Schumer says Senate will hold final vote on hate crimes bill next week
CBSN
The Senate will likely vote on a bill addressing hate crimes against Asian Americans next week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday, after the Senate overwhelmingly voted to advance the legislation. Schumer said that he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are negotiating the number of amendments to be considered for the legislation.
"I expect the Republican leader and I, in consultation with the relevant committees, will be able to figure out an appropriate number of reasonable, germane, non-gotcha amendments for the Senate to consider," Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor. The bill comes amid a spike in anti-Asian discrimination and violence during the coronavirus pandemic. The Senate voted 92 to 6 on Wednesday to open debate on the bill, which would expedite the federal government's response to hate crimes against Asian Americans and strengthen guidance for state and local government hate crime reporting. Although Republicans had raised some concerns about the bill, Senate leadership reached an agreement wherein GOP lawmakers agreed to advance the bill in exchange for votes on certain amendments.An Arizona grand jury indicted 18 people Wednesday in the ongoing investigation into an alleged attempt to use alternate electors after the 2020 presidential election as part of a wider alleged conspiracy to falsely declare then-President Donald Trump the winner, the state's attorney general announced.
Almost four out of every 10 people in the United States live in a place where air pollution is considered bad enough to put their health at risk, the American Lung Association warned in its latest "State of the Air" report released on Wednesday. That proportion of people — about 39% of the population — had risen sharply since earlier rounds of pollutant data were analyzed for the annual report last year, and the trends were especially pronounced in certain parts of the country.