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On Thursday, the US Senate voted 94-1 to approve anti-Asian hate crimes legislation designed at expanding the efforts of the federal government to address the recent increase in these crimes. The bill would identify and appoint a person at the Justice Department to quickly review hate crime incidents and provide more guidance to state and local entities making it easier to report hate crimes. It would also expand public education campaigns designed to increase awareness and outreach to victims. The legislation was introduced by Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono and New York Congresswoman Grace Meng. The legislation came following an increase in anti-Asian crimes in the past year. The Senate vote took place over a month after a mass shooting in the Atlanta area. This incident left 8 people dead, including 6 women of Asian descent.

Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth issued a press conference after passing the bill. They said the bill sends a strong signal of support to the AAPI community. Duckworth said, “This bill will allow me to go home and tell my mom, we did something about it. This bill tells the AAPI community we see you, and we will stand with you and we will protect you”. Duckworth informed reporters that her 80-year old mother recently went to a grocery store to try to buy grapes and was hassled by a grocery store clerk. In March, President Biden called on Congress to pass the bill and said in a meeting with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus earlier this month that he and Vice President Kamala Harris were heartened by the overwhelmingly bipartisan vote to advance the legislation.

The recent measure includes input from several Republican senators. On Wednesday, Hirono and Republican Senator Susan Collins announced that they had reached an agreement on language to remove sections related to COVID-19, but still makes explicit that it refers to the AAPI community. The legislation incorporated language from the Jabara-Heyer No Hate Act, proposed by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and Republican Senator Jerry Moran. They said it would allow the attorney general to issue grants to state and local governments to assist them with reporting hate crimes. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “This long-overdue bill sends two messages. To our Asian American friends, we will not tolerate bigotry against you, and to those perpetrating anti-Asian bigotry, we will pursue you to the fullest extent of the law”.