(PatriotWise.com)- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is eager to pass the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act this week. Negotiations with obstinate Democrats like Omar, who represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, began on Monday.
Following the allegedly ‘racially motivated’ massacre in Buffalo this weekend, House Democrats are seeking Rep. Ilhan Omar’s backing to resurrect a measure aimed at combating domestic terrorism. Reports say Omar once called the legislation “horrible.”
The shooting, which killed ten people and injured thirteen others, has put pressure on Omar and other progressives concerned about the anti-terrorism bill’s passage. Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old white man, shot victims, including ten black individuals, at a Buffalo, New York grocery store. According to reports, officials believe his spree was motivated by racial hatred.
Jeremy Slevin, a spokesperson for Omar, said that negotiations are underway and that the congresswoman had reservations about a previous version of the bill. Omar is trying to improve it to suit her concerns, reports say.
The anti-terrorism law once had bipartisan support in the House, but Republicans have turned against it, claiming that efforts to prosecute domestic terrorists may be used to investigate conservatives who exercise free speech.
According to a recent report, Ilhan Omar and several other progressive Democrats rejected the anti-terrorism bill, fearing that it would discriminate against Muslims and other minorities. The bill would also improve local police training to detect, dissuade, and investigate domestic terrorism. The progressive group’s opposition robbed the measure of the votes it needed to pass the House.
Omar told an online publication in April that it was a “horrible” bill after the Judiciary Committee passed it on a partisan vote.
After Saturday’s massacre in Buffalo, New York, the sponsor of a measure to prohibit the sale of assault weapons has urged Congress to act, according to reports. Democrat congressman Brad Schneider claims that the growth of racially motivated violent extremism is a significant threat to Americans across the country, but there is something Congress can do to avoid future Buffalo shootings.
The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act would establish permanent offices under the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and the FBI to monitor, investigate, and punish incidents of domestic terrorism. The bill would also oblige these law enforcement agencies to provide bi-annual assessments on the level of domestic terrorist threats and devote resources to combat them.
Too bad there are no ‘bi-annual assessments’ to combat government waste, deceit, and infringement of an individual’s rights.
