WASHINGTON—Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Co-Chairs Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) released the following statement after President Obama announced a federal ban to limit certain types of military equipment from being transferred to local police departments.

“We applaud President Obama for taking an important first step to de-militarize local police departments. Weapons made for war zones do not belong on the streets of our communities.

“While the president is making our neighborhoods safer, House Republicans are trying to expand the use of military weapons in border communities. At a time when the relationship between police and the communities they serve is in crisis, Congress should be limiting the transfer of military weapons to local law enforcement, not increasing it. We should build on President Obama’s actions today by passing Rep. Hank Johnson’s Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2015 (H.R. 1232) to rein in the Pentagon’s surplus weaponry program.”