By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas First District Congressman Roger Marshall signed on Thursday as an original cosponsor of the JUSTICE Act, the House companion to legislation introduced by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), and sponsored by Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08), who has over 20 years of law enforcement experience.
"What this legislation does is it provides more training for the police, more transparency and more accountability," Marshall said.
Marshall's father was the El Dorado, KS police chief when he was growing up.
"One of his common things he taught us was two wrongs don't make a right," Marshall said. "We saw these riots happen, this vandalism happen, I knew that wasn't right and I didn't want to overreact, I always want to err on the side of protecting the police and making sure we have law and order. I think that this legislation that we've come up with does just that."
Among other provisions, this bill would require reporting on Use of Force and No-Knock Warrants, require law enforcement agencies to maintain and share disciplinary records, make lynching a federal crime, provide $500 million for state and local agencies to equip all officers with body cameras, and $225 million in grant funding for de-escalation training.
"Here in the past two weeks, we've been in almost 60 cities and everywhere I go, people tell me, we are a nation of law and order," Marshall said. "We can continue to have the debate, we can continue to have peaceful protests, but what we cannot have are riots and vandalism."
Republican U.S. Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, announced Wednesday that he is fast-tracking the legislation on his side by using a procedural motion to try to start debate on the bill next week.