Following an increase in anti-Asian discrimination and abuse amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the Senate will take up a bill highlighting hate crimes against Asian-Americans this week.
Even though some Republicans have expressed reservations about the measure, it is scheduled to move forward to the Senate floor, giving time for discussion and amendments.
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The hate crimes bill, proposed by Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono, will speed up the federal government's reaction to crimes against Asian-Americans and improve state and local government hate crime reporting guidelines.
It currently has no Republican votes, as per CBS News. In the Senate, Democrats have a slim 50-seat lead, and it takes 60 votes to limit debate on law and carry it to the floor for a final vote. Senator Chuck Grassley told reporters that the bill would get enough Republican support to pass on Tuesday, but he hoped it could be amended.
According to a Senate Democratic aide, a collaborative initiative is underway to enhance the Hirono bill by including a bipartisan bill introduced by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Republican Sen. Jerry Moran for local agencies to increase hate crime reporting further. But only if Senate Republicans chose not to vote to block it on Wednesday.
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Schumer urges Republicans not to block hate crimes bill
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that he wants to put a bill on the floor this week to combat anti-Asian hate crimes and encourage Republicans not to oppose it. At a press conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Asian American lawmakers, Schumer said, "Combating hatred in the Asian American community can and should be bipartisan."
Schumer noted that he wants 60 senators to go on with the measure, NBC News reported. Achieving Republican cooperation ensures that even though all 50 Democratic senators vote in favor of it, they will only require 10 Republican votes. "I'm hoping for a lot more than 60. Who could argue with such an easy, but important piece of legislation?" Schumer asked.
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Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, proposed legislation in March to guide the Department of Justice to expedite the investigation of COVID-19-related hate crimes reported to law enforcement agencies and assist them in developing ways to track those cases online and conduct public outreach. According to The Washington Post, Democrats call the bill "unobjectionable," "modest," and "noncontroversial." It implies that if Republicans vote to stop it, the controversy over repealing the filibuster, which essentially means that other Senate bills require 60 votes to pass, would heat up.
At the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, a study of police department data investigating hate crimes in 16 of America's major cities, found a huge increase in anti-Asian hate crimes last year. It showed that, while overall, such crimes decreased by 7 percent in 2020, those affecting Asian people increased by nearly 150 percent.
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