House passes bill aimed at combating hate crimes against Asian Americans


With a vote of 364-62, the House on Tuesday passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which directs the Justice Department to appoint an official to expedite a review of coronavirus-related hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
All of the opposing votes were from Republicans. The Senate approved the legislation 94-1 in April, with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) the lone vote against it. President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law later this week.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began last spring, there has been a sharp increase in the number of attacks against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the bill also calls on federal agencies to work with community-based organizations to spread awareness of hate crimes and establish a way for law enforcement to report hate crimes online.
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Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), who introduced the legislation with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), said on Tuesday it is "a necessary step to confront the second pandemic of racism and discrimination. We cannot mend what we do not measure."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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