WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2021) The House of Representatives has adopted a Senate-passed bill to address the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The House on Tuesday passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act by a vote of 364-62, sending it to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
The Senate passed the bill in April with a 94-1 vote.
The legislation would require the Justice Department to facilitate an expedited review of hate crimes in the United States. The measure would also provide grants to states to establish state-run hate crimes reporting hotlines and to boost efforts to gather more data on reported hate crimes.
Moreover, the bill would also require any individuals convicted of a hate crime to participate in educational classes or community service.
This congressional action comes on the heels of a shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent. The Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said the shooting was a hate crime and her office would seek the death penalty against the alleged gunman Robert Aaron Long.
Earlier in May, two older Asian women were stabbed while waiting for a bus in downtown San Francisco. In late March, an older Asian woman was brutally beat by a man near New York City's Times Square.
Reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans have soared during the coronavirus pandemic.
