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The U.S. Senate has overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill aimed at improving the ability of federal, state, and local law enforcement to respond to hate crimes, especially those aimed at Asian Americans.
The 94-1 Senate vote Thursday to pass the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act was a rare example of a bipartisan agreement on Capitol Hill. Josh Hawley, el Missouri Republican Senator, was the only legislator to oppose it.
The bill proposes a new office in the U.S. Department of Justice specifically to address hate crimes against Asian Americans. It will now be sent to the House, where it is likely to find similar bipartisan support.
The Senate bill was introduced by Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth, Democratic senators from Hawaii and Illinois, respectively, to address the growing number of recorded hate crimes committed against Asian Americans in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Legislation in the House has been sponsored by Grace Meng, a New York Democrat.
Hirono and Duckworth are the only Asian Americans in the upper house of the 100-member Congress.
The legislation was introduced shortly before a shooting last month in Atlanta that killed eight people, included six Asian American women. These killings put pressure on members of Congress to take action after a year marked by a sharp increase in crime against Asian Americans.
The Stop AAPI Hate Initiative, a advocacy group, recorded nearly 3,800 hate incidents targeting Asian Americans between March 2020 and February 2021. The Center for the Study of Hate and California State University extremism found that hate crimes against Asian Americans increased nearly 150% course.
Critics have blamed former U.S. President Donald Trump, who frequently called the coronavirus “Kung flu” and the “China virus,” for venting the flames of racism.
“Today, the Senate has said enough is enough and has stressed out loud that there is no room for hatred in our society,” Meng said.
“More allegations of hate crimes will provide us with more data and a more accurate picture of the attacks that have taken place against those of Asian origin, and a more centralized and unified way of reviewing these crimes would help address the issue of a way more than an effective way, ”he added.
The Senate bill introduced by Hirono and Duckworth was amended to include independent anti-hate crime legislation introduced by Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, and Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican. Its proposals would expand resources to improve hate crime reporting and increase investment in aid for hate crime victims.
“Don’t let anyone say we can’t do bills, big major bills, bipartisan bills in the U.S. Senate,” Blumenthal said Thursday. “When American values are online, we can make them.”
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