Biden: The biggest threat is domestic terrorism 0:36
(CNN) --
The US House of Representatives voted 222-203 Wednesday to pass a bill aimed at preventing domestic terrorism and combating the threat of violent extremism by white supremacists.
The vote comes after the recent mass shooting over the weekend at a supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, which left 10 people dead and three others injured.
The Justice Department is investigating the shooting as a hate crime and "a racially motivated act of violent extremism."
The approved bill, called the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022, will then go to the Senate for consideration, where its fate is uncertain.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Wednesday that he plans to take procedural steps to force a vote on the bill next week, which would require 60 votes.
Lawmakers are under pressure to take action in the wake of the tragedy in Buffalo, but the highly polarized partisan climate makes it unlikely that significant policy changes will pass both houses of Congress to become law.
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Although Democrats control the House and Senate, their majority in this second chamber is not large enough to enact most legislation on a party-line vote, and most Republicans strongly oppose any type of gun control bill.
Posts of Buffalo massacre suspect's plans were viewable online 30 minutes before mass shooting
Anti-Semite and white supremacist, this is how the Buffalo attacker proclaims himself 2:18
What establishes the new project against internal terrorism?
The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act would establish offices specifically focused on domestic terrorism in the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the FBI.
The offices would track and analyze domestic terrorist activity with the goal of better preparing the federal government to identify risks in order to take preventative action.
The bill creates a requirement for semi-annual domestic terrorism threat reporting.
It also calls for assessments of the threat posed specifically by white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
The bill is backed by Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois.
It has three Republican co-sponsors: Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Don Bacon of Nebraska and Fred Upton of Michigan.
House Democratic leaders had planned to introduce an earlier version of the bill in April, but the effort was derailed after progressive members opposed the measure, who said it could be used to target civil rights activists or groups. left.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said she believes those issues have been resolved.
"We've resolved some of the concerns that people have about civil liberties, which were legitimate concerns, and I think we've resolved that and I think we'll come to terms with it," Hoyer said during his weekly meeting with reporters.
The role of social media in the Buffalo, New York shooting 3:30
The approval of the project comes after the massacre in Buffalo
Earlier this week, Schneider urged the House to quickly accept the bill after the Buffalo shooting.
"The rise of racially motivated violent extremism is a serious threat to Americans across the country," he said in a statement.
“The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act is what Congress can do this week to try to prevent future shootings in Buffalo, to prevent future shootings in California, future shootings in El Paso, future shootings in Charleston, future shootings in Pittsburgh, future Wisconsin shootings.
We need to make sure federal law enforcement has the resources it needs to preemptively identify and thwart extremist violence wherever the threat appears."
The 18-year-old suspected of opening fire at a Buffalo supermarket on Saturday told authorities the attack was aimed at the black community, according to an official familiar with the investigation.
The suspected gunman made disturbing statements describing his motive and state of mind after his arrest, the official said.
The statements were clear and full of hatred towards the black community.
Investigators also uncovered other information from search warrants and other methods that indicate the suspected shooter was "studying" previous hate attacks and shootings, the official said.
Eleven of the people who were shot were black, authorities said.
The victims are between 20 and 86 years old, police said.
Buffalo police identified all 13 victims on Sunday.
They included a former police officer who tried to stop the shooter, the octogenarian mother of the former city fire commissioner and a long-term substitute teacher.
-- CNN's Ali Zaslav, Manu Raju, Morgan Rimmer, Kristin Wilson and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
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