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Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Anti-Asian Hate Crime Bill

Masood Farivar

   WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed new
   legislation aimed at bolstering efforts to combat rising anti-Asian
   hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

   The bill would establish a new Justice Department position to expedite
   the review of COVID-19-related hate crimes and provide support for
   local law enforcement agencies to respond to anti-Asian hate violence.
   It also includes an amendment that improves hate crime reporting and
   establishes hate crime telephone hotlines. The amendment was initially
   introduced as the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act, named
   after two high-profile victims of hate crimes in recent years.

   The vote was 94 to 1. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri was
   the only senator to vote against the bill. Two Democratic senators and
   three Republicans did not vote.

   The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where it's expected
   to pass with wide bipartisan support. President Joe Biden has expressed
   support for the bill and is expected to sign it into law when it
   reaches his desk.
   Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, speaks at a news conference after the
   Senate passes a COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act on Capitol Hill, April 22,
   2021, in Washington.

   Senator Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii, a Democrat who sponsored the bill,
   praised its passage.

   The bill, known as the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, sends a "powerful
   message of solidarity to the [Asian American and Pacific
   Islander]community that the Senate will not be a bystander as
   anti-Asian violence surges in our country," Hirono said on the Senate
   floor before the bill's passage.

   The legislation comes as hate-motivated violence aimed at Asian
   Americans has spiked amid the coronavirus pandemic, fueled by what
   civil rights advocates describe as the baseless scapegoating of Asians
   for the virus that originated in China.

   Anti-Asian hate crimes surged by 150% in major American cities last
   year, according to police data compiled by the Center for the Study of
   Hate and Extremism at California State University. Meanwhile, Stop AAPI
   Hate, an advocacy coalition, has received more than 3,800 reports of
   anti-Asian hate and discrimination since the start of the pandemic.

   "These statistics paint a disturbing picture of what's happening in our
   country, but they only quantify part of the problem," Hirono said.

   That is because hate crimes are notoriously undercounted, she said.

   In January, Biden issued an executive order condemning anti-Asian hate
   crimes during the pandemic.

   Last week, the White House announced the appointment of Erika L.
   Moritsugu as liaison to the Asian American community.