The House has passed legislation that would devote more federal resources to preventing domestic terrorism in response to the racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.
The vote Wednesday night was along party lines, 222-203, with one Republican, Illinois' Adam Kinzinger, in favor. The House passed a similar measure in 2020 only to have it languish in the Senate. But Democrats are pushing for a broader federal focus on domestic terrorism as they lack support in the Senate to move ahead with gun-control legislation.
Numerous Republican lawmakers opposed bolstering the Justice Department's domestic surveillance efforts.
“As we took 9/11 seriously, we need to take this seriously. This is a domestic form of the same terrorism that killed the innocent people of New York City and now this assault in Buffalo and many other places,” saidSen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is sponsoring an identical bill in the Senate.
