PPEcel
cope and seethe
-
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2018
- Posts
- 29,089
This Wednesday, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 350, a bill that would create additional offices to monitor domestic terrorism within the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Titled the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022, H.R. 350 was passed largely along party lines; Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL-16) was the only Republican to vote "Yea".
Source: Roll Call 221, Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate, facing an uncertain future. It remains to be seen whether the Senate companion bill, S. 963, can survive the committee process and muster the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster. However, if it does, the bill will then head to President Biden's desk.
You can read the entirety of the bill here:
Though passed in the wake of the Buffalo, NY shooting, the bill was initially sponsored back in January 2022 by Rep. Bradley Scott Schneider (D-IL-10), where it was referred to the Committees on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Armed Services. In an attempt to placate civil liberties concerns voiced by the ACLU and CAIR, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY-10), the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, filed an amendment to H.R. 350 by inserting a narrowing construction explicitly protecting First Amendment activity (see H.Amdt.212).
While the bill does not create or amend an existing federal criminal statute, it would establish three additional "domestic terrorism offices" within the DOJ, DHS, and FBI. These offices would be required to submit a joint report every six months assessing the threat of domestic terrorism in the United States. Additionally, the bill would appropriate funds to federal law enforcement agencies to "train" and help state and local law enforcement agencies "understand" terrorism.
Notably, the bill specifically singles out neo-Nazis and white supremacists, but does not mention any other subcategory of domestic terrorism. It also contains a sunset clause such that the law would expire after ten years.
An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that H.R. 350 would result in an additional $105 million in federal spending over FY 2023 to 2036, largely due to additional staffing requirements at the three new offices. The bulk of the spending increases would be directed toward the FBI.
Source: CBO Cost Estimate, H.B. 350
The passage of the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act came shortly after the Democrats of the House Judiciary Committee tweeted on Wednesday that the bill was "the least we could do" to oppose "white nationalism".
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1527049387045683200
On the other hand, House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA-1) advised Republicans to vote against the bill because it would "create unnecessary and duplicative domestic terrorism offices", arguing that federal law enforcement agencies are already sufficiently equipped to handle domestic terrorist threats. "[T]his bill further weaponizes and emboldens the DOJ to target Americans' First Amendment rights to go after those who they see as political threats," Scalise continued in a memo to all House Republicans.
I'm going to leave this an open-ended discussion for now.