Okla. Congressmen Share Thoughts On Police Reform Bills Decided In Washington

Two Oklahoma Congressmen are sharing their thoughts on police reform bills being decided in Washington.

Wednesday, Senate Democrats blocked the Republican supported JUSTICE act, and Thursday the House passed a sweeping Democrat authored reform measure.

Oklahoma Representative Markwayne Mullin wasn't able to be there for the vote, but said he would have voted no.

You can read his full statement below:

"It’s disappointing, but not surprising, Pelosi Democrats are once again choosing politics over meaningful change,” Mullin said. “Police reform is needed, but we can’t endanger the public or our law enforcement officers by creating police departments who lack resources and aren’t able to serve their communities. Republicans in both the House and the Senate offered a bill with real solutions that invests in better training, improves transparency, and creates more accountability. Instead of working on a bipartisan bill that would actually get signed into law, Pelosi Democrats just want talking points during an election year."

Representative Kevin Hern did vote no on the Bill. You can read his full statement below:

“People are marching around the country, demanding action from their government,” said Rep. Hern. “They deserve justice, and they deserve meaningful changes at the federal level. Unfortunately, my colleagues across the aisle have no intention of changing anything. Change comes from bipartisan legislation that can pass both the House and the Senate, which requires input from both sides. That didn’t happen today. Speaker Pelosi never wanted her bill to make it to the President’s desk, which is why she refused any Republican input. Her goal was to win a moral victory in the House today and victimize herself for the next five months in the hopes of winning an election. The absence of leadership in the Democratic caucus is astonishing and drags down the entire chamber.

“Rank-and-file members of the Democratic caucus want bipartisan work on this legislation. I’ve spoken with several of my colleagues across the aisle who agree with me on issues like body cameras, increasing storage capacity and ensuring more officers are wearing them to provide accountability. For this reason, I drafted an amendment to Pelosi’s bill addressing this exact issue, but she refused Republican amendments – she refused any amendments at all, even from her own party.”

Rep. Hern continued, “Yesterday, we saw the same lack of leadership in the Senate. Senator Tim Scott worked hard to draft the JUSTICE Act, and actively sought Democrat input. Senate Democrats were given at least 20 amendment opportunities, but they wouldn’t accept it. Americans are marching, but elected Democrats don’t care. They will play the victim and continue to politicize this issue through Election Day. But that does no good for the millions of Americans demanding change; it certainly doesn’t bring justice to George Floyd. Don’t be distracted by the smoke and mirrors, Democrats will make flowery statements and hollow gestures that do absolutely nothing to change race relations in our country. When it came time for them to take serious action, they chose not to. Americans will remember this day.”