Congressional Democrats urge Republicans to support Hate Crimes Act

Rep. Andy Kim describes his experiences of anti-Asian bias since the pandemic began.

One of the first tests of the U.S. Senate's stated goal of bipartisanship will be the legislation addressing the rising number of hat crimes and violence directed at Asian Americans.

Top congressional Democrats are calling on their Republican colleagues to support the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act co-authored by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-HI, and Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY. A vote on the bill could occur this week.

"For more than a year, the Asian American community has been fighting two viruses, the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-Asian hate," Meng said during a press conference on Tuesday. "We've heard about and seen videos of both young and elderly Asian Americans being shoved to the ground, stomped on, being spat on and shunned. These heinous acts have been outrageous, unconscionable and they must end."

"Combating hate should not be a partisan issue," Meng added. "We must all as Democrats and Republicans stand together against this racism and violence and say enough is enough."

The bill would create a position in the Justice Department to review COVID-19 hate crimes. It would also establish online reporting and it would be in multiple languages. There would be a public campaign to educate people about appropriate language and guidance to reduce discriminatory language when describing the COVID-19 pandemic, too.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would support a bi-partisan amendment.

“Their bill would provide resources to state and local law enforcement to improve hate crime reporting, increase training and establish pathways to rehabilitation,” Schumer said.

Indeed, some Republicans have voiced their support for the bill.

"As a proud husband of an Asian American woman, I think this discrimination against Asian Americans is a real problem," said Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is married to Elaine Chao, the former Bush and Trump-era Cabinet secretary.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she hopes her Republican colleagues will join her in supporting Hirono's bill. "I certainly hope so," she said. "I think it's an important issue and one that's worthy of our consideration."

The AAPI community has experienced a dramatic spike in the number of hate crimes in the past year. The organization Stop AAPI Hate documented about 3,800 attacks from the pandemic's onset in the U.S. last March to February of this year, and that is very likely an undercount because many attacks go unreported. 

Hirono praised President Biden for his early support in passing the legislation.

Referring to Donald Trump, Hirono said, "When you have a president who deems the virus to be the 'China virus' or to have members of his administration refer to it as 'kung flu,' you create an environment where people will be motivated because of whatever reasons they have to commit these kinds of crimes."

Trump frequently used racist phrases like "kung flu," "China Virus" or Whuan Flu in referring to the coronavirus.

"Words matter," said Hawaii's Hirono.

Earlier, Biden had urged his support for the bill. "I urge Congress to swiftly pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which would expedite the federal government’s response to the rise of hate crimes exacerbated during the pandemic, support state and local governments to improve hate crimes reporting, and ensure that hate crimes information is more accessible to Asian American communities," said Biden.

It should be a no-brainer to vote in favor of the bill, but the political divide is so deep in Washington that a resolution last year denouncing hate incidents toward Asian Americans  during the pandemic failed to go up for a vote in the GOP-dominated Senate last year

The House passed the legislation, also introduced by Meng., on Sept. 17, 2020 in a 243-164 vote, with all 164 nays coming from Republicans. Only 14 GOP members of the House voted for the resolution.

During the press conference, members of Congress told reporters of some experiences with discrimination in the past year.

"Before, if I was walking around outside I would have my earbuds on, I'd be listening to books on tape," Hirono described. "I would never do that now because of the incidents of totally unprovoked hate crimes against AAPIs."

Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said he has never before felt this "level of fear and vulnerability."

"Over the last month, I've shared stories I've never shared before, I've opened up in ways that I never had before because the moment calls upon [you]," he said. "When I worked at the State Department as a diplomat, I was banned from working on issues related to Korea, because I'm Korean American."

He said his 5-year-old son came home and told him "a bigger kid kept calling him 'Chinese boy, Chinese boy' over and over again."

"I really do believe that the next few weeks will determine the next few decades of how Asian Americans are treated and understood and accepted in this country," Kim said.

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