A bipartisan bill to review and strengthen U.S. Secret Service standards has unanimously passed the House following two thwarted assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump.
Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) introduced the legislation, called the Enhanced Presidential Security Act of 2024, on July 23 after the July 13 shooting at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign rally.
The successful 405-0 vote comes after Ryan Wesley Routh’s apparent plan to kill Trump while he was at his Palm Beach, Florida, golf course was foiled by Secret Service agents on Sunday.
If it passes the Senate, the director of the Secret Service will be mandated to conduct “a comprehensive review of the provision of protection” for all former and current presidents and vice presidents as well as major presidential and vice-presidential candidates, and to make sure the standards for all protectees are uniform.
A report must then be submitted with the review’s findings and “recommendations for improving the provision of protection” to the House’s Committee on Homeland Security and the Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
“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,” said Lawler during a bill debate on Thursday, according to Fox News.
“The idea that our election could be decided by an assassin’s bullet should shake the conscience of our nation, and it requires swift action by the federal government,” he continued, adding that it is “shocking” that it took a second assassination attempt on Trump for him to “get the same level of protective detail from the Secret Service as the president of the United States.”
While Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) voted in favor of the legislation, he said it would “do nothing” to keep other people safe because it did not include gun control measures.
“I support this legislation because the Secret Service must be able to protect our highest elected officials and candidates. But this legislation will do nothing to make the rest of us any safer, or change the fact that gun violence continues to take the lives of more than 100 Americans every single day,” the progressive congressman said.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) blasted Nadler’s remark, saying, “Next thing they’re going to say is, oh, some crazy guy on the left tries to assassinate President Trump, and it’s President Trump’s fault.”
“Oh, wait a minute. They said that too. This is ridiculous,” Jordan said.
Lawler and Torres commended Congress for passing their bill, saying in a joint statement that they are “deeply grateful to our colleagues in the House for voting overwhelmingly today in support of our bill.”
“It is in the direct national security interest of the United States of America to provide the best protection in its power of its presidents and presidential candidates. History has shown that assassinations can massively disrupt our nation’s political system, cause dangerous disorder and chaos, and embolden further violence,” the lawmakers said. “The two recent attempts on former President Trump’s life showed the world that unfortunately, the Secret Service has serious gaps in protection, and more must be done to ensure no one can take advantage of those vulnerabilities.”