Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution

Floor Speech

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Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the ``Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act.''

This legislation recognizes the need to hold bad actors accountable-- period.

In order to build trust in our system of justice, we must allow individuals the right to sue Federal law enforcement agencies when the actions of their officers lead to a violation of rights.

This legislation would provide a right of action for an individual to sue a Federal law enforcement officer and agency for harm resulting from a violation of their civil and constitutional rights.

42 USC Sec. 1983 currently provides this right of action for state and local law enforcement officers who violate a person's rights. However, there is currently no statutory equivalent that extends this right to incidents involving federal law enforcement officers and agencies.

Because Americans lack this right, there is a gap in accountability that urgently needs to be filled. This legislation fills that gap by allowing individuals to sue federal officers, just as they can sue state and local officers. It would also allow individuals to sue federal law enforcement agencies. The United States Supreme Court has recognized that the federal government will not be liable in suit unless it waives its immunity and consents. This legislation recognizes the need for such a waiver.

While extending this right will not automatically end all cases of abuse by certain law enforcement officers, it will give the American people an important tool to fight against injustice while also demonstrating that the time is now to address police brutality.

While the United States Supreme Court has addressed the absence of a right of action against Federal officers before, the scope of the provided ``remedy'' has been kept extremely narrow. Without a statute in place, this right will continue to be under-utilized and could disappear whenever the Court sees fit.

Americans deserve better. We all deserve to have our constitutional rights respected, and we deserve a system that will hold bad actors accountable. This is too urgent a need to go unaddressed.

Public safety is a two-way street. We, as citizens, honor our officers and trust law enforcement to keep our streets safe and peaceful. In return, we expect officers to be held to account for bad behavior. Anything less undermines public safety.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the ``Accountability for Federal Law Enforcement Act'' as quickly as possible.

Thank you, Mr. President. ______

By Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Brown, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Casey):

S. 2108. A bill to amend title II of the Social Security Act to eliminate work disincentives for childhood disability beneficiaries; to the Committee on Finance.

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