Title: Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes.
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
This resolution condemns QAnon and rejects the conspiracy theories it promotes.
The resolution condemns all other groups and ideologies that contribute to the spread of unfounded conspiracy theories and that encourage Americans to destroy property and attack law enforcement officers.
The resolution encourages federal law enforcement and homeland security agencies to continue to strengthen their focus on preventing violence, threats, harassment, and other criminal activity by extremists motivated by fringe political conspiracy theories.
Finally, the resolution encourages the intelligence community to uncover any foreign support, assistance, or online amplification QAnon receives, as well as any QAnon affiliations, coordination, and contacts with foreign extremist organizations or groups espousing violence.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1154 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1154

  Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 25, 2020

    Mr. Malinowski (for himself, Mr. Riggleman, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. 
  Kinzinger, Mrs. Luria, and Mr. Fitzpatrick) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
 in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning QAnon and rejecting the conspiracy theories it promotes.

Whereas, throughout history, conspiracy theories that falsely blame secret 
        cabals or marginalized groups for society's ills have fueled prejudice, 
        genocide, and acts of terrorism;
Whereas QAnon is a movement promoting a collection of unfounded conspiracy 
        theories that have spread widely on the internet since 2017;
Whereas QAnon initially alleged that prominent Americans are engaged in a secret 
        plot to control the world, while using their power to exploit children, 
        and has expanded to embrace virtually every popular conspiracy theory of 
        the last several decades, from questioning the truth about the September 
        11th terrorist attacks, to believing in alien landings, to denying the 
        safety of vaccines;
Whereas many QAnon followers express anti-Semitic views, and the Anti-Defamation 
        League has said that the movement's central conspiracy theory includes 
        anti-Semitic elements;
Whereas conspiracy theories have been a central driver of anti-Semitism for 
        centuries, and QAnon conspiracy theories are fanning the flames as anti-
        Semitism is on the rise in the United States and around the world;
Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has assessed with high 
        confidence that ``fringe political conspiracy theories'', including 
        QAnon, ``very likely motivate some domestic extremists, wholly or in 
        part, to engage in criminal or violent activity'', and that these 
        conspiracy theories ``very likely encourage the targeting of specific 
        people, places and organizations, thereby increasing the likelihood of 
        violence against these targets'';
Whereas the FBI bases this assessment on ``events in which individuals committed 
        crimes, plotted attacks, or successfully carried out deadly violence, 
        and who--either before or after their arrests--attributed their actions 
        to their conspiratorial beliefs'';
Whereas QAnon adherents have been implicated in crimes that they claim their 
        QAnon beliefs inspired, including--

    (1) a man arrested in 2018 for plotting to plant a bomb in the Illinois 
Capitol rotunda to make Americans aware of the ``Pizzagate'' conspiracy 
theory;

    (2) a man arrested in 2018 for using an armored car to block traffic on 
the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge;

    (3) a man in Arizona arrested in 2019 for vandalizing a Catholic 
church;

    (4) a woman in Colorado arrested in 2019 for plotting an armed raid to 
kidnap her child, who had been taken from her custody;

    (5) a man charged with the murder of an organized crime boss in New 
York in 2019; and

    (6) a woman arrested in New York with a car full of knives after 
posting a video accusing Joe Biden of participating in child sex 
trafficking and threatening to kill him;

Whereas the FBI further assesses that ``these conspiracy theories very likely 
        will emerge, spread and evolve in the modern information marketplace . . 
        . fostering anti-government sentiment, racial and religious prejudice, 
        [and] increasing political tensions'';
Whereas, according to the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States 
        Military Academy at West Point, ``QAnon is arguably no longer simply a 
        fringe conspiracy theory but an ideology that has demonstrated its 
        capacity to radicalize to violence individuals at an alarming speed'';
Whereas Facebook, Twitter, and Google have removed or blocked QAnon groups and 
        content from their platforms for violating their policies against 
        misinformation, bullying, hate speech, and harassment;
Whereas QAnon adherents have been harming legitimate efforts to combat child 
        exploitation and sex trafficking, including by overwhelming 
        antitrafficking hotlines with false reports;
Whereas the conspiracy theories promoted by QAnon undermine trust in America's 
        democratic institutions, encourage rejection of objective reality, and 
        deepen our Nation's political polarization; and
Whereas our Nation's polarization is further accentuated by others, from the far 
        left to the far right, promoting extreme ideologies and antigovernment 
        conspiracy theories, hijacking legitimate peaceful protests, and 
        encouraging followers to damage, deface, or vandalize local, State, and 
        Federal Government properties and to attack law enforcement: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns QAnon and rejects the conspiracy theories it 
        promotes;
            (2) condemns all other groups and ideologies, from the far 
        left to the far right, that contribute to the spread of 
        unfounded conspiracy theories and that encourage Americans to 
        destroy public and private property and attack law enforcement 
        officers;
            (3) encourages the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well 
        as all Federal law enforcement and homeland security agencies, 
        to continue to strengthen their focus on preventing violence, 
        threats, harassment, and other criminal activity by extremists 
        motivated by fringe political conspiracy theories;
            (4) encourages the intelligence community to uncover any 
        foreign support, assistance, or online amplification QAnon 
        receives, as well as any QAnon affiliations, coordination, and 
        contacts with foreign extremist organizations or groups 
        espousing violence; and
            (5) urges all Americans, regardless of our beliefs or 
        partisan affiliation, to seek information from authoritative 
        sources and to engage in political debate from a common factual 
        foundation.
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