JustLeadershipUSA Supports the Eliminating BIAS Act and Urgently Calls on Congress to Pass It

Yesterday, Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) reintroduced the Eliminating Bias in Algorithmic Systems (BIAS) Act to ensure that every federal agency that uses, funds, or oversees artificial intelligence (AI) has an office of civil rights focused on combating AI bias and discrimination. The Eliminating BIAS Act would also require every civil rights office to report their efforts to Congress and provide recommendations for congressional action.

JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA) President and CEO DeAnna Hoskins issued the following statement: “As one of the only national justice organizations in the U.S. that is both founded by and led by formerly incarcerated people, JustLeadershipUSA has a unique position and role in speaking out on legislation that directly impacts us and our communities. The Eliminating BIAS Act is one such piece of legislation that we feel strongly needs to be adopted urgently to ensure that racial bias and other forms of prejudice do not go unchallenged within our federal system.

“We are also deeply alarmed by the administration’s push to mandate that states provide sensitive personal identifying information from public assistance data. Without the critical oversight and accountability provided by the Eliminating BIAS Act, this massive consolidation of data risks becoming a tool for systemic profiling and xenophobic policymaking. Feeding the personal information of our most vulnerable neighbors into unmonitored algorithms creates a high-tech dragnet that can automate discrimination at an unprecedented scale. We cannot allow the pursuit of technological efficiency to bypass the civil rights protections that prevent our communities from being unfairly targeted and excluded.”

Learn more about how we are elevating issues impacting the 70+ million Americans with lived experience at the Federal level through the JustUS Coordinating Council (JCC) at justuscc.org.