Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) voted in favor of H.R. 1280, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, joining her colleagues in passing historic legislation to set nationwide standards for policing and help rebuild the trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

“The brutal murder of George Floyd last summer forced Americans across our nation to wake up to the cruel reality that Black Americans know all too well - that racism, discrimination, and injustice are not relics of our nation’s history. Rather, they infiltrate every facet of life, and the consequences can be fatal,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “I joined with thousands across the Third District in pledging to carry on John Lewis’ mission to root out structural racism wherever it exists, and I remain just as committed to that promise today. I cast my vote today for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act not because we can improve as a nation, but because we must. Members of the United States Senate have a moral obligation to do the same.”

Crafted under the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 takes numerous key steps to achieve transformative, structural change to combat the pattern of police brutality and racial injustice, including:

• Banning chokeholds, including the ones used to kill George Floyd and Eric Garner;
• Banning no-knock warrants in drug cases to prevent another tragic death like Breonna Taylor;
• Establishing a National Police Misconduct Registry to improve transparency and prevent problematic officers who are fired or leave an agency, like the one who killed Tamir Rice, from moving to another jurisdiction without any accountability; 
• Ending racial, religious, and discriminatory profiling; 
• Eliminating the court-created qualified immunity doctrine; 
• Requiring data collection, including mandatory body cameras and dashboard cameras; 
• Establishing new standards for policing and the Public Safety Innovation grants for community-based organizations to help reimagine policing in their communities;
• Making lynching a federal hate crime; and more. 

In June of 2020, Congresswoman Trahan spoke on the House floor in support of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020.

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