accountability” and “transparency.”
He said it’s a “false, binary choice” to say you either support law enforcement or communities of color.
“I support America and if you support America, you support restoring the confidence that communities of color have in [police],” said Mr. Scott, South Carolina Republican.
The package ramps up requirements for police departments to report on use of force and “no-knock” warrants and provides incentives for chokehold bans. It provides grants for training resources and body cameras, with penalties for improper use of the recording devices.
Republicans have stayed away from implementing national mandates on policies in the way that House Democrats’ bill does, but Mr. Scott said tying incentives to chokehold bans, for example, will likely result in a similar end in some areas.
The Justice Department will have a large role in implementing new de-escalation training procedures across the country, particularly regarding duty-to -intervene policies that will require officers to step in when they witness excessive force.
The bill will also create two new commissions. One will review the criminal justice system, while the other will take a more holistic approach in reviewing conditions affecting black men and boys in multiple areas including education, health care, finance and the justice system.
Senate Republicans have cast the House Democrats’ approach as too heavy-handed and dependent on federal mandates.
“We don’t have any information around no-knock warrants, so for us to start a conversation with banning no-knocks doesn’t sound like a solid position based on any data because we don’t have that data,” Mr. Scott said.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will take up the bill next week, after the chamber is finished with confirming a pair of judicial nominees.
“Our Democratic friends — if they want to make a law, and not just make a point, I hope they will join us in getting on the bill,” said Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican.
The push to act quickly across Capitol Hill comes as the protests continue across the country. Outrage and demands for changes to policing policies began in earnest last month when George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota, died after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Like House Democrats’ bill, the Senate GOP’s does make lynching a federal crime.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Democrats were still reviewing the bill.
“But what’s clear is that the Senate Republican proposal on policing does not rise to the moment,” Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, said on the Senate floor.
He said the bill needs dramatic improvement, though he did not say whether his party would try to block the Senate from moving the process forward, which would require support from at least seven Democrats.
Meanwhile, House Democrats are set to debate and vote out of committee their own policing overhaul package Wednesday.
Their bill mandates anti-bias training, imposes national use-of-force standards and makes it easier to sue officers for misconduct in the line of duty.
It also includes chokehold and “no-knock” warrant bans as well as an anti-lynching provision. It goes further by proposing a national use of force standard, creates a national misconduct registry and limits qualified immunity.
