House and Senate Democrats Tuesday called on Republicans to support a measure responding to an increase in Asian American hate crimes, calling it a “crucial” measure the GOP must not block.
Senate Republicans have so far shown little enthusiasm for the legislation and argued Monday that the bill was a political messaging measure that would result in government overreach.
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, urged the GOP to help provide the 60 votes needed to proceed to debating the measure.
Democrats control 50 votes and need at least 10 Republicans to vote for a procedural motion on Wednesday in order to launch debate.
“Combating hate in the Asian American community can and should be bipartisan,” Schumer said Tuesday. “The way to do that is for 60 senators to vote to proceed to the legislation. I hope it will be many more than 60. Who would oppose this very simple but necessary legislation?”
The bill would appoint a federal law enforcement official to expedite reviews of COVID-19-related hate crimes reported at the local or federal levels.
Such a crime is described in the bill as one that is related to race, ethnicity, and other identifying factors or is motivated “by the actual perceived relationship to the spread of COVID-19.”
House and Senate Democrats are acting on the measure in response to increased reports of attacks against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic, which appears to have originated in China.
“This common sense legislation will give the Justice Department crucial tools to crack down on the wave of racist violence we have seen against the AAPI community,” Schumer said.
At a press conference Tuesday, lawmakers belonging to the AAPI community said Asian Americans report feeling fearful of hate crimes.
“This is a historic moment right now for the AAPI community in America,” Rep. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, said. “There has never been a situation during my lifetime that I’ve felt this level of fear. And this level of vulnerability, and also the level of isolation that I do right now.”
Kim pointed to the March 26 Atlanta spa shootings that killed eight people, some of them Asian Americans. He said constituents want action.
“One question kept coming up, which is, what are you going to do about this?” Kim said. “What is Congress going to do about this. That is the demand being made right now. And it’s a demand that is justified given the violence, discrimination, that the AAPI community has faced, not just in the last month, not just in the last year, but over the course of our entire lives.”
Republicans may end up backing the bill and working on bipartisan ways to amend it.
Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, has drafted an amendment with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, that would provide resources to state and local law enforcement agencies “to improve hate crime reporting, increase training, and to establish pathways to rehabilitation,” Schumer said.
Republicans on Monday suggested the measure was too narrow and would only target crimes determined to be related to COVID-19.
“Certainly, I condemn hate crimes against the Asian Americans or any other ethnic group,” Sen. Susan Collins, a key GOP centrist from Maine, said. “The bill has some drafting problems that I hope can be corrected. For example, it seems to say that the hate crime has to be linked to COVID, which is rather odd.”
Democrats said Monday that the bill is not intended to be limited to COVID-19 hate crimes and that they are “open to amendments” to ensure the bill includes a broader definition of hate crimes.
“The intent of this bill originally was to get a more clear and accurate picture of what happened during this last year during the COVID pandemic,” Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat and bill sponsor, said. “But of course, this is something that we’re interested in the long term. This hate crimes legislation doesn’t only pertain and help the Asian American community, it would help all communities, before and after COVID.”
