The House passed a measure to require national security agencies to combat white supremacy in the ranks of the military and law enforcement. Every Republican voted no.
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Representative Andy Biggs argued that the amendment “attempts to create a problem where none exists” and “denigrates our men and women in the service.”
WASHINGTON — The House voted late Wednesday night to require top national security agencies to report on and combat white supremacist and neo-Nazi activity in federal law enforcement and the armed forces, in a party-line vote in which House Republicans were unanimously opposed.
The measure, an amendment to the annual defense policy bill expected to pass the House late Thursday, directs the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department to “publish a report that analyzes and sets out strategies to combat white supremacist and neo-Nazi activity in the uniformed services and federal law enforcement agencies.”
“Such extremism is a threat to us in all segments of society. There is no reason to believe that our military is any different,” said Representative Brad Schneider, Democrat of Illinois and the sponsor of the provision, which passed by a vote of 218-108. He said that instances of extremism in the United States armed forces “are rare, but we must do everything we can to identify them and to thwart them before risks become reality.”
Every Republican voted no, and only one — Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona — publicly explained his opposition on the House floor. He argued that the proposal “attempts to create a problem where none exists” and “denigrates our men and women in the service.”
“Every member of the military who showed an interest or actual participation in a white supremacist or white nationalist group has faced discipline,” Mr. Biggs said. “The relevant branch either demoted the individual, discharged them or otherwise disciplined the sympathizer.”
Key Revelations From the Jan. 6 Hearings
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Making a case against Trump. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack is laying out evidence that could allow prosecutors to indict former President Donald J. Trump, though the path to a criminal trial is uncertain. Here are the main themes that have emerged so far:
An unsettling narrative. During the first hearing, the committee described in vivid detail what it characterized as an attempted coup orchestrated by the former president that culminated in the assault on the Capitol. At the heart of the gripping story were three main players: Mr. Trump, the Proud Boys and a Capitol Police officer.
Creating election lies. In its second hearing, the panel showed how Mr. Trump ignored aides and advisers as he declared victory prematurely and relentlessly pressed claims of fraud he was told were wrong. “He’s become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff,” William P. Barr, the former attorney general, said of Mr. Trump during a videotaped interview.
Pressuring Pence. Mr. Trump continued pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to go along with a plan to overturn his loss even after he was told it was illegal, according to testimony laid out by the panel during the third hearing. The committee showed how Mr. Trump’s actions led his supporters to storm the Capitol, sending Mr. Pence fleeing for his life.
Fake elector plan. The committee used its fourth hearing to detail how Mr. Trump was personally involved in a scheme to put forward fake electors. The panel also presented fresh details on how the former president leaned on state officials to invalidate his defeat, opening them up to violent threats when they refused.
Strong arming the Justice Dept. During the fifth hearing, the panel explored Mr. Trump’s wide-ranging and relentless scheme to misuse the Justice Department to keep himself in power. The panel also presented evidence that at least half a dozen Republican members of Congress sought pre-emptive pardons.
The surprise hearing. Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, delivered explosive testimony during the panel’s sixth session, saying that the president knew the crowd on Jan. 6 was armed, but wanted to loosen security. She also painted Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, as disengaged and unwilling to act as rioters approached the Capitol.
Planning a march. Mr. Trump planned to lead a march to the Capitol on Jan. 6 but wanted it to look spontaneous, the committee revealed during its seventh hearing. Representative Liz Cheney also said that Mr. Trump had reached out to a witness in the panel’s investigation, and that the committee had informed the Justice Department of the approach.
The vote came as the nation continues to grapple with the fallout from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which dozens of current and former service members attended and which led to efforts at the Pentagon to rid extremism from the ranks of the armed forces. In December, the Pentagon updated it rules against extremism, including tightening social media guidelines, changing the way it screens recruits and examining how to prepare troops who are retiring from being targeted by extremist organizations.
The House also approved a provision, led by Representative Kathleen Rice, Democrat of New York, that requires a review of national security agencies’ compliance with domestic terrorism reporting requirements already established by existing law. Only four Republicans backed it.
Ms. Rice said that she introduced the legislation after the agencies submitted “incomplete and insufficient information” in their first congressionally mandated report on domestic terrorism, which was submitted nearly a year late.
The votes were the latest indication of Republicans’ reluctance to address the issue of white nationalism and white supremacy, even as data show that such ideologies are helping to drive a growing threat of domestic violent extremism. The party has largely declined to punish lawmakers in its ranks who have cozied up to white nationalists, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona, both of whom spoke at a white nationalist conference. Mr. Gosar aligned himself closely with the conference’s leader, Nick Fuentes.
The votes were part of a days-long process to consider hundreds of amendments to the $840 billion defense bill, an annual measure that authorizes pay raises for American troops. The House was expected late Thursday night to pass the bill, which would add $37 billion more than President Biden requested to the Pentagon’s budget.
Lawmakers also approved adding $100 million to provide assistance to Ukrainian military pilots, and $5 million to bolster efforts to mitigate civilian deaths and injuries caused by U.S. military operations.
They also voted to give the mayor of the District of Columbia the same authority over the D.C. National Guard that the governors of states and territories have over their National Guard, an attempt to address the situation that left the D.C. mayor unable to quickly dispatch guardsmen to the Capitol on Jan. 6, as rioters attacked the building.
A perennial effort led by Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California, to reduce the Pentagon’s budget — this year by $100 billion — failed in a show of bipartisan opposition, 350 to 78.
Source: nytimes.com
