Rep. Underwood's Bipartisan Legislation To Protect Communities From Domestic Terrorism Passes House

Underwood partnered with a Republican colleague to pass the Safe Communities Act of 2020.

ST. CHARLES, IL — Congresswoman Lauren Underwood passed bipartisan legislation through the House of Representatives Wednesday to strengthen rural and suburban communities’ ability to protect against and respond to acts of terrorism and targeted violence. Underwood, the Vice Chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, authored The Safe Communities Act of 2020 with her Republican colleague, Congressman John Katko of New York. The legislation passed the House with unanimous support.

FBI Director Christopher Wray recently testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security and identified domestic violent extremism, particularly white supremacist violence, as a leading threat to our nation.

“Suburban and rural communities like ours are increasingly threatened by acts of mass violence. Less than two years ago, we experienced a mass shooting in an Aurora workplace that tragically killed five of our neighbors. This summer, a teenager from our community allegedly committed murder in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Targeted violence is an increasing threat to our workplaces, schools and places of worship; keeping our communities safe from violence of any kind is a top priority for me in Congress,” Underwood said. “Communities like ours typically don’t have access to the federal resources we need to protect ourselves from the threats of mass violence and domestic terror — the Safe Communities Act of 2020 seeks to correct this imbalance and deliver the resources communities like ours need.”

Congresswoman Underwood was recently named Chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation, where she works to protect our nation from cyberattacks, misinformation campaigns, and attacks on our critical infrastructure.