Sen. Tim Scott Meets With George Floyd's Family to Discuss Police Reform

The brother of George Floyd and relatives of other Black Americans who died at the hands of police made personal pleas to top senators to agree on bipartisan legislation addressing repeated abuses nationwide, although lawmakers didn’t commit to meeting President Joe Biden’s new call for passage by the May 25 anniversary of Floyd’s killing.

“We’re just here to just get our point across and let them know that we’re hurting, we’re still in pain,” Philonise Floyd said in Washington on Thursday after meeting Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

A video of George Floyd’s death as a White Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck sparked outrage and protests worldwide. It also helped convict the officer, Derek Chauvin, of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Philonise Floyd said that while police were held accountable for his brother’s death, “these other families, and other families, that didn’t have footage all across America, they want the same thing.”

At his joint address to Congress on Wednesday, Biden for the first time called on lawmakers to approve policing overhaul legislation by May 25. Chauvin’s conviction on April 20 gave new momentum to find a compromise between Democrats and Republicans on legislation aimed at reining in some police tactics, improving training and increasing accountability.

Still, when Schumer was asked after the meeting whether he would try to meet Biden’s deadline, he simply said, “We need a strong, strong bill.”

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, a top Democrat helping to lead bipartisan talks, also was noncommittal when asked Thursday about that time frame.

Read More: Biden Looks to GOP’s Lone Black Senator to Shepherd Police Law

”I want to get this done as quickly as possible,” Booker said. “I’m not putting deadlines out there, I’m putting the urgency of the work.”

Biden put forth his goal for final legislation as negotiators including Booker, GOP Senator Tim Scott and Democratic Representative Karen Bass are seeking an elusive compromise on policing-reform legislation.

The House in early March approved a policing reform bill that would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, eliminate qualified immunity for law enforcement officers, prohibit racial and religious profiling and establish a national standard for police department operations. The Senate hasn’t acted since last June, when Democrats blocked from the floor an alternative by Scott that would have cut 25% of federal funds to police departments that failed to provide detailed information to the Justice Department about incidents of excessive force and no-knock search warrants. It didn’t address the liability issue.

Ben Crump, an civil rights attorney who has represented the Floyd family and others who have died at the hands of police officers, said after the meeting with Schumer that the majority leader committed to moving legislation only after the families he met with believed the Senate would be considering a bill they see as “strong” enough.

Biden Urges Lawmakers to Honor Floyd With Police-Reform Bill (Video)

“He thought it was very important that these families who have their blood on this legislation believe in it, and hopefully everyone in America can believe in it,” Crump said.

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