115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 49 

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. 

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 
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counter-demonstrators gathered at Emancipation Park in 

Charlottesville; 

Whereas 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 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 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 That Congress— 

4 (1) condemns the racist violence and domestic 

5 terrorist attack that took place between August 11 

6 and August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia; 

7 (2) recognizes— 
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1 (A) Heather Heyer, who was killed, and 19 

2 other individuals who were injured in the re3 ported domestic terrorist attack; and 

4 (B) several other individuals who were in5 jured in separate attacks while standing up to 

6 hate and intolerance; 

7 (3) recognizes the public service and heroism of 

8 Virginia State Police officers Lieutenant H. Jay 

9 Cullen and Trooper Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, who 

10 lost their lives while responding to the events from 

11 the air; 

12 (4) offers— 

13 (A) condolences to the families and friends 

14 of Heather Heyer, Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen, 

15 and Trooper Pilot Berke M.M. Bates; and 

16 (B) sympathy and support to those individ17 uals who are recovering from injuries sustained 

18 during the attacks; 

19 (5) expresses support for the Charlottesville 

20 community as the community heals following this 

21 demonstration of violent bigotry; 

22 (6) rejects White nationalism, White suprem23 acy, and neo-Nazism as hateful expressions of intol24 erance that are contradictory to the values that de25 fine the people of the United States; and 
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1 (7) urges— 

2 (A) the President and his administration 

3 to— 

4 (i) speak out against hate groups that 

5 espouse racism, extremism, xenophobia, 

6 anti-Semitism, and White supremacy; and 

7 (ii) use all resources available to the 

8 President and the President’s Cabinet to 

9 address the growing prevalence of those 

10 hate groups in the United States; and 

11 (B) the Attorney General to work with— 

12 (i) the Secretary of Homeland Secu13 rity to investigate thoroughly all acts of vi14 olence, intimidation, and domestic ter15 rorism by White supremacists, White na16 tionalists, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, 

17 and associated groups in order to deter18 mine if any criminal laws have been vio19 lated and to prevent those groups from fo20 menting and facilitating additional vio21 lence; and 

22 (ii) the heads of other Federal agen23 cies to improve the reporting of hate 

24 crimes and to emphasize the importance of 

25 the collection, and the reporting to the 
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1 Federal Bureau of Investigation, of hate 

2 crime data by State and local agencies. 

Passed the Senate September 11, 2017. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 49 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Condemning the violence and domestic terrorist atthe threats posed by those groups. Cabinet to use all available resources to address and urging the President and the President’s Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups, ing White nationalists, White supremacists, the support for the Charlottesville community, reject- uals who were injured by the violence, expressing deepest sympathies and support to those individ- friends of those individuals who were killed and ing deepest condolences to the families and lost their lives while monitoring the events, offer- Virginia, recognizing the first responders who gust 11 and August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, tack that took place during events between Au-