In Wake of Ferguson, Sen. Cardin Calls for Measures to Prevent Profiling

Sen. Ben Cardin, D. Md., on September 10 spoke on the Senate floor about the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and the need for Congress to pass the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA), a bill that was endorsed by President George W. Bush but – despite being re-introduced year after year – has not been brought up for a vote.

Cardin also urged Attorney General Eric Holder to issue new profiling guidelines that have not been updated since their release in June 2003.

“This legislation provides training and monitoring for law enforcement agencies at all levels of government,” Cardin said of ERPA. “By enacting this legislation, we can begin to reduce the racial disparities that plague our nation’s criminal justice system. We need to better educate more of our law enforcement officials in the differences between specific suspect descriptions and sweeping generalizations or profiling that wastes valuable resources. Racial profiling is un-American. It has no place within the values of our country. It turns communities against the partnerships needed to keep our neighborhoods safe.”

Cardin’s speech echoes a call made by more than 100 organizations last month for federal action to prevent discriminatory profiling.

Watch his full floor statement below.