Rep. Moore Hails House's Passage Of George Floyd Act

WASHINGTON DC —Rep. Gwen Moore, (D-4th) called Wednesday's passage in the House of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act a bold, sweeping response to the systemic problem of police brutality and excessive force.

Moore, whose district includes Milwaukee and suburbs like Shorewood and Whitefish Bay, voted for the legislation - identified as H.R. 1280 - helping it pass 220-212 in the House. According to NBCNews.com, a version of the bill had stalled in the Senate last year, when that body was under Republican control. Now, the bill will need the support of at least 10 Republican senators for passage.

"George Floyd's tragic death sparked a movement across the country calling on our country to protect Black lives," Moore said in a statement on the eve of the vote. "The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would take critical steps to create the needed change in policing that millions, including in Milwaukee, have called for."

Moore highlighted the elements of the bill she felt were most important.

"The bill reforms practices like no-knock warrants and the use of dangerous chokeholds, calls for an end to racial profiling, supports more bias and other training for police and infuses transparency, fairness and accountability in policing to build safer communities for all."

Moore said she was particularly pleased there were provisions to encourage de-escalation training for police, an issue the congresswoman said she has championed for years after promising Dontre Hamilton's mother Maria that she would fight for reform.

Hamilton was an unarmed Black man suffering from paranoid schizophrenia who was shot 14 times and killed by Milwaukee Police Officer Christopher Manney in 2014.

Expressing opposition to the legislation, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Florida) said on the House floor Wednesday that bill would "weaken and possibly destroy our community's police forces," according to NPR.org.

Moore said she is hoping the bill can get the Republican support it requires in the Senate. Regardless, she said she will continue to fight against police brutality and for civil rights.

Following its introduction last June, (the bill) was sent to Mitch McConnell’s graveyard. Now, there is a renewed sense of hope that this critical legislation will advance and reach President Biden’s desk," Moore said. "But our work to secure justice continues. That’s why I will keep building upon these efforts to change the systems and institutions that lead to injustices, inequities and undue burdens for the vulnerable.”

Read Gwen Moore's statement about the George Floyd Act.

Read more on NBCNews.com.

Read more on NPR.org.