A year after George Floyd’s death, his family meets with Biden, lawmakers

WASHINGTON — Family members of George Floyd met Tuesday with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and President Joe Biden at the White House on the one-year anniversary of his death in police custody, an act that stirred national protests over racial inequality.

Floyd, 46, died after being arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill. A Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes despite his complaints that he could not breathe, a scene captured on video.

The death was one of several involving Black Americans who were victim of police misconduct. But the Floyd video shocked the nation and spurred protests nationwide, including in Las Vegas, as people called for police reform and an end to systemic racism.

“Today is the day that he set the world in a rage,” Philonise Floyd said of his brother’s death, as the family met with lawmakers at the House Rayburn Office Building. “We all said enough is enough.”

Then he leaned down to George Floyd’s 7-year-old daughter, Gianna, and asked: “Your dad is going to do what?”

“Change the world,” she answered as lawmakers looked on.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., told the Review-Journal that he was heartened by Gianna and her awareness of the loss of her father and his legacy.

“No child should worry,” he said.

Police reform legislation

Horsford is part of the Problem Solvers, a caucus made up equally of Democrats and Republicans that helped write legislation on police reform, which the moderate group made a top priority for this Congress.

Horsford also is vice chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Problem Solvers and the Congressional Black Caucus produced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would establish a national registry of police misconduct, ban racial and religious profiling by law enforcement and overhaul qualified immunity for police officers.

It would also establish law enforcement training standards that many police and public safety departments endorse.

Horsford said some of the measures in the bill have already been implemented by the Metropolitan Police Department in Las Vegas. The congressman said he has talked to his constituents and to law enforcement officers who support the reforms.

“I commend those law enforcement officers who are committed to their job and their community,” Horsford said.

He added that the George Floyd policing legislation would build on reforms with training that law enforcement has embraced as a way to better protect their communities.

Horsford said families, particularly those of color, have spoken to him about the concerns they have with interactions with police.

A 2019 Pew Research Center survey found that 84 percent of Black adults said that, in dealing with police, Blacks are generally treated less fairly than whites. A majority of white respondents, 63 percent, agreed.

Similarly, 87 percent of Blacks and 61 percent of whites said the U.S. criminal justice system treats Black people less fairly.

Bill stalls in Senate

Meanwhile, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act that passed the House in March is stalled in the Senate despite Biden’s deadline to sign the act into law by the anniversary of Floyd’s death.

“I strongly supported the bill that passed the House, and I appreciate the good-faith efforts from Democrats and Republicans to pass a meaningful bill out of the Senate,” Biden said following his private White House meeting with the Floyd family.

The president is being briefed on the progress of negotiations, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Horsford, Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., the original sponsor of the bill, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., are lead negotiators trying to complete a Senate policing reform bill.

The Senate bill would need bipartisan backing to garner the 60 votes needed to bring the legislation to the floor for a vote.

Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, has proposed language on qualified immunity that would make it easier for victims of police misconduct to sue local departments but would keep legal protections that officers have now.

The House bill would allow victims to file lawsuits against individual officers.

Negotiators making progress

Despite the differences, Scott said last week that the negotiators were making progress.

“I feel cautiously optimistic that we will get there,” Horsford said after the event with the Floyd family.

Biden said, “We have to act.”

“We face an inflection point. The battle for the soul of America has been a constant push and pull between the American ideal that we’re all created equal and the harsh reality that racism has long torn us apart,” he said.

The former Minneapolis officer who pinned Floyd to the ground with his knee, Derek Chauvin, has been found guilty of murder. Other officers also face legal proceedings in Floyd’s death.

Members of his family spoke after they emerged from the one-hour meeting with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It was just for the remembrance of what happened to my brother,” Philonise Floyd said of the gathering. “Because this was the day that he was murdered.”

They thanked Biden at the White House, and they thanked Bass and Horsford during the House meeting.

“We’re just thankful for what’s going on, and we just want this George Floyd Policing Act to be passed in the future,” Philonise Floyd said.

“If you can make federal laws to protect the bird which is the bald eagle, you can make federal laws to protect people of color.”

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.