Senate Republicans blocked a bill Thursday that would have created new federal offices focused on domestic terrorism after the House passed the legislation due to the mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
The final vote was 47-47. Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was vocal in his opposition to the legislation, saying the bill would make police and soldiers look like white supremacists and neo-Nazis. The Domestic Terrorism prevention act would start a debate on gun control and set up offices focused on domestic terrorism at the Department of Homeland Security DHS, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The legislation needed 60 votes in order to pass, meaning 10 Senate Republicans would have had to vote with Democrats.
“This bill should be called by a more accurate name: the Democrat plan to brand our police and soldiers as white supremacists and neo-Nazis. How insulting. The bill just states it as a fact there at the beginning of Section 5. It creates an interagency task force quote ‘to analyze and combat White supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed services and Federal law enforcement agencies,’” Paul said on the Senate floor before the vote.
“We knew that Democrats despise and want to defund the police, but now, they believe that the police, federal law enforcement, and the U.S. military are full of White supremacists and neo-Nazis? Those of us who still care about the Bill of Rights just got done taking down the DHS Ministry of Truth, and a day later, Democrats want to create the DHS Thought Police. You couldn’t make it up if you tried. But they don’t stop there,” Paul continued. (RELATED: Buffalo Shooter’s Personal Diary Is Pretty Clear About His Sources Of Inspiration)
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“But again, none of the bill makes sense. It doesn’t make sense because it was a bill that was never intended to become law. It’s a dumb, Washington talking points memo masquerading as legislation. But Congressional Democrats have gotten so radical, so extreme, and so out-of-touch with the American people that when they read it, they see something worthwhile. This bill will fail today because the Democrats’ message – hate the police, defund the police, slander the military and police as racists and white supremacists – has been roundly rejected by the American people,” Paul added. (RELATED: Texas School Shooter’s Mother Speaks Out About Her Son)
The vote also comes days after a shooter killed 19 young students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.