117th CONGRESS 2d Session |
Condemning the atrocity that occurred in Buffalo, New York, on May 14, 2022, in which 10 Americans were killed and 3 were injured, and in which 11 of the 13 victims were Black Americans, condemning the Great Replacement Theory as a White supremacist conspiracy theory, and reaffirming the House of Representatives commitment to combating White supremacy, hatred, and racial injustice.
June 7, 2022
Mr. Bowman (for himself, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Ruiz, Ms. Chu, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Takano, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Cicilline, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Payne, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Carson, Mrs. Bustos, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Pocan, Ms. DelBene, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Norton, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Jacobs of California, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Velázquez, Ms. Omar, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Dean, Mr. Suozzi, Ms. Barragán, Mr. Rush, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Mr. Gallego, Ms. Titus, Mr. Levin of Michigan, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Allred, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Crow, Mr. Khanna, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Evans, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Costa, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Pappas, Mr. San Nicolas, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Sires, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Meng, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Phillips, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. Sánchez, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Jones, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mr. Cárdenas, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Soto, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Bush, Mr. Correa, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. Adams, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Lynch, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Trone, Mr. Casten, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Porter, Mr. Meeks, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Langevin, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Underwood, Mr. Quigley, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Newman, Mr. Cooper, Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. Bass, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mr. Himes, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Malinowski, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms. Craig, Mr. Levin of California, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Pallone, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Mfume, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Wild, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. García of Illinois, Ms. Sherrill, Ms. Speier, and Ms. Bourdeaux) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
Condemning the atrocity that occurred in Buffalo, New York, on May 14, 2022, in which 10 Americans were killed and 3 were injured, and in which 11 of the 13 victims were Black Americans, condemning the Great Replacement Theory as a White supremacist conspiracy theory, and reaffirming the House of Representatives commitment to combating White supremacy, hatred, and racial injustice.
Whereas, on May 14, 2022, in Buffalo, New York, 10 Americans were killed and 3 were injured by a self-described White supremacist who drove more than 200 miles to carry out this racist, violent mass shooting with an assault-style rifle at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood;
Whereas the self-described White supremacist and antisemite who allegedly carried out this racially motivated, anti-Black massacre with a firearm reportedly wrote a manifesto citing the White supremacist Great Replacement Theory;
Whereas the alleged gunman livestreamed the mass shooting on Twitch;
Whereas the victims who tragically died were Aaron Salter, Ruth Whitfield, Pearly Young, Katherine “Kat” Massey, Heyward Patterson, Celestine Chaney, Roberta Drury, Margus D. Morrison, Andre Mackneil, and Geraldine Talley;
Whereas the victims who were injured were Zaire Goodman, Jennifer Warrington, and Christopher Braden;
Whereas the “Great Replacement Theory” is a White supremacist conspiracy theory that perpetuates the racist, xenophobic, nativist, Islamophobic, and antisemitic falsehood that non-White immigrants are being brought into the United States and other Western countries to repopulate majority White countries and disempower White voters to achieve a political agenda, and to specifically bring upon the genocide of White people;
Whereas this hateful conspiracy theory has been cited as a motivation for White supremacist terrorist attacks domestically and internationally, including—
(1) the targeting of a Tops Friendly Market in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, in 2022, in which the alleged gunman murdered 10 Black people, and injured 1 Black person and 2 White people;
(2) the murder of 9 Black worshipers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015;
(3) the White nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 that resulted in 9 wounded and in the murder of Heather Heyer;
(4) the murder of 11 people and wounding of 6 in an antisemitic attack on the Tree of Life L’Simcha synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2018;
(5) the targeting of Muslim worshippers, in which a gunman murdered 50 people at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019;
(6) the targeting of a Walmart in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in El Paso, Texas, in 2019, in which a gunman murdered 23 people and injured 3; and
(7) the targeting of 3 Asian-owned spas in the Atlanta, Georgia, metro area on March 16, 2021, in which a gunman killed 8 people, including 6 Asian women;
Whereas this hateful conspiracy theory and White supremacy inflicts harm to individuals and communities in addition to physical injuries and death;
Whereas many individuals in positions of power and media institutions with widely viewed public platforms have contributed to the normalization and legitimization of the underlying principles of the Great Replacement Theory; and
Whereas the people of the United States stand in solidarity with those harmed by this hateful, senseless tragedy: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
(1) condemns in the strongest terms the Great Replacement Theory, a White supremacist conspiracy theory that has been used to falsely justify racially motivated, violent acts of terrorism domestically and internationally;
(2) honors the memory and legacy of the victims and acknowledges the lasting impact that this White supremacist act of violent extremism will have on the Black community of Buffalo, New York, the United States, and globally;
(3) encourages all Americans to remember the victims of racially motivated hate crimes connected to White supremacist conspiracy theories such as the Great Replacement Theory; and
(4) reaffirms the commitment of the Federal Government to combat White supremacy in all forms by developing the coordinated, whole-of-government approach to address White supremacist violence.