Farnush Amiri and Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press, Posted Friday, May 27, 2022, 6:19 AM EDT Last Updated on Friday, May 27, 2022, 6:19 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats’ first attempt to respond to a series of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uwalde, Texas, has failed in the Senate as Republicans blocked a domestic terrorism bill that would spark a debate on difficult crimes. hatred and the safety of weapons.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.N. people. He said this could become a basis for negotiations.
But Thursday’s vote failed along party lines, raising new doubts about the possibility of a serious debate, not to mention a possible compromise, on arms security measures. The final vote was 47-47, less than the 60 needed to pass the bill. All Republicans voted against.
“We are disappointed,” said White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre.
She said it was “shameful” that the National Rifle Association and others had stood in the way of such measures, but encouraged Congress to move forward.
“The president was very clear that it was time to act,” she said.
Rejection of the bill, just two days after a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 children and two teachers, has eased relief from Congress’s continued failure to pass legislation to curb the nation’s gun violence epidemic. He also highlighted the proliferation of mass shootings in the United States as Congress struggled to respond to previous shootings but faced another massacre.
Sumer said he would hold bipartisan talks in the Senate for about two weeks while Congress was absent for a break to try to draft a compromise bill that could pass in the Senate 50-50, where it would take 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.
“None of us have any illusions that it will be easy,” Sumer said before the vote.
A small, bipartisan group of about 10 senators seeking to negotiate arms legislation met for the second time Thursday afternoon to seek a compromise that could win congressional approval.
They narrowed down to three topics: past checks on weapons purchased online or at arms shows, red-flag laws designed to keep guns away from those that could harm themselves or others, and programs to strengthen security in schools and other buildings.
“We have a number of options that we will work on,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Who is leading the talks. They have split into groups and will report next week.
Murphy is working to enforce gun laws after the 2012 attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which killed 20 children and six teachers. He was joined Thursday by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., And others. Collins, a veteran of the bipartisan talks, called the meeting “constructive.”
What is clear, however, is that securing funding for local arms security efforts may be more politically viable than developing new federal policies.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina left the meeting, saying she had no appetite for a federal red flag law or so-called yellow flag law – which allows for the temporary confiscation of firearms from people at risk of injuring themselves or others. if the doctor signs.
But Graham said there may be interest in giving money to states that already have red flag laws or that want to develop them. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Who distributed the draft at the meeting, will work with Graham on a potential compromise.
“These laws save lives,” Blumenthal said.
Tumi told reporters that the bill to verify Manchin-Tumi’s biography – which failed after the Sandy Hook school shooting a decade ago – still lacks support. Manchin said he hoped it would be different this time.
“I can’t get my grandchildren out of my mind. It could be them, “Manchin said.
No lawmaker could say for sure whether any of the efforts would win all Democrats and have the 10 Republican senators he needs to advance alongside the Republican-led filibuster.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who said little about gun law after several tragedies unfolded, told reporters he had met with Republican Sen. John Cornin of Texas earlier and encouraged senators to cooperate. throughout the path to working results.
“I hope we can find a bipartisan solution that is directly related to the facts of this horrific massacre,” McConnell said.
The Domestic Terrorism Bill, which failed on Thursday, dates back to 2017, when MP Brad Schneider, D-Ill., Proposed it for the first time after mass shootings in Las Vegas and Southland Springs, Texas.
The House of Representatives passed a similar measure by a vote in 2020, only to remain in the Senate. Since then, Republicans have turned against the law, with only one Republican lawmaker backing the House of Representatives admission last week.
“What had broad bipartisan support two years ago because of the political climate we are in … or, more specifically, the political climate in which Republicans are, we are unable to confront domestic terrorism.” Schneider, who took office after the Sandy Hook school shooting, told the Associated Press.
Republicans say the bill does not place enough emphasis on the fight against domestic terrorism by far-left groups. Under the bill, the agencies will have to produce a joint report every six months that assesses and quantifies threats of internal terrorism at the national level, including threats posed by whites and neo-Nazi groups.
Supporters say the bill will fill gaps in intelligence exchanges between the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI so that officials can better monitor and respond to the growing threat of white extremist terrorism.
Efforts will focus on spreading racist ideology online, such as the baseless conspiracy theory of the “great swap,” which investigators say motivated an 18-year-old white shooter to drive three hours to carry out a racist live broadcast two weeks ago in a crowded supermarket. in Buffalo. Or the hostility to Taiwanese parishioners at a church in Laguna Woods, California, that led to the shooting of one man the next day and the wounding of five others.
While Schneider acknowledged that his legislation may not have stopped these attacks, he said he would ensure that these federal agencies work together to better identify, predict and stop threats.
Under current law, the three federal agencies are already working to investigate, prevent and prosecute acts of internal terrorism. But the bill will require each agency to open offices specifically dedicated to these tasks and set up an interagency working group to combat the infiltration of white supremacy in the military.
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Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Alan Fram and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
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