In a rare display of unity, the U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bipartisan bill aimed at bolstering U.S. Secret Service (USSS) protections for significant presidential and vice presidential candidates
This move comes in the wake of two thwarted assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump.
According to Fox News, the bill, which was introduced by Representatives Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from New York, and Mike Lawler, a Republican also from New York, received an overwhelming 405 to 0 vote. The legislation was a response to a shooting incident at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. A 20-year-old gunman managed to fire shots from a rooftop just outside the rally's perimeter, resulting in the death of one attendee and injuries to Trump and two others.
In a subsequent incident, USSS agents apprehended a man near Trump's West Palm Beach golf course. The individual had been lying in wait for the former president during a Sunday game, armed with an SKS rifle.
The bill, if approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Biden, would necessitate a comprehensive review of USSS protective standards. It would also enforce uniform standards for the security of presidents, vice presidents, and significant White House candidates.
"Regardless of how every American feels, regardless of how every American intends to vote, it is the right of the American people to determine the outcome of this election. The idea that our election could be decided by an assassin's bullet should shake the conscience of our nation, and it requires swift action by the federal government," Lawler stated during the bill's debate. He expressed shock that it took a second assassination attempt for Trump to receive the same level of protective detail from the Secret Service as the incumbent president.
However, the bill has not been without its critics. Progressive Representative Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, supports the bill but argues that it would be meaningless without stronger firearm laws. "I support this legislation because the Secret Service must be able to protect our highest elected officials and candidates. But this legislation will do nothing to make the rest of us any safer, or change the fact that gun violence continues to take the lives of more than 100 Americans every single day," Nadler said.
In response, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, accused Nadler of blaming the assassination attempts on Republicans. "Next thing they're going to say is, oh, some crazy guy on the left tries to assassinate President Trump, and it's President Trump's fault. Oh, wait a minute. They said that too. This is ridiculous," Jordan retorted.
The bill's language does not immediately clarify how it would classify "major" candidates. After the first attempt on Trump's life, Biden, who was still running against Trump at the time, extended heightened USSS protection to the former president. He also granted a request by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then running as a third-party candidate, for USSS protection.
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