II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 894 

To authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices within the Department 

of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity 

and require the Federal Government to take steps to prevent domestic 

terrorism. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2019 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. 

COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. MARKEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, and Mr. 

REED) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices within the 

Department of Homeland Security, the Department of 

Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity and require 

the Federal Government to take steps to prevent domestic terrorism. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Terrorism 

3 Prevention Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) White supremacists and other far-right-wing 

7 extremists are the most significant domestic ter8 rorism threat facing the United States. 

9 (2) On February 22, 2019, a Trump Adminis10 tration United States Department of Justice official 

11 wrote in a New York Times op-ed that ‘‘white su12 premacy and far-right extremism are among the 

13 greatest domestic-security threats facing the United 

14 States. Regrettably, over the past 25 years, law en15 forcement, at both the Federal and State levels, has 

16 been slow to respond. . . . Killings committed by in17 dividuals and groups associated with far-right ex18 tremist groups have risen significantly.’’. 

19 (3) An April 2017 Government Accountability 

20 Office report on the significant, lethal threat posed 

21 by domestic violent extremists explained that 

22 ‘‘[s]ince September 12, 2001, the number of fatali23 ties caused by domestic violent extremists has 

24 ranged from 1 to 49 in a given year.’’ The report 

25 noted: ‘‘[F]atalities resulting from attacks by far 

26 right wing violent extremists have exceeded those 


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1 caused by radical Islamist violent extremists in 10 of 

2 the 15 years, and were the same in 3 of the years 

3 since September 12, 2001. Of the 85 violent extrem4 ist incidents that resulted in death since September 

5 12, 2001, far right wing violent extremist groups 

6 were responsible for 62 (73 percent) while radical 

7 Islamist violent extremists were responsible for 23 

8 (27 percent).’’. 

9 (4) An unclassified May 2017 joint intelligence 

10 bulletin from the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

11 and the Department of Homeland Security found 

12 that ‘‘white supremacist extremism poses [a] per13 sistent threat of lethal violence,’’ and that White su14 premacists ‘‘were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 

15 attacks from 2000 to 2016 . . . more than any 

16 other domestic extremist movement’’. 

17 (5) Fatal terrorist attacks by far-right-wing ex18 tremists include— 

19 (A) the August 5, 2012, mass shooting at 

20 a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in 

21 which a White supremacist shot and killed 6 

22 members of the gurdwara; 

23 (B) the April 13, 2014, mass shooting at 

24 a Jewish community center and a Jewish as25 sisted living facility in Overland Park, Kansas, 


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1 in which a neo-Nazi shot and killed 3 civilians, 

2 including a 14-year-old teenager; 

3 (C) the June 8, 2014, ambush in Las 

4 Vegas, Nevada, in which 2 supporters of the 

5 far-right-wing ‘‘patriot’’ movement shot and 

6 killed 2 police officers and a civilian; 

7 (D) the June 17, 2015, mass shooting at 

8 the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South 

9 Carolina, in which a White supremacist shot 

10 and killed 9 members of the church; 

11 (E) the November 27, 2015, mass shooting 

12 at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado 

13 Springs, Colorado, in which an anti-abortion ex14 tremist shot and killed a police officer and 2 ci15 vilians; 

16 (F) the March 20, 2017, murder of an Af17 rican-American man in New York City, alleg18 edly committed by a White supremacist who re19 portedly traveled to New York ‘‘for the purpose 

20 of killing black men’’; 

21 (G) the May 26, 2017, attack in Portland, 

22 Oregon, in which a White supremacist allegedly 

23 murdered 2 men and injured a third after the 

24 men defended 2 young women whom the indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S894.IS S894

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1 vidual had targeted with anti-Muslim hate 

2 speech; 

3 (H) the August 12, 2017, attack in Char4 lottesville, Virginia, in which a White suprema5 cist killed one and injured nineteen after driv6 ing his car through a crowd of individuals pro7 testing a neo-Nazi rally, and of which former 

8 Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, ‘‘It does 

9 meet the definition of domestic terrorism in our 

10 statute.’’; 

11 (I) the July 2018 murder of an African12 American woman from Kansas City, Missouri, 

13 allegedly committed by a White supremacist 

14 who reportedly bragged about being a member 

15 of the Ku Klux Klan; 

16 (J) the October 24, 2018, shooting in 

17 Jeffersontown, Kentucky, in which a White 

18 man allegedly murdered 2 African Americans at 

19 a grocery store after first attempting to enter 

20 a church with a predominantly African-Amer21 ican congregation during a service; and 

22 (K) the October 27, 2018, mass shooting 

23 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, 

24 Pennsylvania, in which a White nationalist alVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S894.IS S894

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1 legedly shot and killed 11 members of the con2 gregation. 

3 (6) In November 2018, the Federal Bureau of 

4 Investigation released its annual hate crime incident 

5 report, which found that in 2017, hate crimes in6 creased by approximately 17 percent, including a 23- 

7 percent increase in religion-based hate crimes, an 

8 18-percent increase in race-based crimes, and a 5- 

9 percent increase in crimes directed against LGBT 

10 individuals. The total number of reported hate 

11 crimes rose for the third consecutive year. The pre12 vious year’s report found that in 2016, hate crimes 

13 increased by almost 5 percent, including a 19-per14 cent rise in hate crimes against American Muslims; 

15 additionally, of the hate crimes motivated by reli16 gious bias in 2016, 53 percent were anti-Semitic. 

17 Similarly, the report analyzing 2015 data found that 

18 hate crimes increased by 6 percent that year. Much 

19 of the 2015 increase came from a 66-percent rise in 

20 attacks on American Muslims and a 9-percent rise 

21 in attacks on American Jews. In all three reports, 

22 race-based crimes were most numerous, and those 

23 crimes most often targeted African Americans. 

24 (7) On March 15, 2019, a White nationalist 

25 was arrested and charged with murder after allegVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S894.IS S894

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1 edly killing 50 Muslim worshippers and injuring 

2 more than 40 in a massacre at the Al Noor Mosque 

3 and Linwood Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. 

4 The alleged shooter posted a hate-filled, xenophobic 

5 manifesto that detailed his White nationalist ide6 ology before the massacre. Prime Minister Jacinda 

7 Ardern labeled the massacre a terrorist attack. 

8 (8) In January 2017, a right-wing extremist 

9 who had expressed anti-Muslim views was charged 

10 with murder for allegedly killing 6 people and injur11 ing 19 in a shooting rampage at a mosque in Quebec 

12 City, Canada. It was the first-ever mass shooting at 

13 a mosque in North America, and Prime Minister 

14 Trudeau labeled it a terrorist attack. 

15 (9) On February 15, 2019, Federal authorities 

16 arrested U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Christopher 

17 Paul Hasson, who was allegedly planning to kill a 

18 number of prominent journalists, professors, judges, 

19 and ‘‘leftists in general’’. In court filings, prosecu20 tors described Lieutenant Hasson as a ‘‘domestic 

21 terrorist’’ who in an email ‘‘identified himself as a 

22 White Nationalist for over 30 years and advocated 

23 for ‘focused violence’ in order to establish a white 

24 homeland.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

4 the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

5 (2) the term ‘‘domestic terrorism’’ has the 

6 meaning given the term in section 2331 of title 18, 

7 United States Code, except that it does not include 

8 acts perpetrated by individuals associated with or in9 spired by— 

10 (A) a foreign person or organization des11 ignated as a foreign terrorist organization 

12 under section 219 of the Immigration and Na13 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); 

14 (B) an individual or organization des15 ignated under Executive Order 13224 (50 

16 U.S.C. 1701 note); or 

17 (C) a state sponsor of terrorism as deter18 mined by the Secretary of State under section 

19 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 

20 (50 U.S.C. 4605), section 40 of the Arms Ex21 port Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2780), or section 

22 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

23 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 

24 (3) the term ‘‘Domestic Terrorism Executive 

25 Committee’’ means the committee within the De26 partment of Justice tasked with assessing and sharVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:15 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S894.IS S894

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1 ing information about ongoing domestic terrorism 

2 threats; 

3 (4) the term ‘‘hate crime incident’’ means an 

4 act described in section 245, 247, or 249 of title 18, 

5 United States Code, or in section 901 of the Civil 

6 Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631); 

7 (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

8 of Homeland Security; and 

9 (6) the term ‘‘uniformed services’’ has the 

10 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of title 10, 

11 United States Code. 

12 SEC. 4. OFFICES TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM. 

13 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF OFFICES TO MONITOR, ANA14 LYZE, INVESTIGATE, AND PROSECUTE DOMESTIC TER15 RORISM.— 

16 (1) DOMESTIC TERRORISM UNIT.—There is au17 thorized a Domestic Terrorism Unit in the Office of 

18 Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of 

19 Homeland Security, which shall be responsible for 

20 monitoring and analyzing domestic terrorism activ21 ity. 

22 (2) DOMESTIC TERRORISM OFFICE.—There is 

23 authorized a Domestic Terrorism Office in the 

24 Counterterrorism Section of the National Security 

25 Division of the Department of Justice— 


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1 (A) which shall be responsible for inves2 tigating and prosecuting incidents of domestic 

3 terrorism; and 

4 (B) which shall be headed by the Domestic 

5 Terrorism Counsel. 

6 (3) DOMESTIC TERRORISM SECTION OF THE

7 FBI.—There is authorized a Domestic Terrorism 

8 Section within the Counterterrorism Division of the 

9 Federal Bureau of Investigation, which shall be re10 sponsible for investigating domestic terrorism activ11 ity. 

12 (4) STAFFING.—The Secretary, the Attorney 

13 General, and the Director shall each ensure that the 

14 offices authorized under this section in their respec15 tive agencies shall have adequate staff to perform 

16 the required duties. 

17 (b) JOINT REPORT ON DOMESTIC TERRORISM.— 

18 (1) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later 

19 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

20 Act, and each year thereafter, the Secretary of 

21 Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the 

22 Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall 

23 submit a joint report authored by the domestic ter24 rorism offices authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), 

25 and (3) of subsection (a) to— 


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1 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 

2 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern3 mental Affairs, and the Select Committee on 

4 Intelligence of the Senate; and 

5 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 

6 Committee on Homeland Security, and the Per7 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

8 House of Representatives. 

9 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

10 paragraph (1) shall include— 

11 (A) an assessment of the domestic ter12 rorism threat posed by White supremacists and 

13 neo-Nazis, including White supremacist and 

14 neo-Nazi infiltration of Federal, State, and 

15 local law enforcement agencies and the uni16 formed services; and 

17 (B)(i) in the first report, an analysis of in18 cidents or attempted incidents of domestic ter19 rorism that have occurred in the United States 

20 since April 19, 1995; and 

21 (ii) in each subsequent report, an analysis 

22 of incidents or attempted incidents of domestic 

23 terrorism that occurred in the United States 

24 during the preceding year; and 


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1 (C) a quantitative analysis of domestic ter2 rorism for the preceding year, including the 

3 number of— 

4 (i) domestic terrorism related assess5 ments initiated by the Federal Bureau of 

6 Investigation, including the number of as7 sessments from each classification and sub8 category; 

9 (ii) domestic terrorism-related prelimi10 nary investigations initiated by the Federal 

11 Bureau of Investigation, including the 

12 number of preliminary investigations from 

13 each classification and subcategory, and 

14 how many preliminary investigations re15 sulted from assessments; 

16 (iii) domestic terrorism-related full in17 vestigations initiated by the Federal Bu18 reau of Investigation, including the number 

19 of full investigations from each classifica20 tion and subcategory, and how many full 

21 investigations resulted from preliminary in22 vestigations and assessments; 

23 (iv) domestic terrorism-related inci24 dents, including the number of incidents 

25 from each classification and subcategory, 


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1 the number of deaths and injuries result2 ing from each incident, and a detailed ex3 planation of each incident; 

4 (v) Federal domestic terrorism-related 

5 arrests, including the number of arrests 

6 from each classification and subcategory, 

7 and a detailed explanation of each arrest; 

8 (vi) Federal domestic terrorism-re9 lated indictments, including the number of 

10 indictments from each classification and 

11 subcategory, and a detailed explanation of 

12 each indictment; 

13 (vii) Federal domestic terrorism-re14 lated prosecutions, including the number of 

15 incidents from each classification and sub16 category, and a detailed explanation of 

17 each prosecution; 

18 (viii) Federal domestic terrorism-re19 lated convictions, including the number of 

20 convictions from each classification and 

21 subcategory, and a detailed explanation of 

22 each conviction; and 

23 (ix) Federal domestic terrorism-re24 lated weapons recoveries, including the 

25 number of each type of weapon and the 


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1 number of weapons from each classifica2 tion and subcategory. 

3 (3) HATE CRIMES.—In compiling a joint report 

4 under this subsection, the domestic terrorism offices 

5 authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of 

6 subsection (a) shall, in consultation with the Civil 

7 Rights Division of the Department of Justice and 

8 the Civil Rights Unit of the Federal Bureau of In9 vestigation, review each hate crime incident reported 

10 during the preceding year to determine whether the 

11 incident also constitutes a domestic terrorism-related 

12 incident. 

13 (4) CLASSIFICATION AND PUBLIC RELEASE.— 

14 Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall 

15 be— 

16 (A) unclassified, to the greatest extent pos17 sible, with a classified annex only if necessary; 

18 and 

19 (B) in the case of the unclassified portion 

20 of the report, posted on the public websites of 

21 the Department of Homeland Security, the De22 partment of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of 

23 Investigation. 


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1 (c) DOMESTIC TERRORISM EXECUTIVE COM2 MITTEE.—There is authorized a Domestic Terrorism Ex3 ecutive Committee, which shall— 

4 (1) meet on a regular basis, and not less regu5 larly than 4 times each year, to coordinate with 

6 United States Attorneys and other key public safety 

7 officials across the country to promote information 

8 sharing and ensure an effective, responsive, and or9 ganized joint effort to combat domestic terrorism; 

10 and 

11 (2) be co-chaired by— 

12 (A) the Domestic Terrorism Counsel au13 thorized under subsection (a)(2)(B); 

14 (B) a United States Attorney or Assistant 

15 United States Attorney; 

16 (C) a member of the National Security Di17 vision of the Department of Justice; and 

18 (D) a member of the Federal Bureau of 

19 Investigation. 

20 (d) FOCUS ON GREATEST THREATS.—The domestic 

21 terrorism offices authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), 

22 and (3) of subsection (a) shall focus their limited resources 

23 on the most significant domestic terrorism threats, as de24 termined by the number of domestic terrorism-related inci25 dents from each category and subclassification in the joint 


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1 report for the preceding year required under subsection 

2 (b). 

3 SEC. 5. TRAINING TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM. 

4 (a) REQUIRED TRAINING AND RESOURCES.—The 

5 Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Director shall 

6 review the anti-terrorism training and resource programs 

7 of their respective agencies that are provided to Federal, 

8 State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, includ9 ing the State and Local Anti-Terrorism Program that is 

10 funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the Depart11 ment of Justice, and ensure that such programs include 

12 training and resources to assist State, local, and Tribal 

13 law enforcement agencies in understanding, detecting, de14 terring, and investigating acts of domestic terrorism and 

15 White supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of law en16 forcement agencies. The domestic-terrorism training shall 

17 focus on the most significant domestic terrorism threats, 

18 as determined by the quantitative analysis in the joint re19 port required under section 4(b). 

20 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Any individual who provides do21 mestic terrorism training required under this section shall 

22 have— 

23 (1) expertise in domestic terrorism; and 


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1 (2) relevant academic, law enforcement, or 

2 other experience in matters related to domestic ter3 rorism. 

4 (c) REPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act and once each year 

7 thereafter, the Secretary, the Attorney General, and 

8 the Director shall each submit an annual report to 

9 the committees of Congress described in section 

10 4(b)(1) on the domestic terrorism training imple11 mented by their respective agencies under this sec12 tion, which shall include copies of all training mate13 rials used and the names and qualifications of the 

14 individuals who provide the training. 

15 (2) CLASSIFICATION AND PUBLIC RELEASE.— 

16 Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall 

17 be— 

18 (A) unclassified, to the greatest extent pos19 sible, with a classified annex only if necessary; 

20 and 

21 (B) in the case of the unclassified portion 

22 of each report, posted on the public website of 

23 the Department of Homeland Security, the De24 partment of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of 

25 Investigation. 


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1 SEC. 6. COMBATTING DOMESTIC TERRORISM THROUGH 

2 JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCES AND FU3 SION CENTERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The joint terrorism task forces of 

5 the Federal Bureau of Investigation and State, local, and 

6 regional fusion centers, as established under section 210A 

7 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124h), 

8 shall each, in coordination with the Domestic Terrorism 

9 Executive Committee and the domestic terrorism offices 

10 authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 

11 4(a) of this Act— 

12 (1) share intelligence to address domestic ter13 rorism activities; 

14 (2) conduct an annual, intelligence-based as15 sessment of domestic terrorism activities in their ju16 risdictions; and 

17 (3) formulate and execute a plan to address and 

18 combat domestic terrorism activities in their juris19 dictions. 

20 (b) REQUIREMENT.—The activities required under 

21 subsection (a) shall focus on the most significant domestic 

22 terrorism threats, as determined by the number of domes23 tic terrorism-related incidents from each category and sub24 classification in the joint report for the preceding year re25 quired under section 4(b). 


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1 SEC. 7. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE. 

2 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Attorney General, the Director, the Sec4 retary, and the Secretary of Defense shall establish an 

5 interagency task force to combat White supremacist and 

6 neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed services. 

7 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De9 partment of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

10 the Department of Homeland Security, and the Depart11 ment of Defense such sums as may be necessary to carry 

12 out this Act. 

Æ 


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