Washington -- Wednesday night's House vote approved legislation to increase federal resources to combat domestic terrorist activity in the wake of the New York racist mass shooting at Buffalo.
Nearly party-line, the 222-203 vote was an answer for the increasing pressure Congress faces to deal with gun violence and white supremacist attack - a crisis which escalated after two mass shootings this weekend. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Republican from Illinois), was the only Republican to support the measure. He is a member the congressional committee that investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The legislative effort of Democrats is not new. A similar bill was passed by the House in 2020, but it has remained in the Senate. Because the Senate lacks the support to pass any gun-control legislation, lawmakers are putting their efforts in a wider federal focus on domestic terroristic acts.
"We cannot stop Tucker Carlson, Fox News host, from spreading hateful and dangerous replacement theory ideology across the airwaves. Congress has not been able ban the sale assault weapons. "The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act" is what Congress can do this Week to prevent future Buffalo shootings," Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), said on the House's floor.
This measure is intended to prevent another attack similar to the one in Buffalo on Saturday. Police say that an 18-year old white man drove three hours to go on a racist and livestreamed shooting rampage inside a packed supermarket. Ten people were killed and all the victims were Black.
The bill's supporters claim it will bridge the intelligence gaps between the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and FBI to better track and respond in the face of growing white extremist terror threats.
The current law states that the federal agencies are already charged with investigating, preventing and prosecuting domestic terrorist acts. The bill would require that each agency open offices to perform these tasks, and also create an interagency taskforce to combat white supremacy within the military.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill will cost approximately $105 million over five-years with the majority of that money going towards staff hiring.
"As we have taken 9/11 seriously, so must we take this seriously." "This is a domestic version of the same terrorist attack that killed innocent New York City residents and this attack in Buffalo and many other locations," said Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who sponsored a similar bill in the Senate.
The Senate Democrats have pledged to bring the bill up for a vote next Wednesday. Its prospects are uncertain as Republicans oppose a strengthening of domestic surveillance power by the Justice Department.
Republican lawmakers claim that the department misused its power to conduct domestic surveillance after Attorney General Merrick Galrland issued an October memo aimed at countering threats against school officials across the country. The memo was labelled as targeting parents concerned.
GOP lawmakers claim that the bill does not place enough emphasis on fighting domestic terrorism perpetrated by far-left groups. The bill would require agencies to submit a joint report every six-month that evaluates and quantifies domestic terrorism threats nationwide, including those posed by white supremacists or neo Nazi groups.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) stated that the bill "glaringly ignores domestic terrorism threats from the radical left this country and instead assumes it is all on white and the right."
This divergence reveals the stubborn gap between Democrats, Republicans and domestic terrorism in America and how it should been defined and prosecuted.
Terrorism has been associated with foreign actors for decades. However, as domestic terrorism, often carried out by white men, has grown over the past two decades Democratic legislators have attempted to clarify it through federal statute.
"We've seen this before in American history. Durbin stated that the only difference between these organizations and the past is the absence of white robes. Durbin said that the message is the same hateful and divisive message that encourages people to do violent acts to innocent Americans. It is time to stand up.
