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(WASHINGTON D.C.) – President Obama today banned certain types of military equipment from being transferred to local police in order to ease community tensions with law enforcement, a move Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-9) fought to enact legislatively last year, months before protests in Ferguson, Mo., New York City and Baltimore.

On June 19, 2014, Grayson cited a recent New York Times report which found that police departments around the country had received thousands of military weapons, including camouflage and night-vision equipment, silencers, armored cars, and aircraft directly from the Department of Defense.

“This is appalling,” Grayson said from the House floor then, three months before the Ferguson police protests erupted. He continued Monday, by saying: “That is why my amendment would prohibit the Department of Defense from gifting excess equipment, such as aircraft—including drones—armored vehicles, grenade launchers, and silencers, among other things, to local police departments. This type of excess military equipment does not help to ‘keep the peace.’ Those weapons have no place in our streets, regardless of who may be deploying them.”

Grayson’s proposed amendment failed 62-355. But it turned out to be prophetic. A national debate about America’s growing militarized police presence emerged shortly after a police shooting of an unarmed man triggered protests in Ferguson, Mo.

After similar incidents in other cities, President Obama set up a task force which this year recommended police departments be barred from using federal funds to acquire such items as camouflage uniforms, tracked armored vehicles and the highest-caliber firearms and ammunition, as well as restrict access to wheeled armored vehicles, riot gear, and other military-grade equipment.

Grayson applauded President Obama’s move to implement those recommendations today. The Congressman said it echoed similar concerns that he expressed a year ago:

“I don’t think this is the way America should be,” Grayson said. “I think we should help our police act like public servants, not like warriors at war. I think we should facilitate a view of America where the streets are safe and they don’t resemble a war zone, no matter who is deploying that equipment. We don’t want America to look like an occupied territory.”

Congressman Alan Grayson represents Florida’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Osceola County, as well as parts of Orange and Polk counties. He previously served as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 8th Congressional District in the 111th Congress.