WASHINGTON – Texas Sen. John Cornyn has joined a small group of GOP senators working on legislation to overhaul policing in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minnesota after a police officer held a knee on his neck for several minutes.
The senator’s involvement will put Cornyn, a Republican up for reelection, at the forefront of a growing debate over how to address police brutality, particularly toward communities of color.
“I’m eager to get to work & enact real change that will positively impact community safety across Texas,” Cornyn wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, vowing to produce a “package of bills that will address police reform & improved training.”
Proud to join @SenatorTimScott & my other Senate colleagues in working on a package of bills that will address police reform & improved training. More details to come, but I’m eager to get to work & enact real change that will positively impact community safety across Texas.
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 9, 2020
The effort is being led by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott – who, along with San Antonio Rep. Will Hurd, is one of two black Republicans serving in Congress.
It comes as House Democrats have already outlined a sweeping legislative response that would, among other things, ban no-knock warrants in drug cases and chokeholds; make lynching a federal hate crime; and limit legal protections for police officers accused of misconduct.
Cornyn, who in 2018 helped pass a major sentencing overhaul called the First Step Act, appears to be cool on the House Democrats’ proposal.
Pressed on Monday by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, to commit to supporting the House package, known as the Justice in Policing Act, Cornyn responded on Twitter that “serious issues require serious bipartisan work in order to make progress.”
“Partisan grandstanding is not serious,” he said.
Cornyn also previously offered skepticism over the need for an immediate legislative response, telling CNN last week that “you cannot paint with such a broad brush and condemn law enforcement and say this is a systemic failure.”
“This is sort of classic Washington,” he said at the time. “You have one isolated and tragic event and people extrapolate that and suggest this problem is an epidemic.”
Serious issues require serious bipartisan work in order to make progress. Partisan grandstanding is not serious. https://t.co/Y93moopvkz
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 8, 2020
The senator’s latest efforts are drawing scrutiny from Democrats. That group includes Air Force veteran MJ Hegar and state Sen. Royce West, the Democrats competing in a runoff to face Cornyn in the November election.
West, who was among the political leaders to attend Floyd’s funeral on Tuesday in Houston, said he welcomes “anyone to the table who wants to discuss and facilitate true systemic reform to our policing and criminal justice systems.”
“There are plenty of seats at the table for people who believe black lives matter, and truly care about policing reform in this country,” he said. “There are, however, no seats at the table for politicians who are doing this solely because they fear their own defeat in the coming election.”
West added: “If Senator Cornyn can say that he believes black lives matter and he has a genuine care to see policing in this country reformed, I welcome him to the table.”
Hegar urged Cornyn to push for an “immediate, comprehensive overhaul of our criminal justice system.”
“After spending almost 20 years in the U.S. Senate supporting policies that have furthered racial injustice and police brutality, and just this week, following George Floyd’s death, denying that there is systemic racism in policing, I hope Senator Cornyn is serious in his desire to take action,” she said.
It’s unclear what exactly the Senate GOP package will entail. Among those working on it are South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, according to Politico.
Cornyn, who spoke Monday with Floyd’s family, wrote on Twitter that he’s “dedicated to rooting out racial injustices so no other family has to experience what George Floyd’s family has.”
“It will require bipartisan commitment across the country & listening to the voices of those who have been most affected is the first step – we must not fail to act,” he wrote.
Cornyn said one idea is to create a national commission to conduct a “top-to-bottom review of our criminal justice system.”
“Our country has a responsibility to do the best we can to prevent another family from burying their son or daughter as a result of excessive force by a police officer,” he said.
