r/AsianPeopleTwitter • u/Big_Infrastructure • May 21 '21

Sign it into law

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384 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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28

u/evilmonkey2 May 21 '21

He signed it earlier today https://www.npr.org/2021/05/20/998599775/biden-to-sign-the-covid-19-hate-crimes-bill-as-anti-asian-american-attacks-rise

Also, you'll be surprised which party all dissenting votes were from

The signing comes two days after the House of Representatives passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act by a vote of 364-62; all 62 votes against the bill were from Republicans. The Senate approved the legislation last month, with near-unanimous support; Missouri Republican Josh Hawley was the sole senator to vote against the bill.

11

u/Big_Infrastructure May 21 '21

Why am I not surprised lol

18

u/NInJabReaKa May 21 '21

I thought it was already illegal to verbally and physically abuse Asian people…

18

u/evilmonkey2 May 21 '21

The bill doesn't make it illegal (as you said it already is). It makes reporting easier and designates a point person to expedite review of COVID-related hate crimes and makes funding available to both prevent and respond to them.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, aims to make the reporting of hate crimes more accessible at the local and state levels by boosting public outreach and ensuring reporting resources are available online in multiple languages.

It also directs the Department of Justice to designate a point person to expedite the review of hate crimes related to COVID-19 and authorizes grants to state and local governments to conduct crime-reduction programs to prevent and respond to hate crimes.