White supremacist terrorism is the deadliest threat to the United States, President Joe Biden told lawmakers Wednesday night as he aimed to pivot from the country’s post-9/11 foreign fights to one at home.
“Make no mistake. In 20 years, terrorism has metastasized. The threat has evolved beyond Afghanistan,” Biden said, describing the lingering threats of the Islamic State and al Qaeda before warning of a new war in Americans’ backyard.
“We won’t ignore what our intelligence agencies have determined to be the most lethal terrorist threat to our homeland today: White supremacy is terrorism,” Biden said. “We’re not going to ignore that either.”
Upon taking office, Biden called for a threat assessment on domestic terrorism and appointed to the National Security Council a new counterterrorism official to oversee that study and federal work on the issue.
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The president then urged Congress to pass police reform legislation just days after a jury convicted Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of murder in the death of George Floyd. Chauvin is a former white police officer. Floyd was a black man.
“My fellow Americans, look, we have to come together to heal the soul of this nation,” he added, telling lawmakers that nearly one year has passed since he spoke with Floyd’s young daughter, Gianna.
“She said to me, ‘Daddy changed the world,'” Biden continued. “After the conviction of George Floyd’s murderer, we can see how right she was — if we have the courage to act. We have all seen the knee of injustice on the neck of black America. Now is our opportunity to make real progress. “
The Biden administration has called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, but Democrats appear unwilling to compromise on issues of qualified immunity for law enforcement officers, a must-have for many GOP members.
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Democrats are calling for a repeal of this protection, which grants officers immunity from most civil lawsuits. Some Republicans have urged a provision that would prevent personal liability for officers but remove the protection at higher levels.
Last year, a police reform bill introduced by Republican Sen. Tim Scott, who delivered the Republican response to Biden’s speech on Wednesday night, was filibustered by Democrats. That stoked a partisan conflict over the issue that has seen the two sides just recently move closer together.
