{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cohen-urges-dhs-and-doj-devote-more-resources-combat-domestic-terrorism", "Cohen Urges DHS and DOJ to Devote More Resources to Combat Domestic Terrorism by White Supremacists Following the Events in Charlottesville", "2017-08-15", "2017", "2017-08", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "[WASHINGTON, D.C.] \u2014 Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke and Attorney General Jeff Sessions urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reestablish the Extremism and Radicalization Branch of the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division and requesting an update from DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on how each Department is apportioning resources to ensure that they are commensurate with the risk posed by white supremacists and other hate groups acting as domestic terrorists. A PDF of Congressman Cohen\u2019s letter can be found here.\nCongressman Cohen raised this issue with then-Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson at a House Judiciary Committee hearing in 2015. You can read the questions and answers here.\n\u00a0\nAugust 15, 2017\n\u00a0\nThe Honorable Elaine Duke\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Honorable Jeff Sessions\nActing Secretary\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Attorney General\nU.S. Department of Homeland Security\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 United States Department of Justice\n3801 Nebraska Ave., NW\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW\nWashington, D.C. 20528\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Washington, DC 20530\n\u00a0\nDear Acting Secretary Duke and Attorney General Sessions:\nThe recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia is a chilling reminder of threats posed by white supremacists and other hate groups.\u00a0 According to Attorney General Sessions, the fatal car attack met the definition of domestic terrorism.[1]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\nThe number of incidents involving domestic terrorism in recent years has far exceeded the number of incidents inspired by a violent interpretation of Islam.\u00a0 In 2015, the New York Times reported that since September 11, 2001, \u201cnearly twice as many people have been killed by white supremacists, antigovernment fanatics and other non-Muslim extremists than by radical Muslims.\u201d[2]\u00a0 Other analyses have found similar results.[3] [4]\nDespite this, questions persist about the amount of resources that are being devoted to detect and disrupt domestic terrorist plots by white supremacists and other hate groups as compared to plots inspired by a violent interpretation of Islam.\u00a0 For example, following conservative pushback against its 2009 report on the rise of extremism, the Department of Homeland Security disbanded the Extremism and Radicalization Branch of the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division, and reduced the number of personnel studying domestic terrorism unrelated to Islam.[5]\u00a0\nIf anything, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice should be redoubling their efforts to address domestic terrorism.\u00a0\n\u00a0\nI urge the Department of Homeland Security to reestablish the Extremism and Radicalization Branch of the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division, and in the meantime, I would appreciate an update from each of you as to how each of your Departments are apportioning resources to ensure that they are commensurate with the risk posed by white supremacists and other hate groups acting as domestic terrorists.\nAs\u00a0always, I remain,\nMost sincerely,\n\u00a0\nSteve Cohen\nMember of Congress\n1\u00a0https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/14/was-the-charlottesville-car-attack-domestic-terrorism-a-hate-crime-or-both/?utm_term=.ff5d7f67cd4a\n2 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/us/tally-of-attacks-in-us-challenges-perceptions-of-top-terror-threat.html?_r=0\n3 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/domestic-terrorism-white-supremacists-islamist-extremists_us_594c46e4e4b0da2c731a84df\n4 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/terrorism-right-wing-america-muslims-islam-white-supremacists-study-a7805831.html\n5 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/homeland-security-department-curtails-home-grown-terror-analysis/2011/06/02/AGQEaDLH_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.3f2be74c6891", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cohen-urges-dhs-and-doj-devote-more-resources-combat-domestic-terrorism"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0082339867949486, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": 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