Democrats target increase in anti-Asian hate crimes
Measure aims to boost both prosecution and reporting at national, state and local levels.
WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill are negotiating a modest bill designed to help law enforcement combat the rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans, a rare moment of potential bipartisan compromise on legislation.
The bill would designate one Justice Department official to expedite review of possible hate crimes against Asian Americans. It would also set up a voluntary database of hate crimes and issue guidance to help local law enforcement make it easier for people to report crimes.
“For more than a year, the Asian American community has been fighting two viruses — the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-Asian hate,” said Rep. Grace Meng (DN.Y.), an author of the measure. “We have to rise up and show solidarity against this intolerance. We have to take action to combat this xenophobia and violence.”
The legislation was drafted by Democrats but will need Republican support to prevent a potential filibuster in the Senate. Some Republicans initially voiced skepticism about whether additional laws to address hate crimes were needed, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that Republicans are working with Democrats.
“The discrimination against Asian Americans is a real problem,” he said, citing his wife, Elaine Chao, who was born in Taiwan and has served as a Cabinet secretary in the Trump and George W. Bush administrations. “I’m hoping we can work out an agreement to get on the bill in a normal way, have some amendments and move on to final passage.”
The legislation carries significant symbolism amid an increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. For Democrats, it carries added importance because of then-President Trump’s use of derogatory terms to describe the origins of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Republicans are expected to allow the bill to come to the Senate floor as soon as Wednesday.
“I’m not gonna say it was unanimous, but [it] felt like there was a lot of interest in getting on the bill,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas after a meeting of Senate Republicans.
It would mark a departure from recent years, when the two parties seemed able to come together only during an emergency, for example to avoid a government shutdown or extend relief during the pandemic. But even efforts like those are typically battles.
If Republicans do block the Senate from starting on the bill, it will mark the first use of the filibuster on a piece of legislation this year.
The debate over the bill comes as Democrats are mounting a case to eliminate or change the filibuster, shining new attention on the procedural tool that the minority party has used increasingly in recent years to block legislation. If Republicans filibuster the Asian hate crimes bill, Democrats will probably use it to build their case against the tactic.
“If you’re going to filibuster this, for goodness sake, don’t tell me that it’s encouraging debate,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), citing the argument filibuster proponents make that it encourages bipartisanship by requiring the parties to work together.
It is unclear whether the effort against Asian hate crimes will remain bipartisan. Three Republicans objected to moving the bill immediately, according to Durbin. Republicans have another opportunity to block the bill immediately before final passage, when the Senate requires 60 votes.
Bipartisanship will probably hinge on whether Republicans are able to put forward amendments to the measure. While it is unclear how many changes they might seek, some Republicans have pointed out that the current legislation covers only hate crimes related to the COVID-19 pandemic, a restriction they would want to lift.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (DHawaii), one of the bill’s authors, said although it’s important to her to point out the link between certain terminology around the pandemic and the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans, she is open to amending the language.
There is also a bipartisan amendment that would more broadly address the issue by encouraging locallevel law enforcement agencies to report hate crimes, in part by supporting those that use a new hate crime reporting tool. The amendment would also establish grants for states to run hate crime hotlines.
In addition to the Justice Department appointment, the bill would issue guidance to help state and local law enforcement agencies establish online reporting of hate crimes and incidents, which have been underreported. The legislation would also help those agencies develop public education campaigns to help track and prevent hate crimes.
Claire Jean Kim, a political scientist and professor of Asian American studies at UC Irvine, is skeptical these bills would fully address anti-Asian racism; she says that addressing social problems, inequality and injustice needs to be part of the solution.
“All of this talk about hate crimes right now against Asian Americans sounds like superficial, symbolic posturing for political reasons,” she said.
Sen. Hirono, who was born in Japan, and Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who is of Korean descent, said the increase in anti-Asian incidents has had a profound effect on their own lives.
“It does give me pause,” Hirono said, noting that she is an AAPI, or Asian American Pacific Islander. “Before, if I was walking around outside I would have my earbuds on; I’d be listening to books on tape. I would never do that now because of the incidents of totally unprovoked hate crimes against AAPIs.”
Kim called the time since the March 16 shootings at three Atlanta-area spas — in which six women of Asian descent, a white woman and a white man were killed — “one of most difficult months” of his life.
“There has never been a situation in my lifetime where I felt this level of fear and this level of vulnerability, and also the level of isolation that I do right now,” he said.
Times staff writer Erin B. Logan contributed to this report.