Washington, D.C. - Today, Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) delivered the following statement:

“Today, justice was served in Minneapolis. George Floyd’s death at the hands of Derek Chauvin was a horrific act of violence and a shocking abuse of power. Chauvin’s conviction cannot bring Mr. Floyd back, but it can provide a small measure of closure and peace for his family, his community, and all those who have taken to the streets to protest the enduring scourge of police violence.

“This decision—the right and just decision—cannot allow us to grow complacent in the crucial endeavor to overhaul American policing. Instead, this must mark the beginning of a renewed effort to secure long-needed policing reforms, beginning with the bill named for Mr. Floyd, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This vital legislation would ban the chokeholds, carotid holds, and no-knock warrants that took the lives of Mr. Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others, prohibit problematic officers who have been fired or left an agency from moving to another jurisdiction without any accountability, bar federal, state, and local law enforcement from employing racial, religious and discriminatory profiling and much more.

“Today, justice was served in Minneapolis. But for too many men, women, and children who have lost their lives at the hands of the police, justice has been elusive. I call upon the Senate to act, to take up the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and to honor Mr. Floyd’s memory by saving future lives and building a fairer, safer, more just America.”