WASHINGTON, DC - Iowa's Congress members voted on party lines Wednesday night on a bill to overhaul policing practices nationwide.
Both eastern Iowa Republicans - Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks - said it was legislation to defund police.
Miller-Meeks called it a backdoor to defunding police by increasing department's exposure to litigation.
The bill, known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, passed by a narrow eight vote margin in the U.S. House.
Iowa Democrat Cindy Axne voted in favor, saying it holds police officers accountable for their actions. Western Iowa Republican Randy Feenstra joined Hinson and Miller-Meeks in opposing the legislation.
The bill was first approved in the House last summer but stalled in the Senate. It would ban chokeholds and “qualified immunity” for officers, as well as create national standards for policing.
The bill was named in honor of Floyd, whose killing by police in Minnesota sparked nationwide protests.