Statement on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - December 16, 2005)

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Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I rise to in support of the End Racial Profiling Act a bill being introduced today by Senators FEINGOLD, OBAMA and myself. This bill addresses an issue that is critical to the people of my home State of New Jersey and to all Americans.

I start by recognizing two of my colleagues with whom I have been working to address the problem of racial profiling. Senator RUSS FEINGOLD has been a tremendous leader on this issue he held the first Senate hearings on racial profiling in 2001, and he and his staff have worked tirelessly to elevate the importance of this issue as a matter of civil rights. I also want to recognize Senator Obama he has been a constant champion of efforts to combat racial profiling. Senator Obama took the lead in writing one of the Nation's most innovative pieces of legislation on the collection of racial profiling data when he was in the Illinois State Senate, and he has been equally committed to the issue since joining the U.S. Senate. Both Senators FEINGOLD and OBAMA have worked tirelessly to make the bill we are introducing today a reality.

Racial profiling is anathema to the principles on which our Nation was founded, sowing division within our communities and striking at the heart of our democratic values.

Stopping people on our highways, our streets, and at our borders because of the color of their skin is simply wrong, and it is incompatible with the fundamental American belief in fairness, justice, and equal protection under the law.

Every American is entitled to equal protection under the law. Our Constitution tolerates nothing less, and we should demand nothing less.

There is no equal protection there is no equal justice if law enforcement agencies engage in policies and practices that are premised on a theory that the way to stop crime is to go after minorities on the hunch that they are more likely to be criminals.

Let me add that not only is racial profiling wrong, it is simply not an effective law enforcement tool. There is no evidence that stopping people of color adds up to catching the ``bad guys.''

In fact, empirical evidence shows that singling out Black motorists or Hispanic motorists for stops and searches doesn't lead to a higher percentage of arrests because minority motorists are no more likely to break the law than white motorists.

What is more, the practice of racial profiling actually undermines public safety, by contributing to the perception in minority neighborhoods that the criminal justice system is unfair, and eroding the trust between communities and the police that is so essential to effective law enforcement.

Nonetheless, racial profiling persists.

Unfortunately, the practice is real and widespread throughout the Nation.

A 2005 report of the Department of Justice found that Blacks and Hispanics throughout the Nation were much more likely to be handcuffed and have their cars searched by law enforcement during traffic stops, even though they were less likely to be harboring contraband.

A Government Accountability Office report on the U.S. Customs Service released in March 2000 found that Black, Asian, and Hispanic women were four to nine times more likely than White women to be subjected to xrays after being frisked or patted down.

But on the basis of the xray results, Black women were less than half as likely as White women to be found carrying contraband.

This is law enforcement by hunch. No warrants. No probable cause.

And what is the hunch based on?

Race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion plain and simple. And that is plain wrong.

Now--we know that many law enforcement agencies, including some from my home state, have acknowledged the danger of the practice and have taken steps to combat it. I commend them for their efforts.

That said, it is clear that this is a national problem that requires a Federal response applicable to all.

Our legislation is a strong but measured response to the destructive problem of racial profiling.

First, it defines racial profiling and bans it.

Racial profiling is defined in the bill to include routine or spontaneous investigatory stops based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. This conduct is wrong and must be stopped. The President and the Attorney General have said just that. The legislation would be the first Federal statute to prohibit this practice at the Federal, State, and local level.

To guarantee that the statute does not impede legitimate and responsible policing, the statute is careful to exclude from the ban on racial profiling those cases where there is trustworthy information that links a person of a particular race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion to a particular crime.

Our bill also gives the ban on racial profiling teeth by allowing the Department of Justice or an individual harmed by racial profiling to obtain declaratory or injunctive relief from a court if the Government does not take steps to end racial profiling.

Next, the statute will require the collection of statistical data to measure whether progress is being made. By collecting this data we will get a fair and honest picture of law enforcement at work. And we will provide law enforcement agencies with the information they need to detect problems early on.

Our bill directs the Attorney General to develop standards for data collection and instructs the Attorney General to consult with law enforcement and other stakeholders in developing those standards. It also specifically directs the Attorney General to establish standards for setting benchmarks against which the collected data should be measured so that no data is taken out of context, as some in law enforcement rightly fear. Finally, we will require the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the Department of Justice to analyze these statistics on an annual basis so that the Nation can gauge the success of its efforts to combat this corrosive practice.

Finally, we will encourage a change in law enforcement culture through the use of the carrot and the stick.

First, the carrot: We recognize that law enforcement shouldn't be expected to do this alone. So this bill says that if you do the job right fairly and equitably you are eligible to receive development grants to help pay for the following: Advanced training programs; computer technology to help collect data and statistics; video cameras and recorders for patrol cars; establishing or improving systems for handling complaints alleging ethnic or racial profiling; and establishing management systems to ensure that supervisors are held accountable for the conduct of subordinates.

Further, we will direct the Attorney General to conduct a demonstration project that will give grants to police departments to help them collect racial profiling data and then work with an institution of higher learning to analyze the collect data.

But if law enforcement agencies don't do the job right, there is also the stick. Our bill will require law enforcement agencies to put in place procedures to receive and investigate complaints alleging racial profiling. The bill gives the law enforcement agencies the flexibility and the options to adopt the procedures that best fit the needs of their local communities. Further, the bill permits localities to cooperate with other communities and with the State in which they are located to develop shared procedures to invest racial profiling problems in the community.

If State and local law enforcement agencies refuse to implement procedures to end and prevent profiling, they will be subject to a loss of Federal law enforcement funds.

Let me be clear this bill is not about blaming law enforcement. Most law enforcement officers discharge their duties responsibly. But stopping people based solely on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion will be outlawed.

We have introduced two bills in the last 5 years to eliminate racial profiling. The President of the United States has condemned racial profiling in his State of the Union address. There is a broad and bipartisan consensus that it is an unfair and destructive practice. And yet we have failed to act.

In the meantime, racial profiling has continued to breed humiliation, anger, resentment, and cynicism throughout this country.

It has weakened respect for the law by everyone, not just those offended.

Simply put it is wrong and we must finally end it. Today we pledge to do just that to define it, to ban it, and to enforce this ban.

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