In meetings with senators and White House officials Thursday, the families of Black men killed by police pushed for the passage of a significant police reform bill, the Associated Press reports.
Representatives of the victims left the discussions hopeful that legislation could be approved by May 25, the anniversary of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“They said that we are going to do everything in our power to make sure we have a meaningful bill that we can put on President Biden’s desk,” prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump told the AP.
“We’re committed to getting meaningful reform done,” Senate Majority Leader Schumer said after a meeting with some family members. “Hopefully in a bipartisan way if we can,” he added.
According to the AP, family members of Floyd, Eric Garner, Terence Crutcher, Andrew Brown and Botham Jean met Thursday with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
The meeting came just hours after President Joe Biden’s first congressional address Wednesday night, where he urged Congress to pass legislation by May 25.
Crump maintained that the senators made a commitment to the families to approve a meaningful reform bill soon.
“It means more to these families than anybody else because that legislation will literally have the bloodstain of their loved ones,” Crump said. “And that was the tone and the tenor of the meeting, they listened to us and talked about how they wanted to make sure it was meaningful.”
