Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentlewoman from Texas, for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in support of my bill, H.R. 5602, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2020.

White supremacists and other far-right extremists are the most significant domestic terrorism threat facing the United States. Don't take my word for it. Making that point last week in testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated that domestic violence extremists, DVEs, ``pose a steady and evolving threat of violence and economic harm to the United States.''

He notes in his next paragraph: ``The top threat we face from domestic violent extremists stems from those we identify as racially/ ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVE).''

RMVEs were the primary source of ideologically motivated lethal incidents and violence in 2018 and 2019. From the Tree of Life synagogue to Walmart in El Paso, Texas, we have all tragically seen the deadly effect.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of white nationalist groups rose by 55 percent since 2017. Last November, the FBI reported violent hate crimes reached a 16-year high in 2018, and that number went up in 2019.

Groups like the boogaloos, Rise Above Movement, and white nationalist militias across the country are organizing, and so must we. Therefore, we need to equip our law enforcement officials, the FBI, and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security with the tools necessary to identify, monitor, and prevent acts of violent terrorism.

The bill before us today does just that. It establishes offices within the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security and empowers them to coordinate their efforts with each other. It requires them to report to Congress twice a year on the assessment of the threats, ranking them and allocating the resources based on their assessed threats.

Congress must, with a single voice, definitively state that if you or your group is plotting violence or taking weapons--be they guns or knives or otherwise--into a crowd to intimidate or coerce others to further your ideological goals, you are a terrorist and will be treated as such.

This is not a partisan issue but one that affects all Americans' personal and economic security. This bill passed out of committee with bipartisan support overwhelmingly, 24-2.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes.'' This bill will make a real difference. Again, I thank the chairman and the Speaker for bringing my bill to the House today.

Ms. JACKSON LEE.

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