Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. ESCOBAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 350, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act.

Here we are again, reeling from another horrific domestic terrorist attack. This week a racially motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York, perpetrated by an avowed white supremacist.

In 2018, it was the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. In April of 2019, it was a synagogue in Poway, California. On August 3, 2019, it was my community of El Paso, Texas.

After every attack on minority communities by radicalized and heavily armed young men who have embraced white supremacy, our media and even some of our colleagues, leaders in this country, refuse to call this violence what it is: domestic terrorism.

H.R. 350 calls on the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to dedicate resources specifically to track and combat the growing threat of white supremacy and neo-Nazism in the United States.

H.R. 350 will give communities like mine a fighting chance the next time an angry racist shares a deranged screed online and decides to drive hours to attack vulnerable and innocent people at our grocery stores or our houses of worship.

The Anti-Defamation League has tracked 450 murders over the last decade committed by these terrorists. Rightwing extremists are responsible for over 75 percent of these horrific attacks, and 50 percent of these horrific attacks are by white supremacists.

Mr. Speaker, America has a racism problem. America has a hate problem. America has a domestic terrorism problem. We must address it. The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act is a crucial step in the right direction.

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