Senate Republicans blocked the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Bill on Thursday pushed by Democrats in the wake of the Buffalo shooting that killed ten people.
The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last week, which is designed to establish “new requirements to expand the availability of information on domestic terrorism and the relationship between domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
“The act seeks to create offices in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice to monitor and track potential domestic terrorism threats. If signed into law by President Joe Biden, the bill would direct the FBI to assign a special agent at each field office to investigate hate crimes related to domestic terrorism. Federal agencies would also be required to produce biannual reports on white supremacy and neo-Nazis infiltration of federal, state and local enforcement agencies,” RFT reported.
The bill did not pass on the Senate floor as it failed to achieve the 60 votes needed. The final tally of the vote was 47-47. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer changed his vote from an “aye” to a “no” at the end in a procedural move hoping to bring the bill back up again in the future, according to CNN.
On Wednesday, Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) postponed the votes for his gun control bill that would expand background checks for gun purchases. He moved the vote until after next week’s Memorial Day congressional recess.
Schumer said there will be no imminent vote on a gun control bill following the deadly mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed at least 19 students and 2 teachers. He called off the legislation from the floor to give Democrats and Republicans a chance to negotiate the legislation.
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