accountability in our policing system. the vast majority of law enforcement officers are angered by the deaths of mr. nichols and others. they deserve our thanks. i believe they will support bipartisan efforts to prevent such abuses and punish those who commit them. as i mentioned tyre nichols loved photography. he loved photographing the world as he saw. one of his favorite images which appears again and again and his photos is the image of a bridge. it's time for members of the senate to bridge our differences and pass a policing reform so tyre nichols' death will not have been invaded. madam president i ask a statement on the debt ceiling that i have be placed in the recordin.bjection.. >> i will yield the floor. >> madam president, the killing

of tyre nichols has reignited the national debate about the excessive use of force by police and rightfully so. this unarmed 29-year-old was brutally beaten by memphis police officers in an egregious excessive use of force. within the republican conference, senator tim scott from south carolina has been our leader on police reform matters in life and proud to work with him on bills to help improve policing in the communities and public safety. one of those bills was a law enforcement de-escalation training act which by the way was just signed into law last month. this will ensure that all police officers have the opportunity to acquire skills to defuse a potentially dangerous situation like the one we saw in memphis.

use of force should only come into play when absolutely necessary and this legislation will provide law enforcement officers with the knowledge of what alternatives are available to them, which invariably will make their lives better and safer and also protect the life of the individual who is being detained. this has the potential to save lives and prevent another senseless and entirely preventable tragedy like this from reoccurring. i'm glad the legislation is now the law of the land and the department of justice must implement it as quickly as possible. >> on abc this week senator durbin asked senator booker and i to come back to the table and start talking about policing in america.