Chairman Peters Closing Statement During: 'Domestic Extremism in America' Committee Hearing

Well, in closing here, I want to say I'm just very grateful for all of our witnesses for contributing to this very serious and urgent discussion. I want to thank Ranking Member Portman for holding this hearing with me. I look forward to building on what we have learned from today's testimony, which has given – I think this has given this committee some critical information and further insights to combat our nation's most pressing domestic terrorism threat. And these white supremacist ideologies and the violence they incite remain shocking. They're outrageous and unthinkable in the hearts and minds of Americans. But every tragic attack that is rooted in these ideologies is a sobering reminder that domestic violent extremism continues to threaten communities all across our country. I appreciate the approach that the Biden administration has taken to address these evolving threats, and I look forward to working with them as they implement their national strategy for combating domestic terrorism, including Pillar 4, which Mr. Ward just discussed, which confronts long-term contributing factors to domestic violence. However, I'm frustrated that despite passing a reporting requirement into law, both DHS and the FBI are still failing to provide essential information on domestic terrorism. We cannot effectively tackle this problem if our law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies are not effectively tracking these crimes. I've asked the FBI and DHS to explain their failure to fully comply with the reporting now required by law, and I hope my colleagues will join me as we continue to press for answers. We also have to address the ways in which white supremacist ideologies are spread and allowed to creep into the mainstream. I will continue to investigate the role that social media platforms play in amplifying these abhorrent and extremist ideologies, and will be holding additional hearings on this topic in the coming months. There are concrete steps that we can take to address the threat of white supremacist violence, first and foremost by continuing to call out and to condemn the hateful conspiracy theories that underpin these threats. I appreciate my colleagues for engaging in today's very important conversation. I look forward to continuing working together with all of them to address the grave national security threat that domestic terrorism poses to our nation. The record for this hearing will remain open for 15 days until 5 p.m. on June 24, 2022, for the submission of statements for the record. This hearing is now adjourned.