[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 136 (Friday, July 31, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2021

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                               speech of

                      HON. BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 30, 2020

  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my two 
amendments, Amendment No. 137 and Amendment No. 138, both which work to 
address the incidents of domestic terror that are increasing across the 
country.
  According to the Anti-Defamation League, in 2019, domestic extremists 
killed at least 42 people in the United States in 17 separate 
incidents. This number makes 2019 the sixth deadliest year on record 
for domestic extremist-related killings. Last year, a Trump 
Administration 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.
  It is not enough to just condemn hate; we need to equip law 
enforcement with the tools needed to identify threats and prevent 
violent acts of domestic terrorism.
  I am pleased that these two amendments are included in H.R. 7617 to 
help address this urgent need to keep Americans safe from these heinous 
acts of discrimination.
  The first, Amendment No. 137 allocates $1 million to direct the FBI 
to track and report to Congress every year on extremist activity in law 
enforcement agencies. It is critical that our law enforcement agencies 
are held to the highest standards. My amendment allocates these funds 
for the FBI to combat white supremacist infiltration of the uniformed 
services and federal law enforcement.
  The second, Amendment No. 138, allocates $10 million in funds so that 
the FBI can assign a special agent or hate crimes liaison to each field 
office of the FBI to investigate hate crime incidents with a nexus to 
domestic terrorism, so that the agency has the resources in place to 
address this national issue.
  I thank the Committee for including both of these important 
amendments in En Bloc 2.
  The time is now to take the grave threat of domestic terrorism 
seriously. That means not only speaking out but giving our agencies the 
tools to combat it immediately. I believe these amendments are an 
important first step to effectively monitoring and putting a stop to 
extremist violence in America.

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