House to vote on Senate-passed COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act later in May
CBSN
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.Billions of cicadas are emerging across about 16 states in the Southeast and Midwest. Periodical cicadas used to reliably emerge every 13 or 17 years, depending on their brood. But in a warming world where spring conditions arrive sooner, climate change is messing with the bugs' internal alarm clocks.
Senate Democrats to unveil package to protect IVF as party makes reproductive rights push this month
Washington — A group of Senate Democrats is set to unveil a new package to protect access to IVF on Monday, as the party makes a push around reproductive rights this month — two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.