The House unanimously cleared a resolution on Tuesday that condemns white supremacists and urges President Trump to speak out against them.
The bipartisan resolution now heads to President Trump’s desk for his signature, making it the first formal response by Congress to the violence that broke out during a white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Va., last month.
"Tonight the House passed my resolution condemning hate groups & the Charlottesville attack. POTUS should sign a clear message & sign it ASAP," tweeted Sen. Mark Warner
Mark Robert WarnerHillicon Valley: Fringe social networks boosted after Capitol attack | Planned protests spark fears of violence in Trump's final days | Election security efforts likely to gain ground in Democrat-controlled Congress Efforts to secure elections likely to gain ground in Democrat-controlled Congress Biden announces veteran diplomat William Burns as nominee for CIA director MORE (D-Va.), one of those who introduced the resolution.
Tonight the House passed my resolution condemning hate groups & the Charlottesville attack. POTUS should send a clear message & sign it ASAP
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) September 12, 2017
The resolution formally condemns “the racist violence and domestic terrorist attack” in Charlottesville, where a car suspected of being driven by a white supremacist sympathizer rammed into a crowd of counterprotesters. Heather Heyer, 32, died and at least 19 others were injured.
The gathering of white supremacists began as a rally to protest the Charlottesville City Council’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The resolution further “rejects white nationalism, white supremacy, and neo-Nazism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.”
Following concern from lawmakers of both parties about Trump’s equivocating response to the violence, the resolution urges Trump and his administration to speak out against white supremacist groups and “use all resources available” to improve data collection of hate crimes and “address the growing prevalence of those hate groups in the United States.”
Trump initially blamed the violence in Charlottesville on “many sides,” leading to condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans. He then issued a statement from the White House declaring that “racism is evil” and called out the KKK, neo-Nazis and other hate groups. But a day later, Trump defended his original remarks and said there were “some very fine people on both sides.”
Warner, along with Sens. Tim Kaine
Timothy (Tim) Michael Kaine7 surprise moments from a tumultuous year in politics Robert E. Lee statue removed from US Capitol Sen. Alexander plays Christmas carols in Senate office building MORE (D-Va.), Cory Gardner
Cory GardnerOvernight Defense: Joint Chiefs denounce Capitol attack | Contractors halt donations after siege | 'QAnon Shaman' at Capitol is Navy vet Lobbying world Senate swears-in six new lawmakers as 117th Congress convenes MORE (R-Colo.) and Johnny Isakson
Johnny IsaksonLoeffler concedes to Warnock Hawley to still object to Pennsylvania after Capitol breached Hillary Clinton trolls McConnell: 'Senate Minority Leader' MORE (R-Ga.) introduced the resolution last week, which cleared both chambers of Congress in the past 24 hours.
