Bill Summary
The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019 is a law that aims to combat domestic terrorism in the United States. It establishes dedicated offices within the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity and take necessary steps to prevent it. The legislation also defines key terms and requires annual reports on domestic terrorism and hate crime incidents, with a focus on the threat posed by white supremacists and neo-Nazis. The Act authorizes the creation of multiple offices and committees, as well as funding for training programs and agencies involved in combating domestic terrorism.
Possible Impacts
1. The creation of dedicated domestic terrorism offices within key government agencies will allow for better analysis and monitoring of domestic terrorist activity, ultimately leading to more effective prevention measures.
2. The Act highlights the significant threat posed by white supremacists and other far-right extremists, citing past domestic terrorist attacks committed by these groups as evidence.
3. In addition to addressing domestic terrorism, the Act also tackles the increasing number of hate crimes in the United States, particularly those targeting religious and racial minorities. This provision will provide better protection and justice for these marginalized groups.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1931 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1931
To authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices within the Department
of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation to analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity and
require the Federal Government to take steps to prevent domestic
terrorism.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 27, 2019
Mr. Schneider (for himself, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, and Mr. Gonzalez of
Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on
Homeland Security, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices within the Department
of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation to analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity and
require the Federal Government to take steps to prevent domestic
terrorism.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of
2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) White supremacists and other far-right-wing extremists
are the most significant domestic terrorism threat facing the
United States.
(2) On February 22, 2019, a Trump Administration United
States Department of Justice official wrote in a New York Times
op-ed that ``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 both the Federal and State levels, has been slow to respond.
. . . Killings committed by individuals and groups associated
with far-right extremist groups have risen significantly.''.
(3) An April 2017 Government Accountability Office report
on the significant, lethal threat posed by domestic violent
extremists explained that ``[s]ince September 12, 2001, the
number of fatalities caused by domestic violent extremists has
ranged from 1 to 49 in a given year.'' The report noted:
``[F]atalities resulting from attacks by far right wing violent
extremists have exceeded those caused by radical Islamist
violent extremists in 10 of the 15 years, and were the same in
3 of the years since September 12, 2001. Of the 85 violent
extremist incidents that resulted in death since September 12,
2001, far right wing violent extremist groups were responsible
for 62 (73 percent) while radical Islamist violent extremists
were responsible for 23 (27 percent).''.
(4) An unclassified May 2017 joint intelligence bulletin
from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of
Homeland Security found that ``white supremacist extremism
poses [a] persistent threat of lethal violence,'' and that
White supremacists ``were responsible for 49 homicides in 26
attacks from 2000 to 2016 . . . more than any other domestic
extremist movement''.
(5) Fatal terrorist attacks by far-right-wing extremists
include--
(A) the August 5, 2012, mass shooting at a Sikh
gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in which a White
supremacist shot and killed 6 members of the gurdwara;
(B) the April 13, 2014, mass shooting at a Jewish
community center and a Jewish assisted living facility
in Overland Park, Kansas, in which a neo-Nazi shot and
killed 3 civilians, including a 14-year-old teenager;
(C) the June 8, 2014, ambush in Las Vegas, Nevada,
in which 2 supporters of the far-right-wing ``patriot''
movement shot and killed 2 police officers and a
civilian;
(D) the June 17, 2015, mass shooting at the Emanuel
AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in which a
White supremacist shot and killed 9 members of the
church;
(E) the November 27, 2015, mass shooting at a
Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs,
Colorado, in which an anti-abortion extremist shot and
killed a police officer and 2 civilians;
(F) the March 20, 2017, murder of an African-
American man in New York City, allegedly committed by a
White supremacist who reportedly traveled to New York
``for the purpose of killing black men'';
(G) the May 26, 2017, attack in Portland, Oregon,
in which a White supremacist allegedly murdered 2 men
and injured a third after the men defended 2 young
women whom the individual had targeted with anti-Muslim
hate speech;
(H) the August 12, 2017, attack in Charlottesville,
Virginia, in which a White supremacist killed one and
injured nineteen after driving his car through a crowd
of individuals protesting a neo-Nazi rally, and of
which former Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, ``It
does meet the definition of domestic terrorism in our
statute.'';
(I) the July 2018 murder of an African-American
woman from Kansas City, Missouri, allegedly committed
by a White supremacist who reportedly bragged about
being a member of the Ku Klux Klan;
(J) the October 24, 2018, shooting in
Jeffersontown, Kentucky, in which a White man allegedly
murdered 2 African Americans at a grocery store after
first attempting to enter a church with a predominantly
African-American congregation during a service; and
(K) the October 27, 2018, mass shooting at the Tree
of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in which
a White nationalist allegedly shot and killed 11
members of the congregation.
(6) In November 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
released its annual hate crime incident report, which found
that in 2017, hate crimes increased by approximately 17
percent, including a 23-percent increase in religion-based hate
crimes, an 18-percent increase in race-based crimes, and a 5-
percent increase in crimes directed against LGBT individuals.
The total number of reported hate crimes rose for the third
consecutive year. The previous year's report found that in
2016, hate crimes increased by almost 5 percent, including a
19-percent rise in hate crimes against American Muslims;
additionally, of the hate crimes motivated by religious bias in
2016, 53 percent were anti-Semitic. Similarly, the report
analyzing 2015 data found that hate crimes increased by 6
percent that year. Much of the 2015 increase came from a 66-
percent rise in attacks on American Muslims and a 9-percent
rise in attacks on American Jews. In all three reports, race-
based crimes were most numerous, and those crimes most often
targeted African Americans.
(7) On March 15, 2019, a White nationalist was arrested and
charged with murder after allegedly killing 50 Muslim
worshippers and injuring more than 40 in a massacre at the Al
Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The alleged shooter posted a hate-filled, xenophobic manifesto
that detailed his White nationalist ideology before the
massacre. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern labeled the massacre a
terrorist attack.
(8) In January 2017, a right-wing extremist who had
expressed anti-Muslim views was charged with murder for
allegedly killing 6 people and injuring 19 in a shooting
rampage at a mosque in Quebec City, Canada. It was the first-
ever mass shooting at a mosque in North America, and Prime
Minister Trudeau labeled it a terrorist attack.
(9) On February 15, 2019, Federal authorities arrested U.S.
Coast Guard Lieutenant Christopher Paul Hasson, who was
allegedly planning to kill a number of prominent journalists,
professors, judges, and ``leftists in general''. In court
filings, prosecutors described Lieutenant Hasson as a
``domestic terrorist'' who in an email ``identified himself as
a White Nationalist for over 30 years and advocated for
`focused violence' in order to establish a white homeland.''.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation;
(2) the term ``domestic terrorism'' has the meaning given
the term in section 2331 of title 18, United States Code,
except that it does not include acts perpetrated by individuals
associated with or inspired by--
(A) a foreign person or organization designated as
a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189);
(B) an individual or organization designated under
Executive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note); or
(C) a state sponsor of terrorism as determined by
the Secretary of State under section 6(j) of the Export
Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 4605), section 40
of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780), or
section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2371);
(3) the term ``Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee''
means the committee within the Department of Justice tasked
with assessing and sharing information about ongoing domestic
terrorism threats;
(4) the term ``hate crime incident'' means an act described
in section 245, 247, or 249 of title 18, United States Code, or
in section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.
3631);
(5) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Homeland
Security; and
(6) the term ``uniformed services'' has the meaning given
the term in section 101(a) of title 10, United States Code.
SEC. 4. OFFICES TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM.
(a) Authorization of Offices To Monitor, Analyze, Investigate, and
Prosecute Domestic Terrorism.--
(1) Domestic terrorism unit.--There is authorized a
Domestic Terrorism Unit in the Office of Intelligence and
Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security, which shall be
responsible for monitoring and analyzing domestic terrorism
activity.
(2) Domestic terrorism office.--There is authorized a
Domestic Terrorism Office in the Counterterrorism Section of
the National Security Division of the Department of Justice--
(A) which shall be responsible for investigating
and prosecuting incidents of domestic terrorism; and
(B) which shall be headed by the Domestic Terrorism
Counsel.
(3) Domestic terrorism section of the fbi.--There is
authorized a Domestic Terrorism Section within the
Counterterrorism Division of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, which shall be responsible for investigating
domestic terrorism activity.
(4) Staffing.--The Secretary, the Attorney General, and the
Director shall each ensure that the offices authorized under
this section in their respective agencies shall have adequate
staff to perform the required duties.
(b) Joint Report on Domestic Terrorism.--
(1) Annual report required.--Not later than 180 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter,
the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and
the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall
submit a joint report authored by the domestic terrorism
offices authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of
subsection (a) to--
(A) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the
Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee
on Homeland Security, and the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Contents.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) an assessment of the domestic terrorism threat
posed by White supremacists and neo-Nazis, including
White supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of Federal,
State, and local law enforcement agencies and the
uniformed services; and
(B)(i) in the first report, an analysis of
incidents or attempted incidents of domestic terrorism
that have occurred in the United States since April 19,
1995; and
(ii) in each subsequent report, an analysis of
incidents or attempted incidents of domestic terrorism
that occurred in the United States during the preceding
year; and
(C) a quantitative analysis of domestic terrorism
for the preceding year, including the number of--
(i) domestic terrorism related assessments
initiated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, including the number of
assessments from each classification and
subcategory;
(ii) domestic terrorism-related preliminary
investigations initiated by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, including the number of
preliminary investigations from each
classification and subcategory, and how many
preliminary investigations resulted from
assessments;
(iii) domestic terrorism-related full
investigations initiated by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, including the number of full
investigations from each classification and
subcategory, and how many full investigations
resulted from preliminary investigations and
assessments;
(iv) domestic terrorism-related incidents,
including the number of incidents from each
classification and subcategory, the number of
deaths and injuries resulting from each
incident, and a detailed explanation of each
incident;
(v) Federal domestic terrorism-related
arrests, including the number of arrests from
each classification and subcategory, and a
detailed explanation of each arrest;
(vi) Federal domestic terrorism-related
indictments, including the number of
indictments from each classification and
subcategory, and a detailed explanation of each
indictment;
(vii) Federal domestic terrorism-related
prosecutions, including the number of incidents
from each classification and subcategory, and a
detailed explanation of each prosecution;
(viii) Federal domestic terrorism-related
convictions, including the number of
convictions from each classification and
subcategory, and a detailed explanation of each
conviction; and
(ix) Federal domestic terrorism-related
weapons recoveries, including the number of
each type of weapon and the number of weapons
from each classification and subcategory.
(3) Hate crimes.--In compiling a joint report under this
subsection, the domestic terrorism offices authorized under
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) shall, in
consultation with the Civil Rights Division of the Department
of Justice and the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, review each hate crime incident reported during
the preceding year to determine whether the incident also
constitutes a domestic terrorism-related incident.
(4) Classification and public release.--Each report
submitted under paragraph (1) shall be--
(A) unclassified, to the greatest extent possible,
with a classified annex only if necessary; and
(B) in the case of the unclassified portion of the
report, posted on the public websites of the Department
of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and
the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(c) Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee.--There is authorized a
Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee, which shall--
(1) meet on a regular basis, and not less regularly than 4
times each year, to coordinate with United States Attorneys and
other key public safety officials across the country to promote
information sharing and ensure an effective, responsive, and
organized joint effort to combat domestic terrorism; and
(2) be co-chaired by--
(A) the Domestic Terrorism Counsel authorized under
subsection (a)(2)(B);
(B) a United States Attorney or Assistant United
States Attorney;
(C) a member of the National Security Division of
the Department of Justice; and
(D) a member of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
(d) Focus on Greatest Threats.--The domestic terrorism offices
authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) shall
focus their limited resources on the most significant domestic
terrorism threats, as determined by the number of domestic terrorism-
related incidents from each category and subclassification in the joint
report for the preceding year required under subsection (b).
SEC. 5. TRAINING TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM.
(a) Required Training and Resources.--The Secretary, the Attorney
General, and the Director shall review the anti-terrorism training and
resource programs of their respective agencies that are provided to
Federal, State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, including
the State and Local Anti-Terrorism Program that is funded by the Bureau
of Justice Assistance of the Department of Justice, and ensure that
such programs include training and resources to assist State, local,
and Tribal law enforcement agencies in understanding, detecting,
deterring, and investigating acts of domestic terrorism and White
supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of law enforcement agencies. The
domestic-terrorism training shall focus on the most significant
domestic terrorism threats, as determined by the quantitative analysis
in the joint report required under section 4(b).
(b) Requirement.--Any individual who provides domestic terrorism
training required under this section shall have--
(1) expertise in domestic terrorism; and
(2) relevant academic, law enforcement, or other experience
in matters related to domestic terrorism.
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act and once each year thereafter, the
Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Director shall each
submit an annual report to the committees of Congress described
in section 4(b)(1) on the domestic terrorism training
implemented by their respective agencies under this section,
which shall include copies of all training materials used and
the names and qualifications of the individuals who provide the
training.
(2) Classification and public release.--Each report
submitted under paragraph (1) shall be--
(A) unclassified, to the greatest extent possible,
with a classified annex only if necessary; and
(B) in the case of the unclassified portion of each
report, posted on the public website of the Department
of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and
the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
SEC. 6. COMBATTING DOMESTIC TERRORISM THROUGH JOINT TERRORISM TASK
FORCES AND FUSION CENTERS.
(a) In General.--The joint terrorism task forces of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and State, local, and regional fusion centers,
as established under section 210A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002
(6 U.S.C. 124h), shall each, in coordination with the Domestic
Terrorism Executive Committee and the domestic terrorism offices
authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 4(a) of this
Act--
(1) share intelligence to address domestic terrorism
activities;
(2) conduct an annual, intelligence-based assessment of
domestic terrorism activities in their jurisdictions; and
(3) formulate and execute a plan to address and combat
domestic terrorism activities in their jurisdictions.
(b) Requirement.--The activities required under subsection (a)
shall focus on the most significant domestic terrorism threats, as
determined by the number of domestic terrorism-related incidents from
each category and subclassification in the joint report for the
preceding year required under section 4(b).
SEC. 7. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Attorney General, the Director, the Secretary, and the Secretary of
Defense shall establish an interagency task force to combat White
supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed services.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of
Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of
Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this Act.
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