Republican Senators on Thursday blocked the advancement of a US House-passed bill addressing domestic terrorism in the United States, following a failed vote to begin debate on the measure
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2022) Republican Senators on Thursday blocked the advancement of a US House-passed bill addressing domestic terrorism in the United States, following a failed vote to begin debate on the measure.
Senate lawmakers declined to move the bill forward in a vote of 47 to 47, with 60 votes being required to advance the measure for debate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joined Republicans in voting no, in an unexpected move that the senator from New York said he would explain later. However, Schumer also entered a motion to reconsider his vote.
The legislation would establish domestic terrorism units within the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and Justice Department. The bill would also create an interagency task force to analyze and combat white supremacist infiltration of the military and Federal law enforcement.
The Biden administration last week issued a statement in support of the legislation and other efforts to counter domestic terrorism in the United States, following a supermarket shooting that killed ten people, allegedly perpetrated by an 18-year-old mentally disturbed youth with white supremacist beliefs.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in a congressional hearing on Wednesday and called lone actors or small cells who radicalize online and seek to attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons "the greatest terrorism threat" to the United States.
