Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2019

[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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