The U.S. House of Representatives approved a concurrent resolution expressing gratitude for local law enforcement and calling on states to recognize a police officer’s right to legal counsel when under investigation, as part of its observance of National Police Week.
House Concurrent Resolution 40 (CR 40) also calls on states to adopt a bill of rights for police officers and denounces calls by “leftist activists and progressive politicians” to defund or dismantle police.
The resolution was approved on a 301–119 vote, with 214 Republicans and 87 Democrats voting in favor. Two Republicans and 117 Democrats voted against the resolution, while three Democrats voted present. Six Republicans and six Democrats didn’t vote.
A concurrent resolution is an agreement approved by both houses of Congress, according to the Cornell Law School website. The president doesn’t sign a concurrent resolution, and it doesn’t carry the force of law.
“This will encourage hate against us as progressives,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who’s chair of the House Progressive Caucus.
Democrats also opposed the resolution because it didn’t include federal law enforcement agencies. They say the fact that it specifies local law enforcement agencies is a slap against federal law enforcement.
When the bill was before the Rules Committee, Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) pointed out that a previous version included all law enforcement agencies.
He has repeatedly asked why Republicans changed the bill’s language.
Jayapal agreed.
During debate on March 18, she said the Capitol Police defended Congress during the Jan. 6, 2021, protests when demonstrators got into Capitol buildings. She said she was trapped in the House while Capitol Police kept her safe.
“I was trapped in that gallery right there,” Jayapal said.
According to Republicans, CR 40 is a response to the “Defund the Police” movement in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. The 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests and rioting that followed Floyd’s killing began almost three years ago on May 26, 2020.
In a March 14 Newsweek opinion piece, the Claremont Institute Center for the American Way of Life pointed out that the BLM protests in parts of 200 U.S. cities in 2020 resulted in as much as $2 billion in property damage.
Republicans said Democrats have no credibility when it comes to supporting law enforcement, as many Democrats called for defunding the police.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) referred to several Democrats, including Jayapal, and Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
“Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said that [$1 billion in cuts to the New York City Police Department] didn’t go far enough,” Biggs said.
Nadler responded that he did call for cuts. But he said it was to reallocate money for mental health services.
“When someone is threatening on the subway, what you usually need is a mental health professional, not a policeman who doesn’t know how to handle it,” he said.
