Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will put forward their own proposal on police reform that would focus on performance, transparency and accountability, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday.
McCarthy told reporters that House Republican lawmakers would meet later Thursday with Senator Tim Scott, a black Republican who is working on police reform legislation in the Senate and added that they could have a joint proposal.
McCarthy said he supported a ban on police using chokeholds on suspects.
House Democrats, who have the majority, on Monday unveiled a sweeping plan to combat police violence and racial injustice two weeks after George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody sparked nationwide protests.
Democrats are planning a vote on their program later this month, and Republicans are facing pressure to respond to the protests as well.
McCarthy said he thought there were things in the Democratic proposal that Republicans could work together with them on, but did not elaborate.
The Democratic plan would allow victims of misconduct to sue police for damages, ban chokeholds, require the use of body cameras by federal law enforcement officers, restrict lethal force, and facilitate independent investigations of police departments that show patterns of misconduct.
McCarthy said Republican priorities included increased training for police. He also suggested a data collection program at the Department of Justice on the use of force "by and against" police officers.
Another database could prevent "bad cops" from being rehired in other jurisdictions that are not aware of their past misconduct, McCarthy said. At the same time, he said, Republicans would "stand by and support our police officers."
Floyd's death in Minneapolis, where a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, was the latest in a string of deaths of black people at the hands of police that have sparked fresh calls for reforms.
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