A bipartisan bill to overhaul and strengthen standards for the U.S. Secret Service following two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump has been passed unanimously by the House of Representatives.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) legislationPresident Trump signed into law a bill called the “Enhanced Presidential Security Act of 2024” on July 23 after a shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
The 405-0 vote came after the revelation of a plot by Ryan Wesley Routh to kill Trump on a golf course in Palm Beach, Florida. We're screwed on Sunday by Secret Service agents.
If passed by the Senate, the bill would require the director of the Secret Service to conduct a “comprehensive review of protections” for all current and former presidents, vice presidents, and major presidential and vice presidential candidates to ensure that standards are uniform for all protected individuals.
It would then be required to submit a report setting out its findings and “recommendations for improving the provision of protection” to the House Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
“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,” Lawler said during the bill debate. Discussion on Thursday, according to Fox News.
“The idea that an election could be decided by an assassin's bullet shocks the national conscience and calls for swift action by the federal government,” he continued, adding that it was “shocking” that it took a second assassination attempt for Trump to “receive the same level of protection from the Secret Service as the President of the United States”.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, voted in favor of the bill but said it “does nothing” to keep others safe because it doesn't include gun control measures.
“I support this bill because the Secret Service must be able to protect our highest-ranking office holders and candidates, but it does nothing to make any of us any safer, nor does it change the fact that gun violence continues to take the lives of more than 100 Americans every day,” the progressive congressman said.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) blasted Nadler's remarks, saying, “The next thing they're going to say is, oh, some crazy guy on the left is trying to assassinate President Trump and it's President Trump's fault.”
“Oh wait a minute. They said that too. That's weird.”Ordan said:
In a joint speech, Lawler and Torres praised Congress for passing the bill. statement “I'm deeply grateful to my colleagues in the House of Representatives who voted overwhelmingly in support of our bill today,” he said.
“It is in the direct national security interest of the United States to protect the president and presidential candidates to the greatest extent possible. History has demonstrated that assassinations can deeply disrupt our nation's political system, create dangerous disorder and chaos, and incite further violence,” the lawmakers said. “The assassination attempt on former President Trump has unfortunately demonstrated to the world that there are significant flaws in our Secret Service protections, and further steps must be taken to ensure that no one can exploit those weaknesses.”
