WASHINGTON (AP) - The House passed legislation Wednesday night that would devote more federal resources to preventing domestic terrorism in response to the racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.The 222-203, nearly party-line 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 over the weekend.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."We in Congress can’t stop the likes of (Fox News host) Tucker Carlson from spewing hateful, dangerous replacement theory ideology across the airwaves.
Congress hasn’t been able to ban the sale of assault weapons. The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act is what Congress can do this week to try to prevent future Buffalo shootings," Rep.
Brad Schneider, D-Ill., who first introduced the measure in 2017, said on the House floor.The measure seeks to prevent another attack like the one that took place in Buffalo on Saturday.