The White House did not make a decision about whether to seek a new law with specific criminal penalties for committing or supporting domestic terrorism.
The Biden administration on Tuesday rolled out what it said is a new strategy to counter domestic terrorism: a series of changes to elevate the federal government’s response to an urgent problem, with renewed efforts to deter, detect and prosecute those who would use violence in pursuit of political aims.
“What we are focused on is violence,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told NBC News’ Pete Williams in an exclusive interview. “The incitement of violence, the drive to violence, the commission of violent acts.”
Said the President:
Domestic terrorism – driven by hate, bigotry, and other forms of extremism— is a stain on the soul of America. It goes against everything our country strives for and it poses a direct challenge to our national security, democracy, and unity
To meet this serious and growing threat, on my first day in office I directed my national security team to confront the rise in domestic terrorism with the necessary resources and resolve. Today, I am releasing the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism. It lays out a comprehensive approach to protecting our nation from domestic terrorism while safeguarding our bedrock civil rights and civil liberties – values that make us who we are as Americans. We have to take both short-term steps to counter the very real threats of today and longer-term measures to diminish the drivers that will contribute to this ongoing challenge to our democracy.
This is a project that should unite all Americans. Together we must affirm that domestic terrorism has no place in our society. We must work to root out the hatreds that can too often drive violence. And we must recommit to defending and protecting our basic freedoms, which belong to all Americans in equal measure, and which are not only the foundation of our democracy – they are our enduring advantage in the world.
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
The White House has submitted a fact sheet outlining the strategy which is available at WhiteHouse.Gov
