[115th Congress Public Law 58]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 131 STAT. 1149]]

Public Law 115-58
115th Congress

                            Joint Resolution


 
 Condemning the violence and domestic terrorist attack that took place 
during events between August 11 and August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, 
 Virginia, recognizing the first responders who lost their lives while 
monitoring the events, offering deepest condolences to the families and 
friends of those individuals who were killed and deepest sympathies and 
     support to those individuals who were injured by the violence, 
 expressing support for the Charlottesville community, rejecting White 
nationalists, White supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other 
hate groups, and urging the President and the President's Cabinet to use 
     all available resources to address the threats posed by those 
           groups. <<NOTE: Sept. 14, 2017 -  [S.J. Res. 49]>> 

Whereas, on the night of Friday, August 11, 2017, a day before a White 
    nationalist demonstration was scheduled to occur in Charlottesville, 
    Virginia, hundreds of torch-bearing White nationalists, White 
    supremacists, Klansmen, and neo-Nazis chanted racist, anti-Semitic, 
    and anti-immigrant slogans and violently engaged with counter-
    demonstrators on and around the grounds of the University of 
    Virginia in Charlottesville;

Whereas, on Saturday, August 12, 2017, ahead of the scheduled start time 
    of the planned march, protestors and counter-demonstrators gathered 
    at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville;

Whereas <<NOTE: Heather Heyer.>>  the extremist demonstration turned 
    violent, culminating in the death of peaceful counter-demonstrator 
    Heather Heyer and injuries to 19 other individuals after a neo-Nazi 
    sympathizer allegedly drove a vehicle into a crowd, an act that 
    resulted in a charge of second degree murder, 3 counts of malicious 
    wounding, and 1 count of hit and run;

Whereas <<NOTE: H. Jay Cullen. Berke M.M. Bates.>>  2 Virginia State 
    Police officers, Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Pilot Berke 
    M.M. Bates, died in a helicopter crash as they patrolled the events 
    occurring below them;

Whereas the Charlottesville community is engaged in a healing process 
    following this horrific and violent display of bigotry; and

Whereas White nationalists, White supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-
    Nazis, and other hate groups reportedly are organizing similar 
    events in other cities in the United States and communities 
    everywhere are concerned about the growing and open display of hate 
    and violence being perpetrated by those groups: Now, therefore, be 
    it

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress--
            (1) condemns the racist violence and domestic terrorist 
        attack that took place between August 11 and August 12, 2017, in 
        Charlottesville, Virginia;
            (2) recognizes--

[[Page 131 STAT. 1150]]

                    (A) Heather Heyer, who was killed, and 19 other 
                individuals who were injured in the reported domestic 
                terrorist attack; and
                    (B) several other individuals who were injured in 
                separate attacks while standing up to hate and 
                intolerance;
            (3) recognizes the public service and heroism of Virginia 
        State Police officers Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Pilot 
        Berke M.M. Bates, who lost their lives while responding to the 
        events from the air;
            (4) offers--
                    (A) condolences to the families and friends of 
                Heather Heyer, Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen, and Trooper 
                Pilot Berke M.M. Bates; and
                    (B) sympathy and support to those individuals who 
                are recovering from injuries sustained during the 
                attacks;
            (5) expresses support for the Charlottesville community as 
        the community heals following this demonstration of violent 
        bigotry;
            (6) rejects White nationalism, White supremacy, and neo-
        Nazism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are 
        contradictory to the values that define the people of the United 
        States; and
            (7) urges--
                    (A) the President and his administration to--
                          (i) speak out against hate groups that espouse 
                      racism, extremism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and 
                      White supremacy; and
                          (ii) use all resources available to the 
                      President and the President's Cabinet to address 
                      the growing prevalence of those hate groups in the 
                      United States; and
                    (B) the Attorney General to work with--
                          (i) the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
                      investigate thoroughly all acts of violence, 
                      intimidation, and domestic terrorism by White 
                      supremacists, White nationalists, neo-Nazis, the 
                      Ku Klux Klan, and associated groups in order to 
                      determine if any criminal laws have been violated 
                      and to prevent those groups from fomenting and 
                      facilitating additional violence; and
                          (ii) the heads of other Federal agencies to 
                      improve the reporting of hate crimes and to 
                      emphasize the importance of the collection, and 
                      the reporting to the

[[Page 131 STAT. 1151]]

                      Federal Bureau of Investigation, of hate crime 
                      data by State and local agencies.

    Approved September 14, 2017.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S.J. Res. 49:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 163 (2017):
            Sept. 11, considered and passed Senate.
            Sept. 12, considered and passed House.
DAILY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS (2017):
            Sept. 14, Presidential statement.

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