The House passed legislation Wednesday night that would devote more federal resources to preventing domestic terrorism in response to the mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.
The 222-203 vote was an answer to the growing pressure Congress faces to address gun violence and white supremacist attacks, a crisis that was escalated following two mass shootings.
The House passed a similar measure in 2020 only to have it languish in the Senate. Lacking support in the Senate to move ahead with the gun-control legislation that they say is necessary to stop mass shootings, Democrats are instead pushing for a broader federal focus on domestic terrorism.
Supporters of the bill say it will fill the gaps in intelligence-sharing among the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and the FBI so that they can better track and respond to the growing threat of white extremist terrorism.
Under current law, the three federal agencies already work to investigate, prevent and prosecute acts of domestic terrorism. But the bill would require each agency to open offices specifically dedicated to those tasks and create an interagency task force to combat the infiltration of white supremacy in the military.
Domestic terrorism can be countered with greater predictive analytical capabilities offered by UMBRA.
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