H.Res. 451

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 451 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 451

Expressing condemnation for police brutality wherever in the world it 
occurs.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 29, 2025

Ms. Omar submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Expressing condemnation for police brutality wherever in the world it 
occurs.

Whereas, in recent years, there have been significant peaceful assemblies 
protesting against police brutality throughout the world, including in 
the United States;
Whereas police brutality may include human rights violations such as the use of 
excessive force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, 
and the use of lethal rounds and the unnecessary use of ``less-lethal'' 
crowd control weapons by law enforcement, in response to peaceful 
assemblies;
Whereas police brutality may occur prior to an arrest, during crowd control 
operations, during an arrest, and while an individual is in custody;
Whereas the Small Arms Survey identified that between 2007-2012, 19,000 people 
worldwide were killed by police annually;
Whereas a 2017 United Nations Development Program report found that more than 70 
percent of individuals who had joined violent extremist groups across 
Africa self-reported that ``government action'', including police 
brutality, was the determining factor in their decision to join such 
groups;
Whereas the United States is the largest arms exporter in the world;
Whereas the United States is the largest developer and exporter of ``less-
lethal'' weapons, including tear gas, in the world;
Whereas the United States, especially under the auspices of the wars on drugs 
and global terrorism, has in recent decades dramatically increased its 
influence on the tactics, equipment, and purpose of policing around the 
world;
Whereas, during that same period and under those same auspices, domestic police 
forces at the State, local, and Federal level have become increasingly 
militarized in both equipment and tactics;
Whereas several United States embassies in Africa released statements in the 
aftermath of the May 25, 2020, police killing of Minneapolis resident 
George Floyd, explicitly recognizing the foreign policy dimension of 
domestic police violence;
Whereas many of those statements included reminders of the importance of an 
impartial judicial system and accountability for state security forces 
who commit human rights violations;
Whereas, on a global scale, police brutality occurs on every continent, in both 
democracies and dictatorships, and in countries that are both partners 
and adversaries of the United States;
Whereas, on a global scale, police brutality disproportionately harms already 
vulnerable people, including racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, 
women, migrants, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ 
community; and
Whereas, on a global scale, impunity for both individual police officers and 
departments or units who commit police brutality is an endemic problem: 
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns police brutality wherever in the world it 
occurs;
(2) stands with peaceful protesters around the world in 
their calls for justice and accountability for police 
brutality;
(3) recognizes that police brutality disproportionately 
targets already vulnerable populations, including racial, 
ethnic, religious minorities, women, migrants, and the LGBTQIA+ 
community;
(4) recognizes that impunity for police brutality 
undermines the rule of law, erodes public confidence in state 
institutions and degrades social cohesion;
(5) calls on the United States Government to--
(A) take immediate and significant steps to 
eliminate police brutality and impunity for police 
brutality in the United States;
(B) prohibit the sales of arms, ammunition, and 
``less-lethal'' policing equipment to countries with 
demonstrated patterns of human rights violations by 
security forces or impunity for human rights violations 
by security forces;
(C) prohibit other forms of security assistance, 
including police training, to countries with 
demonstrated patterns of human rights violations by 
security forces or impunity for human rights violations 
by security forces;
(D) use its voice, vote, and influence in 
international institutions to work toward the 
elimination of police brutality and ending impunity for 
police brutality around the world;
(E) end the use of militarized equipment and 
tactics in policing both at home and abroad; and
(F) reallocate funding in both the United States 
and abroad to peacebuilding, job training, counseling 
and mental health programming, and violence-preventing 
programming; and
(6) calls on businesses based in the United States that 
sell lethal and less-lethal policing equipment to adopt strict 
protocols prohibiting the sale of such articles to countries 
with demonstrated patterns of police brutality or impunity for 
police brutality.
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