President Biden will veto legislation proposed by House Republicans to repeal Washington DC’s police reform bill if it reaches his desk, the White House said Thursday.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said while Mr. Biden does not agree with all of the measures included in the city’s police reform legislation, which was drafted in response to the May 2020 death of George Floyd, “he will.” Republican efforts to overthrow Common feel unsupportive of police reforms.”
“Congress should respect DC’s right to pass measures to improve public safety and public trust,” she said. “The President will veto this resolution when it reaches his desk.”
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee voted 21 to 17 on Wednesday to move forward with a measure to repeal the District of Columbia law that was submitted to Congress in January.
Congress reserves the power to block legislation introduced by the City Council during a mandatory review period.
Committee chair James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said the city had “deteriorated and decayed” across the board in recent years, leaving Congress little choice but to step in and public safety in the nation’s capital to restore.
“The crime statistics alone are shocking,” the Kentucky Republican said at a rare hearing that brought city leaders to Capitol Hill. “Just a few days ago in Washington, DC, 14 men were shot dead within 27 hours in 10 separate incidents.”
Republicans said the city council’s proposed police overhaul will only worsen crime in the city and make it harder for police to do their jobs.
Democrats rejected the resolution, signaling that Republicans would have a hard time repeating their successful efforts to block a DC revision of the penal code that would have weakened maximum penalties for carjacking and other crimes.
Many Democrats supported the resolution, and President Biden chose not to veto it, underscoring fears of being portrayed as soft on crime.
But the committee’s Democrats said Republicans have gone too far with their oversight, focusing on crime statistics in the district while violence is in full swing across the country, including in Nashville, Tennessee, the site of a deadly school shooting Monday .
Ms Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the specific provisions of the Police Reform Act that Mr Biden objects to, but said community trust in the police is essential.
“As we are talking about police reform, trust should be the focus,” she said.
— Tom Howell, Jr. contributed to this story.
Source : www.washingtontimes.com