{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://jacksonlee.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-sheila-jackson-lee-applauds-presidents-executive-order", "CONGRESSWOMAN SHEILA JACKSON LEE APPLAUDS PRESIDENT'S EXECUTIVE ORDER CREATING WHITE HOUSE TASK FORCE ON 21ST CENTURY POLICING", "2014-12-22", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Sheila Jackson Lee", "J000032", "jacksonlee.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 18, 2014\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\u00a0\nWashington, DC \u2013 Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior Member of the House Committees on the Judiciary and on Homeland Security released the following statement today applauding the establishment of a White House Task Force on 21st Century Policing:\n\u201cI applaud the President for the executive order he issued today establishing a White House Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The recent tragedies in Ferguson, New York, and other cities has made clear the pressing need for innovative and thoughtful steps to enhance police training and strengthen trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.\u00a0\n\u201cThe 11-member Task Force, co-chaired by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and George Mason University Professor and two-time former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Laurie Robinson includes law enforcement representatives, community leaders, academics, and youth leaders. The mandate of the Task Force is to examine, among other issues, how to strengthen public trust and foster strong relationships between local law enforcement and the communities that they protect.\n\u201cThis lack of public confidence in the system, particularly by residents of minority communities, has the potential for exacerbating already tense relations between law enforcement and community residents that could result in more public confrontations like those occurring recently in Ferguson, Missouri.\nOne area which the Task Force should examine is the efficacy of the growing trend of local units of government to use traffic fines and traffic court fees and costs as revenue generators. This practice is problematic because it breeds public cynicism and distrust of local law enforcement agencies, and lessens public confidence that the laws are being enforced impartially and the criminal justice system is administered equally.\n\u201cThat is why I have introduced and invite the Task Force to consider H.R. 5858, the\u00a0 \u201cBuilding Bridges and Transforming Resentment and Unfairness to Support and Trust for Municipal Law Enforcement\u201d or \u201cBuild TRUST Act,\u201d which addresses this problem by providing for a 75% reduction in the amount of DOJ grant funding that may be awarded to a unit of local government that funds an amount that is greater than 18 percent of its operating budget using revenue generated from collecting fines and other fees related to violations of traffic laws.\n\u201cAdditionally, the amount of the reduction would increase to 95 percent if, for the political subdivision involved, the variance in the racial composition of the local law enforcement agency and residents of the political subdivision exceeds 30 percent for any racial group.\n\u201cThe Build TRUST Act exempts any unit of local government serving a population of less than 15,000 persons and authorizes the Attorney General to grant requests for waivers to individual units of local government upon a showing of good cause. In short, the bill builds trust and mutual respect between local law enforcement agencies and the communities they protect by discouraging practices that undermine the strong public support law enforcement agencies need to fulfill their mission to serve and protect.\n\u201cI look forward to engaging with the members of the Task Force as it goes about its important work and to reviewing its interim and final reports to the President.\u201d\n###\nCongresswoman Jackson Lee is a Democrat from Texas\u2019s 18th Congressional District. She is a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security and is Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://jacksonlee.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-sheila-jackson-lee-applauds-presidents-executive-order"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.457688096910715, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}