Biden calls for police reform after past congressional failures

WASHINGTON — Democratic President Joe Biden is urging Congress to break a persistent impasse on police reform amid the national outcry over the fatal police beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.

But the political challenges that come with trying to make sweeping changes to policing in the United States have only become more daunting.

"All of us in this chamber, we need to rise to this moment," Biden said during his State of the Union speech this week. "We can't turn away. Let's do what we know in our hearts that we need to do. Let's come together to finish the job on police reform."

Absent from Biden's speech was a deadline, a stark contrast from nearly two years ago when he called for a deal by the first anniversary of George Floyd's killing, only for bipartisan congressional negotiations to miss that goal and eventually crumble.

"The negotiations didn't fall apart because of police organizations," said Jim Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police. "They fell apart because of partisan politics. And we would hope, as we go back to the table, that there's a greater level of collegiality than there has been in the past. We'll see."

While urgency has returned following Nichols' killing last month, Democrats have no realistic chance of passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act as it was earlier written. The bill was a direct response to Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer.

The House passed the bill twice, including some two years ago when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress. Most Republicans have opposed the legislation and now the GOP controls the House. After the bipartisan compromise effort failed, Biden signed a more limited executive order last year.

Calls for change were clear ahead of the president's speech as Rep. Ilhan Omar and other Democrats announced they were bringing family members of people killed by police as their guests.

"[Biden] did a really great job in humanizing what a lot of Black and brown families go through," said Omar, who invited the father of Amir Locke. Last year, the 22-year-old was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer during a no-knock raid.

Philonise Floyd, George's brother, accompanied Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. While he said he was happy that Biden acknowledged the need for reform, he was adamant the bill named for his brother needs to be passed.

"My brother, he was murdered May 25, 2020," Philonise Floyd said. "It's 2023. Nobody has acted."

The White House had said in a fact sheet Tuesday that Biden would "again call for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act," noting that "real change at the state and local level requires Congressional action."

Asked Tuesday night what it would take to gain the Republican support necessary to pass something, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said, "I would think that this latest, after such a trail of horrible murders, like what we saw in my state with George Floyd ... the latest in Memphis should be enough."

But it may be hard to find Republicans eager to pursue a bill.

"I don't think anybody should be waiting for the federal government to fix these things. I would just encourage folks at the most local level to get engaged," said Minnesota Republican Rep. Brad Finstad, when asked whether Congress should pass police reform.

Republicans pitched their own reform proposal after Floyd was killed. Minnesota GOP Rep. Pete Stauber, a former police officer, was part of the earlier Republican bill that also failed to overcome partisan challenges on Capitol Hill.

"I know a heavy-handed, top-down approach towards local law enforcement is problematic as the needs of departments serving in rural versus urban communities are very different," Stauber said in a statement that also denounced the defund the police movement. "However, state and local departments need to look at raising their hiring standards to attract the best and brightest officers, not lowering them. I have always said nobody dislikes a bad cop more than a good cop."

A spokeswoman for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, the third-highest-ranking Republican in the chamber, declined to comment when asked about police reform and what the president said. GOP Rep. Michelle Fischbach's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Democrats reacted much differently to Biden's words.

"President Biden reminded us all that the murder of Tyre Nichols is far too common an experience for Black people in this country," Democratic Sen. Tina Smith said in a statement.

Yet there are differences on the left over policing. Before November's midterms, Minnesota Democratic Reps. Angie Craig and Dean Phillips publicly distanced themselves from a major part of the Floyd bill that stripped away a contentious standard called qualified immunity that can protect law enforcement officers against civil lawsuits — despite voting for the bill.

"I hope what the president said spurs us to sit back down and look for bipartisan support for police reform," Craig said Tuesday night.

Qualified immunity is likely to be a contentious topic once again if Congress tries to take substantive action.

"The biggest sticking point is qualified immunity," Phillips said. "And I think both the Congress and the country have to have a conversation about that — how to ensure justice, protect our communities, but also protect police officers who are subject to increasing violence [and] threats against their own lives in a very complicated 21st-century world."

Biden praised Nichols' mother, as she and Tyre's stepfather watched Tuesday's speech as guests of the White House.

"I know most cops and their families are good, decent, honorable people — the vast majority," Biden said. "And they risk their lives every time they put that shield on. But what happened to Tyre in Memphis happens too often. We have to do better."

The president also pointed to steps that can "help prevent violence in the first place" before adding that "when police officers or police departments violate the public trust, they must be held accountable."

For now, Congress lacks a clear path forward, no matter how much attention builds around the issue.

As she left the speech Tuesday night, Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum said, "Our police departments deserve to have the trust of the American people. And we only do that with some of the reform that needs to happen."