House to vote on Senate-passed COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act later in May

Washington — The House will take up a bill aimed at addressing hate crimes against Asian Americans later this month, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced on Thursday. The Senate passed the legislation by an overwhelming and bipartisan majority last month.

The legislation would supplement the federal government's efforts to address the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the coronavirus pandemic, establish a point person at the Justice Department who would quickly review hate crime incidents and provide more guidance to state and local entities to make it easier to report hate crimes. The bill would also expand public education campaigns designed to increase awareness and outreach to victims. The proposal comes amid a dramatic rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. The organization Stop AAPI Hate said Thursday that it had received a total of 6,603 reports of hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders between March 19, 2020, and March 31, 2021. The data showed that 64.8% of all hate incidents reported came from Asian American women.