Prioritizing Public Safety

We must do more to reduce crime and ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities. I'm grateful to all the law enforcement officers who serve our country and am working in Congress to ensure they have the necessary funding to safely do their jobs.

I have been proud to support bipartisan legislation to invest in community policing and support increasing funding and hiring capacity. I have also voted to increase the acquisition of technology to help law enforcement solve violent crimes and fund grant programs to train mental health responders. Individuals that commit violent crimes, including armed break-ins of stores or armed carjackings, threaten the safety of our communities and they must be held fully accountable. They should be prosecuted and detained if a threat while waiting for trail.

To help reestablish trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, there should be better training available for police officers to prevent racial profiling and excessive use of force. The use of force should always be a last resort, which is why I am an original cosponsor of The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — which included my PEACE Act — to ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants and change the culture of law enforcement.

There are additional commonsense steps we should take to help create a fairer criminal justice system. I support ending cash bail to ensure that non-violent offenders for petty crimes do not get stuck in jail simply because they are poor. The length of time an individual spends in jail should be determined based on the level of threat that they pose and crime they commit, not how much money they make. No one who is a danger to society should be released.

We also need to do more in our fight against gun violence. To keep firearms out of the hands of violent felons and domestic abusers, we should require background checks for all gun sales. Congress should also pass a federal assault weapons ban, which I was proud to vote for in the House.

A secure and fair criminal justice system is possible. It's up to us to build that future together.

Click here to learn more about the bills that I introduced and cosponsored.