Measure was in response to grocery store shooting in Buffalo, New York.
Members of the minority party in the Senate blocked a bill on Thursday that would create domestic terrorism offices within federal law enforcement agencies.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York framed the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act as an opportunity to vote on amendments to curb gun violence, but his pleas for support to begin debate were to no avail.
From the floor of the Senate ahead of the vote, Senator Schumer said, “The bill is so important because the mass shooting in Buffalo was an act of domestic terrorism. We need to call it what it is, domestic terrorism. It was terrorism that fed off the poison of conspiracy theories like White replacement theory.”
The legislation would have created an interagency task force including the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and the FBI to analyze and combat White Supremacist infiltration in the military and federal law enforcement agencies. Those who opposed the measure maintained that new federal laws and offices are not needed to monitor and prosecute domestic terrorism because politically motivated violence is already covered by existing law.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For federal agents as they seek to enforce current laws regarding terrorism.
- That Congressional leaders would be discerning in the laws they propose.
- For wisdom for senators and representatives as they vote on legislation.
Sources: The Hill, Wall Street Journal
