Two Bills to Meet the Moment

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Issue 24: Friday, 7 May 2021

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— THIS WEEK IN DC —

Biden Raises Refugee Cap to 62,500; Trump’s Acting Pentagon Chief Urges Biden to Tackle Directed-Energy Attacks; Biden Admin Taps Rich Cordray, Former CFPB Chief, to Oversee Federal Student Loans; Intruder Shot by FBI Agents After Attempting to Drive Through CIA Main Entrance; White House to Shift How Vaccines are Allocated to States with New Inoculation Goal to Have 160 Million Americans Vaccinated with Both Doses by July 4; Biden Administration Supports Waiving Patent Protections for COVID Vaccines in Bid to Raise Global Production.

FEATURED ISSUE

Illustration by Egan Jimenez, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act vs. the BREATHE Act

When the Derek Chauvin verdict was announced last month, convicting the officer on all counts for the murder of George Floyd, many Americans recognized the historic implications of the case. In a country whose justice system has time and time again failed to deliver justice to Black Americans, the verdict represented a step toward mending our broken system. Others cautioned against celebrating the moment as a victory of justice — true justice would exist only if Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, Ma’Khia Bryant, and countless other Black lives were still alive today. True justice demands a systemic rehaul and the subsequent end of police brutality. Two major congressional bills are aiming to do just that: the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the BREATHE Act of 2021. Though the intent of both bills appear to be the same, an analysis of their differences is imperative to not only understanding the politics influencing each legislation, but ultimately, what provisions and actions are needed to resolve the issue at hand.

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GOOD TO KNOW

Featured in WAPO, MPAC’s Umar Hakim celebrating Ramadan his way
MPAC Partner America Indivisible’s Lida Azim featured in Newsweek: America Must Protect the Most Vulnerable in Afghanistan
Muslim softball team balances sports and faith during Ramadan
The black stone of Mecca like you've never seen before
FDA preparing to authorize Pfizer COVID vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds as early as next week
Justice Department: Arizona Senate audit, recount may violate federal law
India reports highest-ever 24-hour surge in COVID-19 cases and a record-high daily death toll
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs restrictive voting bill

— THIS WEEK IN HISTORY —

May 3, 1919 - Afghanistan Emir Amanoellah begins war against Great Britain; May 3, 1970 - Trans-Arabian Pipeline delivery from Saudi Arabia to the Mediterranean interrupted in Syria, driving oil tanker rates to all-time highs; May 4, 1540 - Venice and Turkey sign Treaty of Constantinople; May 4, 1931 - Mustafa Kemal Pasja becomes Turkish president; May 4, 1986 - President Babrak Karmal resigns as party leader of Afghanistan; May 6, 1967 - Zakir Husain elected 1st Muslim president of India; May 6, 2001 - During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque; May 7, 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses. Justinian I immediately orders the dome rebuilt; May 8, 1967 - Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army.

May 2, 1927 - U.S. Supreme Court's "Buck v. Bell", permits forced sterilizations of various "unfits" by states' authorities where such surgeries are practiced for eugenic reasons; May 2, 1945 - More than 1,000,000 German soldiers officially surrender to the Western Allies in Italy and Austria; May 2, 1956 - U.S. Methodist church disallows racial separation; May 3, 1845 - First African American lawyer, Macon B. Allen, admitted to the bar in Massachusetts; May 3, 1963 - Birmingham officials turn high-pressure hoses and dogs on children's crusade protest against segregation prompting widespread condemnation; May 6, 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act: U.S. Congress ceases Chinese immigration; May 6, 1960 - U.S. President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960; May 6, 1994 - U.S. House of Representatives passes the Federal Assault Weapons Ban; May 7, 1700 - William Penn began monthly meetings for blacks advocating emancipation; May 7, 1867 - Blacks stage ride-in to protest segregation in New Orleans; May 8, 1787 - First U.S. prison reform society forms, the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons led by Dr. Benjamin Rush; May 8, 1858 - John Brown holds antislavery convention; May 8, 1994 - President Clinton announces U.S. will no longer repatriate Haitian boat people.

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