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Legislation authored by Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) to combat terrorism, H.R. 4227, the Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Act, was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and now heads to the President’s desk. The bill passed the House earlier this year, but needed to be passed again after small changes were made to the bill in the Senate.

“Attacks on innocent people using trucks, vans, or other vehicles have increasingly become the weapon of choice for many terrorist groups in Europe and around the world,” said Latta. “Just in the past month we’ve seen one of these attacks in Israel. With last year’s attack that claimed innocent lives in New York City, we know the U.S. isn’t immune. It’s important that the Department of Homeland Security is looking at this threat and has the tools at their disposal to be able to stop any group or individual looking to use this tactic on Americans. The Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Act will bolster efforts to address this threat, and I urge President Trump to sign this legislation into law.”

The legislation requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assess current actions at the department to support emergency response providers and the private sector to prevent, mitigate, and respond to the threat of vehicular terrorism. The bill then requires DHS to submit a strategy to Congress that includes an examination of the current threat of vehicular terrorism, methods to improve information sharing activities with the private sector, and training activities that the department can undertake. The strategy would also include recommendations from DHS on what can be done to aid department efforts to prevent vehicular terrorism.

Watch Latta’s floor speech on the legislation here.

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