Democrats block Republican police reform bill in Senate

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats sank a Republican police reform bill on Wednesday, saying the measure did not go far enough to curb misconduct and abuse of African Americans by law enforcement.

The Senate voted 55-45, short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill to the floor for consideration. Both Nevada Democrats, Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, voted against the procedural motion.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., changed his vote to “no,’’ a procedural move that allows him to request another vote on the bill. But in the immediate term, the bill appeared stuck in parliamentary limbo in the Senate with the Democratic-led House prepared to vote on its bill Thursday.

The Republican plan was unveiled by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the only Black Republican in the Senate, but it was opposed by Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, both African Americans, and the 55-member Congressional Black Caucus.

“I’m frustrated,” Scott said. “The issue is, do we matter?” he asked, echoing the words of the Black Lives Matter movement, during an impassioned Senate speech that drew applause from his colleagues. “We said no today.”

Racist messages, threats

During a GOP lunch Tuesday, Scott played for colleagues the racist voicemail messages he has recently received, including from one person who called him “Uncle Tim,” according to his staff and a CNN review of several of the messages. That caller also made unflattering remarks about South Carolina’s other Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, and the two GOP senators from Florida, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.

Another call referenced the “stimulus package” and the “KKK” and warned Scott was “going to die” because people from the South “just don’t like Blacks.”

Some senators were shocked, and suggested he needs security protection, a Scott aide said.

The senator is considering options, his aide said.

Democratic measure

Democrats favored a competing House bill that contains stricter measures to ban chokeholds, more easily prosecute police for misconduct, allow legal remedies in civil court for abuse and ban no-knock warrants.

A proposal by Harris and Booker also would ban chokeholds and no-knock raids for drug warrants. They demanded that their proposals be taken into consideration in a bipartisan Senate bill produced by the Senate Judiciary Committee and not on the Senate floor.

The Republican bill called for training and commissions to study tactics. Scott said every police department in the country could outlaw chokeholds now, without federal legislation.

He accused Democrats of using police reform as an election-year wedge issue.

“They cannot allow this (Republican) party to be seen as the party reaching out to all communities in America,” Scott said during his floor speech.

“The irony of the story is today and through the rest of June and all of July, what we’re going to have here is instead of getting 70 percent or more of what you wanted, you’re going to get zero,” he said.

He then turned to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent comments that Republicans are “trying to get away with murder, actually — the murder of George Floyd,” calling those remarks “toxic.”

“That’s not politics, that’s not a game to win, that’s ‘you lose, you will sooner or later lose,’ but immediately every kid around the nation that heard that nonsense lost in that moment,” Scott said.

Toothless bill

But civil rights groups and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People denounced the GOP bill as toothless following the death of Floyd under the knee of a policeman in Minneapolis, or that of emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor, shot to death in her bed during a botched no-knock drug raid in Louisville, Kentucky.

Cortez Masto said the country faces a critical moment for action to address the “deep scars of systemic racism in our country.”

“The Senate should be reviewing every legislative solution, under the guidance of the Judiciary Committee, and bring a bipartisan proposal to the floor,” Cortez Masto said.

President Donald Trump also endorsed GOP Senate efforts on police reform, but has said that only a tiny fraction of police have been the core problem of recent events that have driven people to the streets.

The president also fanned flames when law enforcement officers cleared peaceful demonstrators from Lafayette Square across from the White House before Trump walked to a nearby church for a photo-op.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, said in a campaign statement that he backs Senate Democrats and their demand for bipartisan negotiations on a police reform bill.

Meanwhile, the House plans to vote this week on a Democratic bill that would go further than the Senate version in banning questionable tactics and holding officers accountable for misconduct.

“You can’t prevent institutional injustices with window dressing,” Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said of the Senate bill.

“I’m looking forward to voting to pass a bold, historic bill in the House that will ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, limit qualified immunity and make it easier to prosecute those who disgrace their uniform,” Titus said.

Popular support

National opinion polls show Americans favor police reform measures following the high-profile cases that have spurred demonstrations across the nation. Some state and local governments have taken action, but the impasse in Congress could mean a stalemate could last through the November election.

A peaceful demonstration in the Historic Westside of Las Vegas, organized by minister and activist Vance “Stretch” Sanders was held this month to mark the death of Floyd and others.

Sanders said Black Lives Matter activists in Nevada are pushing Gov. Steve Sisolak and state lawmakers to pass legislation to prevent excessive force by police and terminate those in violation of new accountability standards.

Early demonstrations also turned violent in Las Vegas.

A Metropolitan Police Department officer was shot in the head near Circus Circus during an encounter with protesters, and another man was shot and killed by law enforcement during a separate demonstration when unrest first broke out after Floyd’s death.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.