Thank you for contacting me

Thank you for contacting me about police brutality and systemic racism. I share your deep concerns about the deep-rooted systemic racism and racist violence that continues to plague our country. The recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many other Black men and women have sparked protests across the country, as communities demand an end to the police brutality, racist violence, and discrimination that has resulted in the deaths of countless Black people. We say their names to reaffirm the simple but powerful truth that they mattered. Their lives mattered. And Black lives matter.

I believe that this moment calls for a complete transformation in policing in America, and Congress has a duty to respond by passing laws that confront and address the problem of police brutality and systemic racism in the U.S. That begins with real accountability for anyone - including law enforcement officers - responsible for unjustified killings. Accountability includes bringing criminal charges when appropriate and ending qualified immunity to allow lawsuits against police officers and departments that violate people's constitutional rights. In addition, we need independent investigations and prosecutions of officer-involved shootings. When people are tragically killed by law enforcement, victims' family members and communities should be able to trust that the process isn't rigged from the outset. Independent investigations and prosecutions help accomplish that goal. We also need standards at the federal level on the use of force that ban practices that too often result in unnecessary damage and death, including chokeholds and no-knock warrants. Finally, we must ban racial and religious profiling and work to demilitarize our police departments.

That is why I am an original cosponsor of the Justice in Policing Act, a bill that would make substantial and meaningful changes to policing in America, including the reforms outlined above. In addition to the Justice in Policing Act, Senators Durbin, Hirono, and I introduced the Enhancing Oversight to End Discrimination in Policing Act, a bill to strengthen the federal and state governments' ability to investigate police departments with a pattern or practice of unconstitutional and discriminatory behavior. I have also introduced the Andrew Kearse Accountability for Denial of Medical Care Act, a bill to hold law enforcement officers criminally liable for failing to obtain medical assistance to people in custody experiencing medical distress.

Although this moment is about transforming policing in America, it is also about rooting out racial disparities in our healthcare system, our educational system, our housing policies, in the workplace, and in every part of our society. That is why I led my colleagues in introducing the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act to confront America's housing crisis and take the first steps to address the effects of decades of housing discrimination on communities of color. I also introduced the the Student Loan Debt Relief Act, which would cancel student loan debt for 42 million Americans and take meaningful steps to begin to close the Black-White and Latinx-White wealth gaps while increasing wealth for Black and Latinx families, who face the worst effects of the student loan debt crisis. I've also cosponsored the Maternal Care Access and Reducing Emergencies Act to address the racial disparities in maternal mortality rates.

The countless Americans demanding an end to police brutality are calling upon elected officials not just to say the words "Black lives matter" but to take tangible steps toward making it true by breaking apart the systems that have stolen countless Black and Brown lives and denied Black Americans and other people of color opportunity and equal treatment.  Being race conscious is not enough. We must be anti-racists.

Thank you again for contacting me about this critical issue. Please don't hesitate to contact me again about this, or any other issue.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Warren
United States Senator

Washington, DC 309 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-4543

Boston, MA 2400 JFK Federal Building 15 New Sudbury Street Boston, MA 02203 Phone: 617-565-3170

Springfield, MA 1550 Main Street Suite 406 Springfield, MA 01103 Phone: 413-788-2690