Members of George Floyd's family were in Washington Tuesday meeting with President Biden and top congressional leaders, on the one-year anniversary of his in-custody death during an arrest by Minneapolis officers.
Floyd's relatives first traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA), who is one of the leaders of the ongoing bipartisan, bicameral negotiations to reach a deal on police reform legislation.
"I stand here to renew the commitment that we will get this bill on President Biden's desk," Bass said in remarks to reporters after the meeting with Floyd's family, CBS reports.
After meeting with Pelosi and Bass, Floyd's relatives traveled to the White House for a more than hour-long meeting with President Biden and Vice President Harris. Afterward, Floyd's family members said the president is eager to sign the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and urged Congress to pass the bill.
In a statement after meeting with members of Floyd's family, Mr. Biden said that "we have to act" on police reform.
Members of the family then returned to Capitol Hill to meet with Democratic Senator Cory Booker and Republican Senator Tim Scott, who are the other leaders of police reform negotiations in Congress.
One issue still being debated is the House provision to overhaul qualified immunity, which could make it easier to bring lawsuits against individual law enforcement officers. Republicans oppose eliminating qualified immunity, arguing that it could result in frivolous lawsuits and unnecessary punishment for officers who are acting in good faith.
Lawmakers have also sparred over changing Section 242 of the U.S. Code to require a jury to decide whether a law enforcement officer acted with reckless disregard in order to convict, rather than the current standard of "willfulness."
