[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 56 (Thursday, March 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1805-S1806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DOMESTIC TERRORISM PREVENTION ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I'm reintroducing a piece of legislation 
that I first introduced in 2017: the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act.
  Back then, we knew there was an urgent need to address the crisis of 
hate and violent extremism in America.
  In the years since, that crisis has only gotten worse, and Congress 
has failed to take meaningful steps to address it.
  We can change that, and we can change it now.
  Earlier this week, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on gun 
violence in America.
  It happened just one day after a mass shooting in Boulder, CO claimed 
10 lives and just 1 week after a shooting spree at 3 Atlanta-area spas 
claimed 8 lives.
  During the hearing, I mentioned how these tragedies--mass shootings, 
acts of terror, hate crimes--they occur with such frequency, that we 
can't keep track.
  Each life lost is added to our national tally of failure. A failure 
to save American lives.
  And behind each number is a person.
  We lost eight of them last week in the Atlanta area in a hateful act 
of violence.
  Each of them had a name and a story.
  Xiaojie Tan was a hard-working mother, wife, and business-owner.
  Soon Chung Park was a mother and grandmother who loved to stay 
active. Her family was sure she was going to live to 100.
  Hyun Jung Kim was a former elementary school teacher who had 
immigrated to the United States from South

[[Page S1806]]

Korea. She dedicated her life to raising her two sons.
  Delaina Ashley Yaun was a newlywed and a mother of two, one of whom 
was an 8-month-old baby. She and her husband were getting a couple's 
massage at the time of the shooting.
  Young Ae Yue was a wife and mother of two sons who looked forward to 
sitting down for a traditional Korean dinner every Sunday night.
  Paul Andre Michels was a loving husband and a U.S. Army veteran.
  Daoyou Feng had recently started working at one the massage parlors 
that was attacked. She was described by a friend as ``kind and quiet.''
  Sooncha Kim was a wife, mother, grandmother, and avid line dancer. 
She and her husband had been married for 50 years.
  All of their lives were cut short by a lone gunman with hate in his 
heart.
  How many more lives must we lose before we act?
  How many more vigils, funerals must we hold?
  How many more families must be devastated forever?
  While the motives behind these horrific attacks are still being 
investigated, it is impossible to ignore that six of the victims in the 
Atlanta attack were Asian-American women.
  It happened at a moment when violence against members of the Asian-
American and Pacific Islander community has been on the rise.
  Two of my colleagues in the Senate have shown tremendous courage in 
the wake of last week's attack in Atlanta.
  I am proud to have Senator Hirono as my colleague on the Senate 
Judiciary Committee, and I am proud to serve alongside Senator 
Duckworth and represent our home State of Illinois.
  The two of them have, rightfully, criticized the Federal Government 
for failing to protect members of the AAPI community from acts of hate 
and violent extremism.
  And they have every reason to be angry.
  A year ago, they warned us.
  They-along with Vice President Harris, who was serving in the Senate 
at the time-introduced a resolution expressing alarm that people are, 
quote, ``living in fear and terror following the dramatic increase of 
threats and attacks against those of Asian descent.''
  They called on us, the Members of this body, to have a ``singular 
focus'' on protecting the safety of AAPI people, along with every 
American.
  We failed to do that.
  Since the pandemic began last March, nearly 3,800 hate incidents 
targeting members of the AAPI community have been reported.
  Now these Americans are afraid to walk the streets of their own 
neighborhoods.
  It is one of many examples that highlight the dire need to transform 
the way we deal with domestic terrorism in this country.
  Even before the pandemic began, a tide of hatred had begun sweeping 
over America.
  In 2019, the FBI reported that hate crimes had increased to the 
highest level in more than a decade.
  Another report, from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, 
found that the number of hate-motivated aggravated assaults in America 
had increased by nearly 50 percent between 2013 and 2019.
  Since hate crimes are historically underreported, we know that the 
increase is probably much greater.
  Recently, the Department of Homeland Security warned that violent, 
White supremacy is now ``the most persistent and lethal threat in the 
homeland.''
  Violent extremism is a threat to all of us, whether it is a lone 
gunman in Atlanta or hordes of blood-thirsty extremists battering down 
the doors of this very chamber.
  The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act will enhance the Federal 
Government's ability to prevent these acts of extremist violence.
  It will establish offices to combat domestic terrorism at the 
Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland 
Security.
  Those offices would regularly assess the threat of violent extremism 
so law enforcement can focus their limited resources on the most 
significant ones.
  The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act would also provide training and 
resources to assist State, local, and tribal law enforcement in 
addressing those threats.
  I want to thank Majority Leader Schumer for working expeditiously to 
bring this bill to the floor.
  I want to thank Senators Hirono and Duckworth for their leadership 
and for joining me in cosponsoring a version of this legislation that 
combines the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act with their COVID-19 Hate 
Crimes Act.
  This combined bill, which we have named the ``Domestic Terrorism and 
Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2021'', would both combat the broader 
threat of domestic terrorism and ensure that the Department of Justice 
is promptly addressing the particular threats facing the AAPI 
community.
  Over the past week, in response to the attacks in Atlanta and 
Boulder, CO, I have heard Senators on both sides of the aisle make 
speeches about taking action to prevent acts of domestic terrorism.
  Well, I can think of no better first step than voting in support of 
this legislation. To be clear, it is just one step. There is more we 
can and must do to combat domestic terrorism.
  But we have been waiting 4 years too long to sign this bill into law.
  Too many Americans have died.
  Let's work to save ourselves from another 4 years of unthinkable 
tragedies. I yield the floor.

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