WASHINGTON — The House is expected to give final passage Tuesday to a Senate bill to address the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The legislation, which the Senate passed in a 94-1 vote last month, would direct the Department of Justice to expedite the review of Covid-related hate crimes that were reported to law enforcement agencies and help them establish ways to report such incidents online and perform public outreach.
The bill, which Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, introduced in March alongside Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., would also direct the attorney general and the Department of Health and Human Services to issue best-practices guidance on how to mitigate racially discriminatory language in describing the pandemic.
The Democratic-controlled House is expected to vote on the bill in the afternoon, sending it President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about the uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes during a meeting with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus last week.
“We’ve seen how Asian American small businesses have been targeted recently in particular because of the COVID virus and what it’s done in terms of our economy,” Harris said. “We have seen how Asian American women have been struggling with unemployment, many of whom have been frontline workers. We have seen the Asian American people in our, in our country have been targeted by vicious expressions of hate.”
“You know, there has been a lot of attention — national attention … to the injustices that have targeted our AAPI community,” Harris continued. “And this is a moment for all Americans to stand together. We stand together, unified, saying harm against anyone is harm against all of us. And we will stand together in support of all communities, to protect and honor who they are.”