OVERSIGHT

House GOP to Hold Domestic Terror Hearing, Dems Say That’s Not Enough

Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee called the overture “completely inadequate.”

The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on terror threats in the wake of the Charlottesville white supremacist-fueled deadly violence, its chairman said on Wednesday, but Democrats on the committee called the response “inadequate.” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the committee’s ranking member, asked the chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), to call a hearing specifically on domestic terrorism when Congress returns to Washington in September. But Thompson said in a statement later Wednesday night that the hearing McCaul referred to was already scheduled and “will not allow us to go into the depth necessary to address the far ranging and multifaceted aspects of the threat posed by domestic terrorist threats from white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups.” In a letter to Thompson on Wednesday, McCaul said the Sept. 12 hearing would involve leaders from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and National Counterterrorism Center to testify, adding: “Racial intolerance deserves no place in America, and it is imperative that we find ways to rid our nation of the scourge of white supremacism.” McCaul said members of the committee could “engage the witnesses on the dangers posed by domestic terrorists and other extremist groups.”