Senate advances measure that addresses anti-Asian hate crimes

The Senate on Wednesday voted 92-6 to open debate on the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which addresses the rising number of hate crimes being perpetrated against Asian Americans.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), would instruct the Justice Department to expedite its review of hate crimes and coordinate with local law enforcement agencies to raise awareness of how to report a hate crime.

GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), and Roger Marshall (Kansas) voted against opening debate. Cotton and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released a statement before the vote saying they "believe the Senate should have the benefit of hearing from the Department of Justice before blindly acting on this issue."

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Democrats have indicated they are open to Republican amendments, and Hirono on Tuesday addressed the concern that by having "COVID" in the name, the bill is too narrow in focus. "The whole point is that there is a connection between COVID and the rise of these hate crimes," she said. "We wanted to make sure that everyone understood there's a cause and effect here, but I'm open to eliminating that so that we can get to the real issue, which is the rise in hate crimes against [Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders] and what we can do about it."