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. 
Resolved, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) This past year alone we have seen 7 dif-
ferent incidents of the unjustified use of lethal and 
excessive force by police officers against African- 
Americans: 
(A) The death of Dontre Hamilton, a 31- 
year-old man, by a member of the Milwaukee 
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Police Department in Wisconsin on April 30, 
2014. 
(B) The death of Eric Garner, an unarmed 
43-year-old father, by a member of the New 
York City Police Department in New York on 
July 17, 2014. 
(C) The death of Michael Brown, an 18- 
year-old unarmed teenager, by a member of the 
Ferguson Police Department in Missouri on 
August 9, 2014. 
(D) The death of Ezell Ford, an unarmed 
25-year-old mentally ill man by members of the 
Los Angeles Police Department in California on 
August 11, 2014. 
(E) The death of Laquan McDonald, a 17- 
year-old teenager by a member of the Chicago 
Police Department in Illinois on October 20, 
2014. 
(F) The death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year- 
old boy by a member of the Cleveland Division 
of Police in Ohio on November 22, 2014. 
(G) The death of Anthony Hill, a 27-year- 
old unarmed Air Force veteran, by a member of 
the DeKalb County Police Department in Geor-
gia on March 6, 2015. 
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(H) The death of Nicholas Thomas, a 23- 
year-old unarmed man, by a member of the 
Smyrna Police Department in Georgia on 
March 24, 2015. 
(I) The death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year- 
old arrested by the Baltimore Police Depart-
ment for possession of an alleged illegal switch-
blade on April 12, 2015. 
(J) The death of Sandra Bland, a 28-year- 
old African-American woman found hanged in a 
jail cell in Waller County, Texas, on July 13, 
2015. 
(K) The death of Jamar Clark, a 24-year- 
old unarmed man, by a member of the Min-
neapolis Police Department in Minnesota on 
November 16, 2015. 
(2) From 2011 to 2015, 28,500 complaints 
filed against Chicago Police officers resulted in no 
discipline in a study conducted by the Invisible Insti-
tute and the Mandel legal clinic of the University of 
Chicago law school. 
(3) These incidents and countless others are not 
isolated but reflect a pervasive pattern of racial bias 
in the use of excessive force in communities of color. 
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(4) It is the will of the Congress that a select 
committee be formed to investigate these patterns of 
excessive use of force in communities of color. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 
There is hereby established in the House of Rep-
resentatives the Select Committee on Excessive Use of Po-
lice Force (hereinafter referred to as the Select Com-
mittee). 
SEC. 3. COMPOSITION. 
(a) COMPOSITION.—The Select Committee shall be 
composed of 12 Members appointed by the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, of whom 6 shall be appointed 
after consultation with the Minority Leader. 
(b) CHAIR AND RANKING MEMBER.—The Speaker 
shall designate one Member to serve as chair of the Select 
Committee, and the Minority Leader shall designate one 
Member to serve as the ranking minority member of the 
Select Committee. 
(c) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Select Com-
mittee shall be filled in the same manner as the original 
appointment. 
SEC. 4. RULES AND PROCEDURES. 
Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
shall apply to the Select Committee in the same manner 
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subsection (a), the Select Committee may issue such in-
terim findings and reports as it deems necessary. 
SEC. 7. TERMINATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Select Committee and all au-
thority granted in this resolution shall expire upon the 
issuance by the Select Committee of the final report and 
recommendations under section 6(a). 
(b) RECORDS.—Upon the dissolution of the Select 
Committee, the records, files, and materials of the Select 
Committee shall be transferred to the Clerk of the House. 
SEC. 8. DUTIES. 
The Select Committee is authorized and directed to 
conduct a full and complete investigation and study, and 
to issue a report and recommendations of its findings to 
the House, regarding each of the following: 
(1) A uniform definition of ‘‘excessive use of 
force’’ for purposes of criminal prosecutions of law 
enforcement officers who employ force against indi-
viduals suspected of criminal offenses. 
(2) Creation of national guidelines on what con-
stitutes an excessive use of force by law enforcement 
officers interacting with individuals suspected of 
criminal offenses. 
(3) Collection of accurate and reliable data on 
police shootings and the use of excessive force, in-
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cluding use of excessive force resulting in death and 
use of excessive force not resulting in death. 
(4) Implementation and creation of a national 
database to make available to the public data on 
complaints filed against law enforcement officers 
and departments alleging excessive use of force by 
such law enforcement officers. 
(5) Inclusion of demographic data on police of-
ficers involved in shootings in the Uniform Crime 
Reports authorized under section 534 of title 28, 
United States Code. 
(6) Requirement of mandatory reporting to the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of the Uni-
form Crime Reports by State and local law enforce-
ment agencies of the number of justifiable homicides 
committed by law enforcement officers. 
(7) Creation of effective training methods and 
mental counseling of a law enforcement officer to 
understand what is and is not a real threat to his 
or her safety and the safety of others, to focus on 
objective criteria in the identification of such 
threats, and to examine his or her reactions to pre-
sumed threats for any latent racial bias, animus, or 
hostility. 
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(8) Creation of adequate training, in the deter-
mination of the Attorney General, for police officers 
dealing with mentally ill persons. 
(9) Requirement by the Attorney General of 
transparency in internal discipline and accountability 
in law enforcement agencies. 
Æ 
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