WASHINGTON — President Trump signed Thursday a Senate resolution condemning white supremacist groups and calling on the White House “to use all available resources to address the threats posed by those groups.”
The Senate on Monday passed the resolution — introduced last week by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) with original co-sponsors Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) — by unanimous consent.
Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Reps. Tom Garrett (R-Va.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and referred to the Judiciary Committee. Its co-sponsors were all the Virginia delegation. That passed without objection and headed to Trump’s desk.
Trump issued a signing statement saying he was “pleased” to sign the unanimous resolution.
“As Americans, we condemn the recent violence in Charlottesville and oppose hatred, bigotry, and racism in all forms. No matter the color of our skin or our ethnic heritage, we all live under the same laws, we all salute the same great flag, and we are all made by the same almighty God,” he said. “We are a Nation founded on the truth that all of us are created equal. As one people, let us move forward to rediscover the bonds of love and loyalty that bring us together as Americans.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that the president would “absolutely” sign the resolution.
The resolution condemns “the violence and domestic terrorist attack that took place during events between August 11 and August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, recognizing the first responders who lost their lives while monitoring the events, offering deepest condolences to the families and friends of those individuals who were killed and deepest sympathies and support to those individuals who were injured by the violence, expressing support for the Charlottesville community, rejecting White nationalists White supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups, and urging the President and the President’s Cabinet to use all available resources to address the threats posed by those groups.”
In addition to noting the deaths of Heather Heyer, Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, the resolution recognizes “several other individuals who were injured in separate attacks while standing up to hate and intolerance.”
Senators express “support for the Charlottesville community as the community heals following this demonstration of violent bigotry” and reject “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.”
The resolution urges Trump and his administration to “speak out against hate groups that espouse racism, extremism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and White supremacy.” It calls on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Homeland Security to “investigate thoroughly all acts of violence, intimidation, and domestic terrorism by White supremacists, White nationalists, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and associated groups in order to determine if any criminal laws have been violated and to prevent those groups from fomenting and facilitating additional violence.”
Tweeted Warner this morning: “Pleased @POTUS signed my res condemning hate groups & the violence in Charlottesville. Unfortunately he still equivocates when he speaks.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member