Kamala Harris urges Senate to have the 'courage' to pass George Floyd policing bill

On CNN's State of the Union Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris urged the Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which she believes is the next step to assessing police reform in the United States following the Dereck Chauvin verdict last week.

"Nine minutes and 29 seconds, right? We all watched that video. Many of us watched it multiple times. People are in pain over what we all saw in that video," said Harris.

Harris went on to place the George Floyd case as the catalyst for her and colleagues Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Representative Karren Bass of California coming together to create the policy and address the issues they believe policing in America has.

While the House of Representatives has already passed the bill, Harris stated that she hopes the Senate has the 'courage" to pass this legislation.

"There is no question that we’ve got to put an end to these moments where the public questions whether there’s going to be accountability, questions whether there’s going to be the kind of fairness that we should all expect and deserve in all of our lives and, in particular, as it relates to people of color, with a particular emphasis on black and brown men in the criminal justice system as it relates to policing," stated Harris.

This verdict is just one piece of the puzzle, explained Harris. Although the outcome was one that many had hoped for, it doesn't address the "pain that has existed for generations."

"This verdict is but a piece of it and it will not heal the pain that existed for generations – that has existed for generations – among people who have experienced and first-hand witnessed what now a broader public is seeing because of smartphones and the ubiquity of our ability to video tape in real-time what is happening in front of our faces. And that’s just the reality of it," stated Harris.

"That's why Congress needs to act, and thats why they should pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act," she urged.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would create a national database of police misconduct, ban no-knock warrants, and end qualified immunity, and lawmakers are looking at whether or not to ban chokeholds. Senator Tim Scott is working with Democratic lawmakers on the bill's final language.