Congressional talks for police reform died last week as Republicans and Democrats could not agree on bipartisan legislation despite a push by President Joe Biden to get it done. The call for police reform was sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020.
Minnesota Congressman Pete Stauber was on the house committee working to create police reform legislation and he shared with News Talk 830 WCCO's Susie Jones why he believes the legislation died and weighed in on other hot topics in the nation's capital.
"We have been in police negotiations for almost a year now, and I was the lead negotiator for the Republicans in the House," Stauber shared. "As a defender of law enforcement, during every negotiation, I have always stated that any police reform legislation can not undermine the important role that police officers play in our community keeping our streets and our families and our schools safe."
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Stauber, a former police officer, said he used his knowledge in the conversations on creating a better way for policing in America. However, he added that talks went nowhere because of his house members across the aisles, who he blamed for focusing too heavily on "defunding the police."
"We have one side that wanted to, and continues to want to, defund the police, and of course, I will not allow that to happen," he said. "I was a big backer and defender of good police legislation."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats would not let it come to the floor to be voted on, something that still has Stauber bristling. In a statement Democratic Rep. Karen Bass of California said "Democrats accepted significant compromises, knowing that they would be a tough sell to our community," but added that "every time, more was demanded to the point that there would be no progress made in the bill that we were left discussing."
As of now, the talks for police reform have stopped, but the conversation is still going on as President Joe Biden fights for a $3.5 trillion spending package. The government may shut down if Republicans and Democrats can't come together to pass a version of the bill.
"That's the last thing we want to do is shut down the government," Stauber said. "That's not good policy or procedure. We must do better than that; government shutdowns ultimately become negative for the entire country and our federal workforce.
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"The goal is never to shut down the government. [The goal is] always stay in negotiations and work in a really bipartisan way in order to make good legislation for not only Minnesotans but the American people."
Stauber said that the spending package Democrats are attempting to pass will need to be negotiated with Republicans to get the 60 votes needed to pass it in the Senate. Currently, the bill is only being supported by Democrats.
"Ultimately, it comes to what is exactly in this legislation," he said.
If an agreement can't be met by Oct. 1, the government will shut down.
"I believe negotiations and legislation is the art of the possible, so we will see what happens in these next 48 hours," he said.
