Advertisement

House passes Asian Americans hate crimes act as Gaetz and Greene among 62 GOP lawmakers refusing to back it

 (CSPAN)
(CSPAN)

The US House of Representatives has passed the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act to help combat violence against Asian Americans that have spiked during the pandemic.

A two-thirds majority was needed in the lower chamber of Congress for the bill to move forward, which was easily met with a final vote tally of 364 to 62. All those opposed were Republicans.

Among those who voted against the bill are representatives Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, and Madison Cawthorn.

The bill condemns “the horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16th” and reaffirms “the House’s commitment to combating hate, bigotry, and violence against the AAPI community”.

The Senate passed the bill by a 94-1 vote in April, in a rare moment of bipartisanship, and it will now be sent to President Joe Biden, who supports it, for his signature.

In the Senate, the one dissenting vote was Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri.

The bill was introduced by Representative Grace Meng of New York and Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.

It takes modest measures to help law enforcement better deal with the rise in attacks against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities that have seen a sharp increase since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

One benefit of the bill pointed out by cosponsor Don Beyer of Virginia is that it will lead to better data collection as hate crimes are believed to be underreported making them difficult to tackle.

A central point person at the Department of Justice will expedite the review of Covid-19-related hate crimes, provide support for law enforcement agencies to respond to hate crimes, and facilitate coordination between local and state partners to curb discriminatory language used to describe the pandemic.

Democrats accuse former president Donald Trump of stoking anti-Asian hate with racist rhetoric including referring to Covid-19 as the “China virus”.

The passage of the bill comes during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that the president is pleased to see the House pass the bill and looks forward to signing it into law at the White House later this week.

Read More

The Independent visits Heathrow ahead of international travel restarting

Marjorie Taylor Greene defends ‘abused’ Capitol rioters and Ashli Babbitt in House floor speech

Alabama governor signs medical marijuana legislation