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Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia Will Travel Back to Washington to Participate in Judiciary Committee Hearing on Police Brutality & Racial Profiling

June 7, 2020

Media Contact: Robert Julien (DC): Email: Robert.julien@mail.house.gov; Cell: 202-227-0330

HOUSTON, TXOn Wednesday, June 10th, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. ET, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, will be participating in a committee hearing to examine the crisis of racial profiling, police brutality, and the lost trust between police departments and the communities they serve.

"George Floyd's horrific murder has shaken America to its core, making us face the reality that we still have too much to do to put an end to police brutality, white supremacy, and racism in our country. We have a responsibility as elected officials to enact real, transformational, and systemic changes to the policing of black and brown bodies in America," said Congresswoman Garcia.

We cannot go back to business as usual. That's why I will be back in Washington on Wednesday to stand with the Congressional Black Caucus and people all across the country who are demanding real action. We will be having a hearing on police brutality and racial profiling focused on the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, which was introduced earlier this morning. I have also cosponsored several other House resolutions and bills that aim to tackle this issue head-on, and will continue to work with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus to ensure that our laws finally reflect that black lives matter," concluded Congresswoman Garcia.

House resolutions and bills addressing police brutality that Congresswoman Garcia has cosponsored:

  • (Pending H.R. #): The Justice in Policing Act of 2020
  • H.R.4408: The Eric Garner Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act of 2019
  • H.R.125: The Police Training and Independent Review Act
  • H.Res. 988: Condemning all acts of police brutality, racial profiling, and the use of excessive and militarized force throughout the country.
  • (Pending H.R. #): The George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act

Hearing Details
Date:                June 10, 2020

Time:               10:00 a.m. ET

Location:        Congressional Auditorium
                         U.S. Capitol Visitors Center
                         Washington, D.C.              

Livestream:    The hearing will stream live here.

Background on Justice in Policing Act of 2020

  • Hold police accountable in our courts by:
    • Amending the mens rea requirement in 18 U.S.C. Section 242, the federal criminal statute to prosecute police misconduct, from "willfulness" to a "recklessness" standard;
    • Reform qualified immunity so that individuals are not entirely barred from recovering damages when police violate their constitutional rights;
    • Improve the use of pattern and practice investigations at the federal level by granting the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division subpoena power and incentivizing state attorneys general to conduct pattern and practice investigations;
    • Incentivize states to create independent investigative structures for police-involved deaths through grants; and
    • Create best practices recommendations based on the Obama 21st Century Policing Taskforce.
  • Improve transparency into policing by collecting better and more accurate data of police misconduct and use-of-force by:  
    • Creating a National Police Misconduct Registry to prevent problem-officers from changing jurisdictions to avoid accountability; and
    • Mandate state and local law enforcement agencies report the use of force data, disaggregated by race, sex, disability, religion, age.
  • Improve police training and practices by:  
    • Ending racial and religious profiling;
    • Mandating training on racial bias and the duty to intervene;
    • Banning no-knock warrants in drug cases;
    • Banning chokeholds and carotid holds;
    • Changing the standard to evaluate whether law enforcement use of force was justified from whether the force was reasonable to whether the force was necessary;
    • Limiting the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local law enforcement;
    • Requiring federal uniformed police officers to wear body cameras; and 
    • Requiring state and local law enforcement to use existing federal funds to ensure the use of police body cameras.
  • Make lynching a federal crime by:
    • Making it a federal crime to conspire to violate existing federal hate crimes laws.

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Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2018, becoming the first Latina ever to represent the Texas 29th Congressional District. She serves on the House Judiciary and Financial Services Committees.