The Vehicular Terrorism Prevention Act has garnered Senate approval with lawmakers asserting the measure bolsters efforts to prevent terrorists from using vehicles to execute attacks.
The measure directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide a report to Congress regarding efforts to assess and prevent terrorist attacks involving vehicles, adding the analysis would include the current threat level, details on DHS’s collaboration with private sector partners and recommendations on legislation necessary to support DHS’s actions to prevent terrorism.
“This bill will help keep Americans safe by making sure our counterterrorism efforts are top-notch when it comes to preventing extremists from using vehicles to carry out deadly attacks,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who spearheaded the legislation, said. “I look forward to the House passing this bill and the president signing it into law.”
Cassidy introduced the Senate version of the bill in November 2017, and Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) introduced the House version of the measure.
Officials cited recent incidents in which vehicles played a role in planned attacks. Last month, a man in Los Angeles attempted to run over Jews with his car near a synagogue. In August, a suspected terrorist targeted pedestrians with his vehicle outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Additionally, in July, two Americans were killed in a vehicular assault in Tajikistan during an attack claimed by ISIS.