Sinema, Kelly back bipartisan hate crime legislation.
“Violent acts of hate against the Asian American community will not be tolerated and this bipartisan bill takes important steps to give communities and law enforcement additional tools.”
Sen. Mark Kelly
D-Ariz.
Arizona’s two Democratic U.S. senators voted Thursday for bipartisan legislation that aims to combat hate crimes against Asian Americans, which have surged during the yearlong coronavirus pandemic as former President Donald Trump and others used racist rhetoric when describing the pandemic.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., joined a rare, overwhelming majority of senators in the 50-50 chamber to pass the hate crimes legislation, which included bipartisan provisions to garner Republican support. The legislation passed 94-1. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., voted against it.
Both senators have said the legislation was needed to help protect those of Asian descent.
“Violent acts of hate against the Asian American community will not be tolerated and this bipartisan bill takes important steps to give communities and law enforcement additional tools to crack down on hate crimes,” Kelly said in a statement after the vote. “Every Arizonan, regardless of race, deserves to live a life free from discrimination.”
Sinema did not weigh in after Thursday’s vote. She previously has said everyone should be protected from violent crimes and harassment and was glad to see the Senate advancing the bill.
The legislation strengthens hatecrime reporting by assigning a Justice Department employee to facilitate a quick review of alleged hate crimes and reports of any such crime to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies. It also requires the department to give guidance to state and local police on establishing online reporting of hate crimes.
The bill next goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.
As part of bipartisan negotiations in the Senate, the bill established incentives for state and local law enforcement to submit credible and complete hate crime reports, creates grants for staterun hate-crime hotlines, and requires the Justice Department to collect and analyze data on hate crimes. It also allows judges to require community service or educational programs for perpetrators of hate crimes.
“With better information, we can help prevent these crimes before they occur and assist law enforcement in bringing the perpetrators to justice,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who worked with Hirono on amending the legislation.
The bill also formally acknowledges the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes throughout the pandemic and remembers the victims of the March 16 shooting spree in Atlanta, where six of the eight victims were of Asian descent.
Ahead of the final vote, Hirono said the Senate sent a “powerful message of solidarity” to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that the chamber will not stand by as hate crimes surge across the nation. Many of those crimes go unreported.
Of those documented in major cities, crimes against Asian Americans spiked in 2020, coinciding with the pandemic, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, based on analysis of preliminary police data.
Researchers and lawmakers like Hirono attributed usage of phrases like, “Chinese virus,” “Wuhan Virus” and ‘“Kung flu” to describe the COVID-19 pandemic, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, to fueling anti-Asian sentiments.
Marian Tadano Shee, an 81-yearold Phoenix resident who was held at a Japanese internment camp as a child in the 1940s, welcomed the legislation.
She hopes it encourages Asian American and Pacific Islanders feel more comfortable reporting hate crimes. Though she has not experienced hate crimes herself in the era of COVID-19, she has friends who have. While painful, she has forced herself to watch videos and read stories about horrifying — and unprovoked — attacks on people of Asian descent.
“I have to force myself to watch it,” told The Arizona Republic as the Senate voted on the legislation. “What bothers me is how so many of the victims are some of the most vulnerable in our population. They’re elderly, they’re mothers with children, and the attackers, many times, are of good, physical health and size.”
Tadano Shee recounted an encounter her neighbor of Asian descent experienced just last week.
Tadano Shee said her friend was driving out of a post office parking lot when three young men began screaming at her and driving their car close to hers.
“She was the only one in the car, and three men are yelling and screaming and waving, practically halfway out the car through their window, making remarks and yelling and screaming at her, and threw something at her car,” Tadano Shee said.