Ferguson’s Rep. Lacy Clay Voted Against Amendment to Limit Military Surplus Transfers to Local Cops, Just Two Months Ago

In June, the House of Representatives voted
on a series of amendments to H.R. 4435, the National Defense
Authorization Act.  Among the amendments was one by Rep. Alan
Grayson (D-Fla.) which would’ve prohibited funds from being used to
transfer certain kinds of military surplus to local police
departments. The amendment failed by a wide margin, with only 62
votes for and 355 against. Among those voting against this bill,
which would slow down the militarization of America’s police
forces, was Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), whose district includes
Ferguson, Missouri, where many Americans have gotten their first
glimpse of America’s militarized police in action.

Supporters of the amendment include the usual civil libertarian
suspects, such as Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who called
attention to this vote on Twitter
earlier today, John Conyers (D-Mich.), Rush Hold (D-NJ), Walter
Jones (R-NC), Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), John Lewis (D-Ga.), who

nevertheless called for martial law in Ferguson, Thomas Massie
(R-Ky.), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Mark Sanford (R-SC). Fourteen
other Republicans and 43 other Democrats voted for the amendment.
House leadership on both sides voted against it.

There were a handful of members of Congress who didn’t vote,
including Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.)

See how your representative voted here.

Here is a transcript of Rep. Grayson’s argument in
favor of his amendment before the vote killed it:

Madam Chair, you may recall, yesterday, I gave an
impassioned plea in favor of a different version of this amendment,
which was ruled out of order. I am hoping for a better result
tonight; but in any event, there is only so much passion in the
world, so I will keep my remarks short.

I rise today to address a growing problem throughout our
country, which is the militarization of local law enforcement
agencies. The New York Times recently reported that police
departments have received thousands of pieces of camouflage and
night-vision equipment and hundreds of silencers, armored cars, and
aircraft directly from the Department of Defense. These are
military weapons. I think this is appalling. That is why my
amendment would prohibit the Department of Defense from gifting
excess equipment, such as aircraft–including drones–armored
vehicles, grenade launchers, silencers, and bombs to local police
departments. Those weapons have no place in our streets, regardless
of who may be deploying them. As The New York Times article “War
Gear Flows to Police Departments” explains:

Police SWAT teams are now deployed tens of thousands of
times each year, increasingly for routine jobs. Masked, heavily
armed police officers in Louisiana raided a nightclub in 2006 as
part of a liquor inspection. In Florida in 2010, officers in SWAT
gear and with guns drawn carried out raids on barbershops that
mostly led only to charges of “barbering without a
license.”

One South Carolina sheriff’s department now takes a new tank
that it received from the Department of Defense with a mounted
.50-caliber gun to schools and community events. The department’s
spokesman calls that tank a “conversation starter.” I don’t think
this is the way I want my America to be. I think we should help our
police act like public servants, not like warriors at war.

I think we should facilitate a view of America where the streets
are safe and they don’t resemble a war zone, no matter who is
deploying that equipment. We don’t want America to look like an
occupied territory. I hope for the support of my colleagues, and I
reserve the balance of my time.