Protect Act--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I come to the floor today to speak to one of the most significant issues facing the security of our Nation. It is a question of domestic terrorism, specifically the threat of violent White supremacists.

In Tuesday's Presidential debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked President Trump to condemn White supremacists and rightwing militia. President Trump refused. Instead, he replied--and I quote--``Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.''

The Proud Boys, a far-right group that promotes and engages in violence, viewed President Trump's words as a call to action. The group's leader Joe Biggs said he took the President's words as a directive to ``[F] . . . them up.''

I was appalled, but not surprised, by the President's words. He has a long history of inflammatory, racist remarks. Now, President Trump claims that violence is a ``left-wing problem, not a right-wing problem''--his words.

Let me be clear. I join Vice President Biden in condemning all violence, but we know that White supremacists pose a great threat. An unclassified May 2017 FBI-DHS joint intelligence bulletin found that ``white supremacist extremism poses [a] persistent threat of lethal violence.'' This was a finding by the lead law enforcement agencies of the Trump administration. They went on to say that White supremacists were responsible for more homicides from 2000 to 2016 than any other domestic extremist movement. The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, in response to a question I posed in the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, said that the majority of domestic terrorism arrests involved White supremacists.

Now, for years, I have urged the Trump administration to respond to the ongoing threat of violent White supremacists and other far- rightwing extremists. Instead, they have repeatedly downplayed this very lethal and real threat.

Attorney General Barr has never responded to the multiple letters I have sent, asking what the Department of Justice was doing to combat White supremacist violence.

Unfortunately, as we have learned from former Trump administration officials themselves, the Trump administration has downplayed the threat of violent White supremacists. POLITICO recently reported that a draft homeland threat assessment report from DHS was edited to weaken language on the threat posed by violent White supremacists. And a DHS whistleblower alleged that DHS officials, including Ken Cuccinelli, requested the modification of the report to make the threat of White supremacists ``appear less severe'' and add information on violent leftwing groups.

It is not enough to just stand here and condemn the President's remarks at the infamous debate. The American people sent us to Congress to act. There is something we can do now. There is something that we can do that will show we are prepared to respond to this threat to law and order, to this threat of violent White supremacists.

I am the lead sponsor of the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, bipartisan legislation that would address the threat of violent White supremacists and other domestic terrorists.

Our bill would establish offices to combat domestic terrorism at the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security. It would require these offices to regularly assess the domestic terrorism threat and focus their limited resources on the most significant threats. Critically, they would provide training resources to assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement in addressing the domestic terrorism threat. The House companion to my bill was introduced by my colleague and friend Congressman Brad Schneider of Illinois.

Just last week, the House of Representatives passed our bill on a unanimous voice vote. The Senate should pass it today.

In a few moments, staff will provide me with the language to ask for a unanimous consent. I am waiting so there is an opportunity for both sides to discuss the procedure moving forward. In the meantime, several of my colleagues have asked to come to the floor and address the issue. I would yield to them for comment or question, through the Chair, with the hopes that when the procedural language arrives, I might be able to make the unanimous consent request.

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Mr. DURBIN. The Senator from Virginia.

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Mr. DURBIN. 3190.

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, we are asking for unanimous consent to pass a bill that has passed the House of Representatives unanimously by a voice vote--unanimously--to empower and direct the law enforcement agencies of the United States to use their talents and resources to stop domestic terrorism, to stop the killing. We are identifying, in the course of it, the White supremacy and far-right extremism as one of the sources.

Listen to what a Trump administration Department of Justice official wrote last year in the New York Times:

White supremacy and far-right extremism are among the greatest domestic-security threats facing the United States. Regrettably, over the past 25 years, law enforcement at the Federal and State levels have been slow to respond.

Killings committed by individuals in groups associated with far-right extremist groups have risen significantly. We are not manufacturing a crisis. The Trump administration Department of Justice official concurs with our actions that they are needed.

How did I get involved in this? It goes back to 2012. As chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, I held a hearing on the threat of violent rightwing extremism after a White supremacist murdered six worshippers at a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, WI. Officials from the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and FBI--even at that time-- testified about the threat posed by violent domestic extremists.

When President Trump was asked and challenged to condemn this violence, he refused.

The question is whether the U.S. Senate, now given the same opportunity, will stand as the House of Representatives has on a unanimous, bipartisan basis to say ``enough'' when it comes to domestic terrorism inspired by White supremacy and rightwing extremism.

Let me add that there is nothing in this bill to stop the efforts of those same agencies to police and stop leftwing extremism--all extremism. I have no problem in condemning all of it, but we are focusing on the one that is the most significant in the words of the Department of Justice.

5602 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, yes, I am trying to make a political point, and it should be a bipartisan political point. It should be Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, as there was a unanimous voice vote in the House of Representatives on that same measure, and I am sorry my colleague from Wisconsin has left.

The Senate's version of this bill has been pending for 9 months--for 9 months. The House has moved its version of it. It is a timely issue. Why waste a day in making America safer? Why not tell our law enforcement agencies: Now, roll up your sleeves. Go to work. Find the most dangerous things happening in this country, and stop them.

We know one of them is White supremacists and their rightwing extremism. The President fumbled and couldn't come up with an answer 2 days ago. Today, sadly, from the Republican side, we get an objection to coming together on a bipartisan basis, as they did in the House, to address this very real issue. I am troubled by this. It is a sad moment.

I do believe the Senator from Wisconsin and many others will say they are against extremism. They had a chance to prove it by passing a measure here and refused.

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