Rep. Johnson on Two Years After the Senseless Police Murder of George Floyd and President Biden’s Executive Order

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) released the following statement on President Biden's signing of an executive order to advance effective, accountable policing on the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd:

"On the second anniversary of the brutal and gut-wrenching murder of George Floyd, my heart is heavy. The senseless deaths yesterday in Uvalde, Texas compound our national grieving, only one week after the racist mass murder in Buffalo, New York. My heart is with all those lives lost and their families, including the relatives of George Floyd, and especially his baby girl.

"If racism is America's first original sin, gun violence is a close second. Both have irrevocably defined and shaped our everyday life in countless ways. America has a long way to go before it can move past this sad truth, but the national reckoning after George Floyd's murder gives hope that we can adapt and change for the better. I was proud to attend today's signing ceremony where President Biden signed an executive order encompassing parts of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and which included reforms to the Department of Defense's 1033 program which has transferred billions of dollars in military-grade weaponry to law enforcement agencies without sufficient need or accountability. This executive order will stop the transfer of some of the most dangerous equipment and make other necessary changes to how police interact with the communities they serve. I thank the President, the Vice President, my colleagues in the House and Senate, the families of George Floyd, Brionna Taylor, and too many others, as well the millions of Americans who have made their voices heard. We must not allow George Floyd's death to be in vain."

Read the full text of the executive order HERE.

Congressman Hank Johnson is a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and the Committee on Oversight & Reform. He is the Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property & the Internet and the original sponsor of the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act in 2014.

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