IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 589 

Establishing the Select Committee on Excessive Use of Police Force. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2016 

Mr. RUSH (for himself, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. CLAY, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. 

ELLISON, and Ms. MOORE) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Rules 

RESOLUTION 

Establishing the Select Committee on Excessive Use of Police 

Force. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

3 Congress finds the following: 

4 (1) This past year alone we have seen 7 dif5 ferent incidents of the unjustified use of lethal and 

6 excessive force by police officers against African7 Americans: 

8 (A) The death of Dontre Hamilton, a 31- 

9 year-old man, by a member of the Milwaukee 

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1 Police Department in Wisconsin on April 30, 

2 2014. 

3 (B) The death of Eric Garner, an unarmed 

4 43-year-old father, by a member of the New 

5 York City Police Department in New York on 

6 July 17, 2014. 

7 (C) The death of Michael Brown, an 18- 

8 year-old unarmed teenager, by a member of the 

9 Ferguson Police Department in Missouri on 

10 August 9, 2014. 

11 (D) The death of Ezell Ford, an unarmed 

12 25-year-old mentally ill man by members of the 

13 Los Angeles Police Department in California on 

14 August 11, 2014. 

15 (E) The death of Laquan McDonald, a 17- 

16 year-old teenager by a member of the Chicago 

17 Police Department in Illinois on October 20, 

18 2014. 

19 (F) The death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year20 old boy by a member of the Cleveland Division 

21 of Police in Ohio on November 22, 2014. 

22 (G) The death of Anthony Hill, a 27-year23 old unarmed Air Force veteran, by a member of 

24 the DeKalb County Police Department in Geor25 gia on March 6, 2015. 

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1 (H) The death of Nicholas Thomas, a 23- 

2 year-old unarmed man, by a member of the 

3 Smyrna Police Department in Georgia on 

4 March 24, 2015. 

5 (I) The death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year6 old arrested by the Baltimore Police Depart7 ment for possession of an alleged illegal switch8 blade on April 12, 2015. 

9 (J) The death of Sandra Bland, a 28-year10 old African-American woman found hanged in a 

11 jail cell in Waller County, Texas, on July 13, 

12 2015. 

13 (K) The death of Jamar Clark, a 24-year14 old unarmed man, by a member of the Min15 neapolis Police Department in Minnesota on 

16 November 16, 2015. 

17 (2) From 2011 to 2015, 28,500 complaints 

18 filed against Chicago Police officers resulted in no 

19 discipline in a study conducted by the Invisible Insti20 tute and the Mandel legal clinic of the University of 

21 Chicago law school. 

22 (3) These incidents and countless others are not 

23 isolated but reflect a pervasive pattern of racial bias 

24 in the use of excessive force in communities of color. 

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1 (4) It is the will of the Congress that a select 

2 committee be formed to investigate these patterns of 

3 excessive use of force in communities of color. 

4 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

5 There is hereby established in the House of Rep6 resentatives the Select Committee on Excessive Use of Po7 lice Force (hereinafter referred to as the Select Com8 mittee). 

9 SEC. 3. COMPOSITION. 

10 (a) COMPOSITION.—The Select Committee shall be 

11 composed of 12 Members appointed by the Speaker of the 

12 House of Representatives, of whom 6 shall be appointed 

13 after consultation with the Minority Leader. 

14 (b) CHAIR AND RANKING MEMBER.—The Speaker 

15 shall designate one Member to serve as chair of the Select 

16 Committee, and the Minority Leader shall designate one 

17 Member to serve as the ranking minority member of the 

18 Select Committee. 

19 (c) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Select Com20 mittee shall be filled in the same manner as the original 

21 appointment. 

22 SEC. 4. RULES AND PROCEDURES. 

23 Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

24 shall apply to the Select Committee in the same manner 

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1 as such rule applies to a standing committee of the House, 

2 except to the extent inconsistent with this resolution. 

3 SEC. 5. STAFF; FUNDING. 

4 (a) STAFF.—The chair of the Select Committee, upon 

5 consultation with the ranking minority member of the Se6 lect Committee, may employ and fix the compensation of 

7 such staff as the chair considers necessary to carry out 

8 this resolution. 

9 (b) FUNDING.—There shall be paid out of the appli10 cable accounts of the House of Representatives such sums 

11 as may be necessary for the expenses of the Select Com12 mittee. Such payments shall be made on vouchers signed 

13 by the chair of the Select Committee and approved in the 

14 manner directed by the Committee on House Administra15 tion. Amounts made available under this subsection shall 

16 be expended in accordance with regulations prescribed by 

17 the Committee on House Administration. 

18 SEC. 6. RECOMMENDATIONS. 

19 (a) FINAL REPORT.—The Select Committee shall 

20 issue a final report and recommendations, including legis21 lative proposals, not later than 60 days after the date of 

22 the adoption of this resolution. 

23 (b) INTERIM FINDINGS AND REPORTS.—In addition 

24 to the final report and recommendations required under 

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1 subsection (a), the Select Committee may issue such in2 terim findings and reports as it deems necessary. 

3 SEC. 7. TERMINATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Select Committee and all au5 thority granted in this resolution shall expire upon the 

6 issuance by the Select Committee of the final report and 

7 recommendations under section 6(a). 

8 (b) RECORDS.—Upon the dissolution of the Select 

9 Committee, the records, files, and materials of the Select 

10 Committee shall be transferred to the Clerk of the House. 

11 SEC. 8. DUTIES. 

12 The Select Committee is authorized and directed to 

13 conduct a full and complete investigation and study, and 

14 to issue a report and recommendations of its findings to 

15 the House, regarding each of the following: 

16 (1) A uniform definition of ‘‘excessive use of 

17 force’’ for purposes of criminal prosecutions of law 

18 enforcement officers who employ force against indi19 viduals suspected of criminal offenses. 

20 (2) Creation of national guidelines on what con21 stitutes an excessive use of force by law enforcement 

22 officers interacting with individuals suspected of 

23 criminal offenses. 

24 (3) Collection of accurate and reliable data on 

25 police shootings and the use of excessive force, inmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 cluding use of excessive force resulting in death and 

2 use of excessive force not resulting in death. 

3 (4) Implementation and creation of a national 

4 database to make available to the public data on 

5 complaints filed against law enforcement officers 

6 and departments alleging excessive use of force by 

7 such law enforcement officers. 

8 (5) Inclusion of demographic data on police of9 ficers involved in shootings in the Uniform Crime 

10 Reports authorized under section 534 of title 28, 

11 United States Code. 

12 (6) Requirement of mandatory reporting to the 

13 Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of the Uni14 form Crime Reports by State and local law enforce15 ment agencies of the number of justifiable homicides 

16 committed by law enforcement officers. 

17 (7) Creation of effective training methods and 

18 mental counseling of a law enforcement officer to 

19 understand what is and is not a real threat to his 

20 or her safety and the safety of others, to focus on 

21 objective criteria in the identification of such 

22 threats, and to examine his or her reactions to pre23 sumed threats for any latent racial bias, animus, or 

24 hostility. 

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1 (8) Creation of adequate training, in the deter2 mination of the Attorney General, for police officers 

3 dealing with mentally ill persons. 

4 (9) Requirement by the Attorney General of 

5 transparency in internal discipline and accountability 

6 in law enforcement agencies. 

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