Resolution rejecting "white nationalists" heads to Trump's desk
The House and Senate passed a bipartisan resolution Tuesday "condemning the violence and domestic terrorist attack" and "rejecting white nationalists, white supremacists, the Ku Lux Klan, Neo Nazis, and other hate groups" in Charlottesville, Virginia, sending the measure to President Trump's desk.
Tonight the House passed my resolution condemning hate groups & the Charlottesville attack. POTUS should send a clear message & sign it ASAP
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) September 12, 2017
The resolution, introduced by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) urges Mr. Trump to speak out against racist hate groups.
In the days after a white nationalist rally attendee appeared to deliberately ram his car into counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer, 32, Mr. Trump commented there was "blame on many sides." His remarks sparked intense criticism from Democrats, some members of his own party and led to some members of the president's business committees to resign.
"Condemning the violence and domestic terrorist attack that took place during events between August 11 and August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, recognizing the first responders who lost their lives while monitoring the events, offering deepest condolences to the families and friends of those individuals who were killed and deepest sympathies and support to those individuals who were injured by the violence, expressing support for the Charlottesville community, rejecting white nationalists, white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups, and urging the president and the president's' cabinet to use all available resources to address the threats posed by those groups," the resolution reads.
The House passed the resolution Tuesday evening, and the Senate passed it Monday. Resolutions don't institute new law -- they are mostly declarations intended to make a statement for the record.
How people viewed Mr. Trump's response to Charlottesville largely depended on their party affiliation, according to a CBS News poll. The August CBS News poll found 55 percent of respondents disapproved of the president's actions in the Charlottesville aftermath, while 34 approved. But breaking that down, 67 percent of Republicans approved and 22 percent disapproved, while 10 percent of Democrats approved and 82 percent disapproved.