Congressmen at the State of the Union.

You hosted the parents of Tyree Nichols, the man who died after being brutally beat by police.

What was that experience like for you, having his parents as your guests?

Well, I had the responsibility as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus to call the Family, to extend our condolences, to let them know that we stand with them for justice for their son.

And that we wanted to have them attend the State of the Union, as we called upon President Biden to speak to the hearts of the American people.

What the parents of Tyree Nichols asked me to do whenever I talk about this subject, is to talk about who Tyree was.

He was a son.

He was a father to a four year old.

He was a person that had a lot of passion and a lot of purpose and a life ahead of him.

And that was taken due to police brutality.

And that's why now we are working to, as the president said, move our country forward around public safety and accountability so that all of our communities are safe throughout the country.

And in an interview following the State of the Union, Tyree Nichols mother said that she found President Biden's message to be very strong.

She appreciate it, but that she needs action more than messaging.

And I'm wondering, though, after having witnessed firsthand some of the discord between President Biden and some members of Congress at that address, the heckling and booing.

How much confidence does she have that Congress can get something done?

Well, after the State of the Union, I actually went and escorted Mrs. Wells, the mother of Tyree Nichols, from the gallery.

And in the course of leaving the Capitol, several members from both sides of the aisle came up to her and said, you know, we're praying for you.

We're lifting your you and your family up in prayer.

And she said, What I need more than your prayer is I need your action.

And Amber, you're right.

There may be discord and dysfunction with some members of Congress, but those members were never about solving problems.

The issue of public safety is not a Democrat or Republican issue.

It's not a black, brown or white issue.

It is a public safety and accountability issue that all of us should be working for and all of us should agree that bad policing shouldn't exist anywhere in America.

So yes, there are Republicans.

I am meeting and talking with many of them in the Senate and the House who were not part of the hecklers, who actually believe in public safety for all communities.

And we're going to work tirelessly to reach agreement so that we can move meaningful legislation ahead.

This Congress.

It's going to be hard, but we're going to work hard to get it done.

What do you anticipate being most hard about it?

Well, look, a lot of times people have tried to frame this issue as if you are against bad policing.

Then somehow that means you're against all police.

I want to say without a doubt, I support law enforcement.

In fact, as the president said, the lion's share of law enforcement, the men and women who put on the uniform and go into our communities to protect and serve are good people that work hard and do the right thing.

And they want to be able to come home to their families as well.

But where there is bad policing and again, none of us should want that anywhere in America, then we have to work to hold them accountable.

It's going to be hard to make sure that this doesn't become about rhetoric, that it doesn't become about a provision of law, but it becomes about the heart of what President Biden spoke to, which is that difficult talk that too many parents have to have with their children, particularly black and brown parents who are disproportionately affected by this.

And that's one of the most difficult things that we have to do as parents.

And that's what we're trying to say.

We want all communities to be safe, including the communities that we live in and come from.

What do you believe to be at the heart of this issue of police brutality?

Well, that's a very complicated question and probably answer.

But what I will just say is I believe that all of us want the same thing.

We want our children when they leave our home, whether it's to go to the park or as they get older and they start to drive, if they get pulled over from lawn by law enforcement that it doesn't result in the death of a loved one or the brutal beating of someone and the trauma that unfolds afterward.

And so I am more focused on how we move forward and how we provide solutions.

Then I am so much in in the root causes of it, because what I do believe ultimately is that we all should be for improving the culture of policing, and that comes through transparency, accountability and higher professional standards.

We have that for other professions, and we should expect it for the men and women in law enforcement.

In the discussions that you've been having so far with the president and then, as you just mentioned, some other Republicans as well.

What kind of legislation are you pursuing?

Well, what we are doing at this moment is talking about the principles of public safety and accountability.

So, for example, our transparency, that's about data collection.

In Memphis, for example, the use of force was used three times more on black residents in Memphis than on white residents.

The only reason we know that is because they collect data.

Well, there's 18,000 police departments across the country.

We need that data for all of those departments.

Secondly, we need more accountability when there is wrongdoing.

There needs to be a mechanism by which individuals are held accountable or departments are held accountable.

And there needs to be teeth in those accountability provisions.

And finally, it's about professional standards, and that goes to helping law enforcement with what they need.

I agree with the president that sometimes we ask law enforcement to do more than they even want to do.

We need to support them with community based intervention, mental health support, social workers so that they're not having to deal with all of societal issues.

They're able to focus on ways to keep our community safe.

Talking about that accountability aspect, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House back in 2021 but did not pass the Senate.

I believe one of the holdups was the qualified immunity, which those are protections that shield law enforcement from being sued following incidents like this.

Is that an area you're willing to negotiate on?

I mean, if that's the sticking point.

What the families have asked us to do is to be reasonable.

They understand we may not get everything and qualified immunity is is one provision, but there's a whole lot of other good provisions that we actually have agreement on with Republicans and with some in law enforcement.

I'm meeting with the head of law enforcement, both in our local law enforcement agencies, because I believe in hearing from them, but also national law enforcement agencies as we work towards finding a solution.

So I have drawn no lines in the sand.

I believe in compromise, especially when it comes to saving lives and keeping our communities safe.

And back to something you mentioned about this, not being a black, brown or white issue yet.

Also, you said that it disproportionately impacts black and brown families.

Is this an issue of race, in your opinion?

Well, what I know this as a black man that was born and raised in Las Vegas and as a father now of three children, two grown soon to be grown young men and a teenage daughter.

It's important for people to understand what the president said, that there's a burden that black and brown families have, especially.

It's not to the exclusion of others.

And what I've tried to say for people to really understand is it it may have fear and anxiety for me today, but that doesn't mean it's to the exclusion of other people.

It may have been tiring nickels yesterday, but it could be anyone today or tomorrow.

And so all of us should be willing to come together for public safety and accountability in every community.

If all of us should agree that bad policing has no place in any American community or city.

So I don't want to complicate it by talking about issues that I can't resolve around race that is a much bigger issue.

But what I do know is that families, no matter who they are, no matter what background they come from, black, brown or white should.

If you're a parent, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter, you should be able to live safely in your community from all forms, whether that's violence against bad policing, whether that's anti-Asian hate, whether that's immigrants that are being targeted because of extreme rhetoric.

We need to come together as a nation in this moment.

And that means making all of our communities safer.

And finally, from the local perspective, as I wonder what you hear in terms of how prevalent police brutality is in the district you serve here in Nevada?

Well, clearly, we've had our issues in Nevada and in Las Vegas.

I'm pleased with the progress that we've made over the years since the 21st Century Policing Commission was put into place back when President Obama was president.

I actually helped bring then Director Davis over the COPS program to work with local law enforcement.

I want to commend our local sheriff and local law enforcement agencies throughout our communities, including in North Las Vegas, for recognizing that, again, this is an issue that they have a responsibility because it's their profession.

I've heard from a number of police officers about the difficulty to recruit people into the profession.

And part of that is because of this stigma right now.

And I want again to make it absolutely clear we need and support our law enforcement.

I've worked to fund law enforcement in our local community, and I'll continue to do so.

And I believe that I can both work to fund law enforcement while also making sure that bad policing has no place in any law enforcement agency in my district or anywhere else in America.

Congressman Horsford, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Amber.