Lawmakers join Durbin to support Domestic Terrorism bill

(WSIL) -- January 6th is a day lawmakers on Tuesday say should've never happened.

Last fall, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act (DTPA) by a bipartisan voice vote. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) blocked the bill from going to the Senate.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), one of the co-authors of the bill, held a conference Tuesday to explain why the bill was needed.

"If we have taken our oath seriously to guard the United States against all threats foreign and domestic," Durbin said. "We have to include domestic terrorists as our latest threat and one of he most serious."

The DTPA would create offices in the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and the FBI that would assess and counter threats from far-right extremists.

Durbin says it's important to count the number of extremist groups accurately to prepare law enforcement at all levels to fight back.

"We can no longer take it for granted that we're safe in the United States," Durbin said. "Lets take [domestic terrorism] seriously and pass this legislation as quickly as possible.

Lawmakers who attended the conference include U.S. Reps. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), Lou Correa (D-California), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) and Brad Schneider (D-Illinois)