George Floyd's brother makes emotional plea for police reform on Capitol Hill
Lawmakers hold hearing on police reform; Mike Emanuel reports.
George Floyd's grieving brother urged Congress to not let his brother die in vain, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assured him that the House will act on police reforms.
Ahead of his emotional testimony this week before lawmakers, Philonise Floyd asked Pelosi whether the House will actually pass police reform legislation that, among other provisions, would ban the chokehold that a Minneapolis police officer used against his older brother on May 25. The officer has since been charged in his death.
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"[The question] coming from him -- it had power," Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday. "And I had an answer: Yes, it will be passed because the public insists upon it.
"If we had had no chokehold, George Floyd would be with us," Pelosi added.
House Democrats introduced the Justice in Policing Act in the wake of nationwide outrage demanding justice for George Floyd and other black men and women who died after excessive police force. The legislation would ban chokeholds, make it easier for civilians to sue police for misconduct, create a national database of police misconduct and change use-of-force standards.
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Republicans and the White House have signaled a willingness to make reforms and are working on separate plans. House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy said the GOP plan will focus on performance, transparency and accountability and that the legislation will be forthcoming.
"Your families deserve justice," McCarthy, R-Calif., said to the family of Floyd and other victims in also pledging Thursday to take action.
The Democrats' plan is expected to get a vote in the House Judiciary Committee next week and could head to the floor before July.
"We will not rest until it becomes the law," Pelosi said. "We will not rest until the changes are made."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., center, and other members of Congress, kneel and observe a moment of silence at the Capitol's Emancipation Hall, Monday, June 8, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Pelosi also re-upped her calls for states to remove their Confederate statues from the Capitol and for military bases named in honor of confederate, pro-slavery figures also be renamed, despite President Trump's objections.
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"The American people know these names have to go," Pelosi said.
A day after George Floyd was laid to rest in Houston, Philonise Floyd delivered emotional testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in asking Congress to take action to prevent more black people from dying by police force.
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“I couldn’t take care of George the day he was killed, but maybe by speaking with you today, I can make sure that his death would not be in vain," he told lawmakers Wednesday. "To make sure that he is more than another face on a t-shirt. More than another name on a list that won’t stop growing.”
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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