Collins named to House group examining police/community relations

​A bipartisan U.S. House of Representatives working group established to examine excessive force used by law enforcement and attacks against police officers will include Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville.

 

The 12-member group was announced Wednesday in the wake of the recent murder of five Dallas police officers and fatal police-related shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana that have sparked protests in some cities across the country.

 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, and Ranking Member John Conyers, D-Michigan, announced the formation of the group Wednesday. 

 

The group will, "examine police accountability, aggression towards law enforcement, and public safety concerns related to these issues," according to a media release from Goodlatte and Conyers.  "Our goal in creating this working group is to discuss these issues candidly with each another so that we can begin to find common ground on these matters of national importance."

 

Collins is one of six Republicans in the group.  He called the appointment an honor.

 

"I will draw upon my life experiences as a Baptist Pastor, an attorney and the son of a Georgia State Trooper, to help foster a productive dialogue," Collins said.  We are not here to point fingers, but rather to find solutions to the issues that are on the hearts and minds of so many Americans."

 

The group is expected to hold a series of roundtable discussions, beginning Thursday in Washington, D.C.  Two guests are scheduled to participate in the first session which is not open to the public.  The group invited Rev. Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey, and Deborah A. Ramirez, Executive Director for Partnering for Prevention and Community Safety Initiative and Professor of Law at Northeastern University School of Law.

 

Other members of the working group include Republican Representatives Trey Gowdy, South Carolina, Dave Reichert, Washington, Susan Brooks, Indiana, and Will Hurd, Texas.

 

The Democrats in the group are Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas, Hakeem Jeffries, New York, Cedric Richmond, Louisiana, Keith Ellison Minnesota, and Robin Kelly, Illinois.