II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2148 

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 

NOVEMBER 16, 2017 

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

COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. 

SCHATZ) 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 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) White supremacists and other right-wing 

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

9 (2) A 2009 report from the Extremism and 

10 Radicalization Branch of the Department of Home11 land Security concluded ‘‘that lone wolves and small 

12 terrorist cells embracing violent right-wing extremist 

13 ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism 

14 threat in the United States’’. 

15 (3) An unclassified May 2017 joint intelligence 

16 bulletin from the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

17 and the Department of Homeland Security found 

18 that ‘‘white supremacist extremism poses [a] per19 sistent threat of lethal violence,’’ and that White su20 premacists ‘‘were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 

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

22 other domestic extremist movement’’. 

23 (4) According to the New America Foundation, 

24 since September 11, 2001, 76 Americans have died 

25 in terrorist attacks by domestic extremists in the 


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1 United States. 89 percent were killed by far-right2 wing extremists. 

3 (5) The fatal attacks described in paragraph 

4 (4) include— 

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

6 a Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in 

7 which a White supremacist shot and killed 6 

8 members of the gurdwara; 

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

10 a Jewish community center and a Jewish as11 sisted living facility in Overland Park, Kansas, 

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

13 including a 14-year-old teenager; 

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

15 Vegas, Nevada, in which 2 supporters of the far 

16 right-wing ‘‘patriot’’ movement shot and killed 

17 2 police officers and a civilian; 

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

19 the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South 

20 Carolina, in which a White supremacist shot 

21 and killed 9 members of the church; 

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

23 at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado 

24 Springs, Colorado, in which an anti-abortion exVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:01 Nov 22, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2148.IS S2148

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1 tremist shot and killed a police officer and 2 ci2 vilians; 

3 (F) the March 20, 2017, murder of an Af4 rican-American man in New York City, alleg5 edly committed by a White supremacist who re6 portedly traveled to New York ‘‘for the purpose 

7 of killing black men’’; 

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

9 Oregon, in which a White supremacist allegedly 

10 murdered 2 men and injured a third after the 

11 men defended 2 young women whom the indi12 vidual had targeted with anti-Muslim hate 

13 speech; and 

14 (H) the August 12, 2017, attack in Char15 lottesville, Virginia, in which a White suprema16 cist allegedly killed one and injured nineteen 

17 after driving his car through a crowd of individ18 uals protesting a neo-Nazi rally, and of which 

19 Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, ‘‘It does 

20 meet the definition of domestic terrorism in our 

21 statute.’’. 

22 (6) The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on 

23 Extremism found that right-wing extremists were re24 sponsible for 150 terrorist acts, attempted acts, and 

25 plots and conspiracies that took place in the United 


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1 States between 1993 and 2017. These attacks re2 sulted in the deaths of 255 people and injured more 

3 than 600. 

4 (7) According to the Southern Poverty Law 

5 Center, in 2015, for the first time in 5 years, the 

6 number of hate groups in the United States rose by 

7 14 percent. The increase included a more than two8 fold rise in the number of Ku Klux Klan chapters. 

9 The number of anti-government militias and ‘‘pa10 triot’’ groups also grew by 14 percent in 2015. 

11 (8) In November 2017, the Federal Bureau of 

12 Investigation released its annual hate crime incident 

13 report, which found that in 2016, hate crimes in14 creased by almost 5 percent, including a 19-percent 

15 rise in hate crimes against American Muslims. Simi16 larly, the previous year’s report found that in 2015, 

17 hate crimes increased by 6 percent. Much of that in18 crease came from a 66-percent rise in attacks on 

19 American Muslims. In both reports, race-based 

20 crimes were most numerous; more than 50 percent 

21 of those hate crimes targeted African Americans. 

22 (9) In January 2017, a right-wing extremist 

23 who had expressed anti-Muslim views was charged 

24 with murder for allegedly killing 6 people and injur25 ing nineteen in a shooting rampage at a mosque in 


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1 Quebec City, Canada. It was the first-ever mass 

2 shooting at a mosque in North America, and Prime 

3 Minister Trudeau labeled it a terrorist attack. 

4 (10) Between January and July 2017, news re5 ports found 63 incidents in which American mosques 

6 were targeted by threats, vandalism, or arson. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act— 

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

10 the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

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

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

13 United States Code; 

14 (3) the term ‘‘Domestic Terrorism Executive 

15 Committee’’ means the committee within the De16 partment of Justice tasked with assessing and shar17 ing information about ongoing domestic terrorism 

18 threats; and 

19 (4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

20 of Homeland Security. 

21 SEC. 4. OFFICES TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM. 

22 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF OFFICES TO MONITOR, ANA23 LYZE, INVESTIGATE, AND PROSECUTE DOMESTIC TER24 RORISM.— 


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1 (1) DOMESTIC TERRORISM UNIT.—There is au2 thorized a Domestic Terrorism Unit in the Office of 

3 Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of 

4 Homeland Security, which shall be responsible for 

5 monitoring and analyzing domestic terrorism activ6 ity. 

7 (2) DOMESTIC TERRORISM OFFICE.—There is 

8 authorized a Domestic Terrorism Office in the 

9 Counterterrorism Section of the National Security 

10 Division of the Department of Justice— 

11 (A) which shall be responsible for inves12 tigating and prosecuting incidents of domestic 

13 terrorism; and 

14 (B) which shall be headed by the Domestic 

15 Terrorism Counsel. 

16 (3) DOMESTIC TERRORISM SECTION OF THE

17 FBI.—There is authorized a Domestic Terrorism 

18 Section within the Counterterrorism Division of the 

19 Federal Bureau of Investigation, which shall be re20 sponsible for investigating domestic terrorism activ21 ity. 

22 (b) JOINT REPORT ON DOMESTIC TERRORISM.— 

23 (1) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later 

24 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act, and each year thereafter, the Secretary of 


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1 Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the 

2 Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall 

3 submit a joint report authored by the domestic ter4 rorism offices authorized under paragraphs (1), (2), 

5 and (3) of subsection (a) to— 

6 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 

7 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern8 mental Affairs, and the Select Committee on 

9 Intelligence of the Senate; and 

10 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 

11 Committee on Homeland Security, and the Per12 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

13 House of Representatives. 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

15 paragraph (1) shall include— 

16 (A) an assessment of the domestic ter17 rorism threat posed by White supremacists, in18 cluding White supremacist infiltration and re19 cruitment of law enforcement officers and mem20 bers of the Armed Forces; 

21 (B)(i) in the first report, an analysis of in22 cidents or attempted incidents of domestic ter23 rorism that have occurred in the United States 

24 since April 19, 1995; and 


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1 (ii) in each subsequent report, an analysis 

2 of incidents or attempted incidents of domestic 

3 terrorism that occurred in the United States 

4 during the preceding year; and 

5 (C) a quantitative analysis of domestic ter6 rorism for the preceding year, including the 

7 number of— 

8 (i) domestic terrorism related assess9 ments initiated by the Federal Bureau of 

10 Investigation, including the number of as11 sessments from each classification and sub12 category; 

13 (ii) domestic terrorism related prelimi14 nary investigations initiated by the Federal 

15 Bureau of Investigation, including the 

16 number of preliminary investigations from 

17 each classification and subcategory, and 

18 how many preliminary investigations re19 sulted from assessments; 

20 (iii) domestic terrorism related full in21 vestigations initiated by the Federal Bu22 reau of Investigation, including the number 

23 of full investigations from each classifica24 tion and subcategory, and how many full 


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1 investigations resulted from preliminary in2 vestigations and assessments; 

3 (iv) domestic terrorism related inci4 dents, including the number of incidents 

5 from each classification and subcategory, 

6 the number of deaths and injuries result7 ing from each incident, and a detailed ex8 planation of each incident; 

9 (v) Federal domestic terrorism related 

10 arrests, including the number of arrests 

11 from each classification and subcategory, 

12 and a detailed explanation of each arrest; 

13 (vi) Federal domestic terrorism re14 lated indictments, including the number of 

15 indictments from each classification and 

16 subcategory, and a detailed explanation of 

17 each indictment; 

18 (vii) Federal domestic terrorism re19 lated prosecutions, including the number of 

20 incidents from each classification and sub21 category, and a detailed explanation of 

22 each prosecution; 

23 (viii) Federal domestic terrorism re24 lated convictions, including the number of 

25 convictions from each classification and 


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1 subcategory, and a detailed explanation of 

2 each conviction; and 

3 (ix) Federal domestic terrorism re4 lated weapons recoveries, including the 

5 number of each type of weapon and the 

6 number of weapons from each classifica7 tion and subcategory. 

8 (3) CLASSIFICATION AND PUBLIC RELEASE.— 

9 Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall 

10 be— 

11 (A) unclassified, to the greatest extent pos12 sible, with a classified annex only if necessary; 

13 and 

14 (B) in the case of the unclassified portion 

15 of the report, posted on the public websites of 

16 the Department of Homeland Security, the De17 partment of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of 

18 Investigation. 

19 (c) DOMESTIC TERRORISM EXECUTIVE COM20 MITTEE.—There is authorized a Domestic Terrorism Ex21 ecutive Committee, which shall— 

22 (1) meet on a regular basis, and not less regu23 larly than 4 times each year, to coordinate with 

24 United States Attorneys and other key public safety 

25 officials across the country to promote information 


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1 sharing and ensure an effective, responsive, and or2 ganized joint effort to combat domestic terrorism; 

3 and 

4 (2) be co-chaired by— 

5 (A) the Domestic Terrorism Counsel au6 thorized under subsection (a)(2)(B); 

7 (B) a United States Attorney or Assistant 

8 United States Attorney; 

9 (C) a member of the National Security Di10 vision of the Department of Justice; and 

11 (D) a member of the Federal Bureau of 

12 Investigation. 

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

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

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

16 on the most significant domestic terrorism threats, as de17 termined by the number of domestic terrorism related inci18 dents from each category and subclassification in the joint 

19 report for the preceding year required under subsection 

20 (b). 

21 SEC. 5. TRAINING TO COMBAT DOMESTIC TERRORISM. 

22 (a) REQUIRED TRAINING AND RESOURCES.—The 

23 State and Local Anti-Terrorism Program, funded by the 

24 Bureau of Justice Assistance of the Department of Jus25 tice, shall include training and resources to assist State, 


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1 local, and tribal law enforcement officers in under2 standing, detecting, deterring, and investigating acts of 

3 domestic terrorism. The training shall focus on the most 

4 significant domestic terrorism threats, as determined by 

5 the quantitative analysis in the joint report required under 

6 section 4(b). 

7 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Any individual who provides do8 mestic terrorism training required under this section shall 

9 have— 

10 (1) expertise in domestic terrorism; and 

11 (2) relevant academic, law enforcement, or 

12 other experience in matters related to domestic ter13 rorism. 

14 (c) REPORT.— 

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

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

17 thereafter, the Director of the Bureau of Justice As18 sistance shall submit an annual report to the com19 mittees of Congress described in section 4(b)(1) on 

20 the domestic terrorism training implemented under 

21 this section, which shall include copies of all training 

22 materials used and the names and qualifications of 

23 the individuals who provide the training. 

24 (2) CLASSIFICATION.—Each report submitted 

25 under paragraph (1) shall be unclassified, to the 


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1 greatest extent possible, with a classified annex only 

2 if necessary. 

3 SEC. 6. COMBATTING DOMESTIC TERRORISM THROUGH 

4 JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCES AND FU5 SION CENTERS. 

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

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

8 regional fusion centers, as established under section 210A 

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

10 shall each, in coordination with the Domestic Terrorism 

11 Executive Committee and the domestic terrorism offices 

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

13 4(a) of this Act— 

14 (1) share intelligence to address domestic ter15 rorism activities; 

16 (2) conduct an annual, intelligence-based as17 sessment of domestic terrorism activities in their ju18 risdictions; and 

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

20 combat domestic terrorism activities in their juris21 dictions. 

22 (b) REQUIREMENT.—The activities required under 

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

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1 classification in the joint report for the preceding year re2 quired under section 4(b). 

3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De5 partment of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

6 and the Department of Homeland Security such sums as 

7 may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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