[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 937 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 937

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To facilitate the expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Following the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, there has 
        been a dramatic increase in hate crimes and violence against 
        Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.
            (2) According to a recent report, there were nearly 3,800 
        reported cases of anti-Asian discrimination and incidents 
        related to COVID-19 between March 19, 2020, and February 28, 
        2021, in all 50 States and the District of Columbia.
            (3) During this time frame, race has been cited as the 
        primary reason for discrimination, making up over 90 percent of 
        incidents, and the United States condemns and denounces any and 
        all anti-Asian and Pacific Islander sentiment in any form.
            (4) Roughly 36 percent of these incidents took place at a 
        business and more than 2,000,000 Asian-American businesses have 
        contributed to the diverse fabric of American life.
            (5) More than 1,900,000 Asian-American and Pacific Islander 
        older adults, particularly those older adults who are recent 
        immigrants or have limited English proficiency, may face even 
        greater challenges in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, 
        including discrimination, economic insecurity, and language 
        isolation.
            (6) In the midst of this alarming surge in anti-Asian hate 
        crimes and incidents, a shooter murdered the following 8 people 
        in the Atlanta, Georgia region, 7 of whom were women and 6 of 
        whom were women of Asian descent:
                    (A) Xiaojie Tan.
                    (B) Daoyou Feng.
                    (C) Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez.
                    (D) Paul Andre Michels.
                    (E) Soon Chung Park.
                    (F) Hyun Jung Grant.
                    (G) Suncha Kim.
                    (H) Yong Ae Yue.
            (7) The people of the United States will always remember 
        the victims of these shootings and stand in solidarity with 
        those affected by this senseless tragedy and incidents of hate 
        that have affected the Asian and Pacific Islander communities.

SEC. 3. REVIEW OF HATE CRIMES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 7 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General shall designate an officer or 
employee of the Department of Justice whose responsibility during the 
applicable period shall be to facilitate the expedited review of hate 
crimes (as described in section 249 of title 18, United States Code) 
and reports of any such crime to Federal, State, local, or Tribal law 
enforcement agencies.
    (b) Applicable Period Defined.--In this section, the term 
``applicable period'' means the period beginning on the date on which 
the officer or employee is designated under subsection (a), and ending 
on the date that is 1 year after the date on which the emergency period 
described in subparagraph (B) of section 1135(g)(1) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-5(g)(1)) ends, except that the Attorney 
General may extend such period as appropriate.

SEC. 4. GUIDANCE.

    (a) Guidance for Law Enforcement Agencies.--The Attorney General 
shall issue guidance for State, local, and Tribal law enforcement 
agencies, pursuant to this Act and other applicable law, on how to--
            (1) establish online reporting of hate crimes or incidents, 
        and to have online reporting that is equally effective for 
        people with disabilities as for people without disabilities 
        available in multiple languages as determined by the Attorney 
        General;
            (2) collect data disaggregated by the protected 
        characteristics described in section 249 of title 18, United 
        States Code; and
            (3) expand public education campaigns aimed at raising 
        awareness of hate crimes and reaching victims, that are equally 
        effective for people with disabilities as for people without 
        disabilities.
    (b) Guidance Relating to COVID-19 Pandemic.--The Attorney General 
and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with 
the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force and community-based 
organizations, shall issue guidance aimed at raising awareness of hate 
crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SEC. 5. JABARA-HEYER NO HATE ACT.

    (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Khalid Jabara 
and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to 
Equality Act of 2021'' or the ``Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The incidence of violence known as hate crimes, or 
        crimes motivated by bias, poses a serious national problem.
            (2) According to data obtained by the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation, the incidence of such violence increased in 
        2019, the most recent year for which data is available.
            (3) In 1990, Congress enacted the Hate Crime Statistics Act 
        (Public Law 101-275; 28 U.S.C. 534 note) to provide the Federal 
        Government, law enforcement agencies, and the public with data 
        regarding the incidence of hate crime. The Hate Crime 
        Statistics Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate 
        Crimes Prevention Act (division E of Public Law 111-84; 123 
        Stat. 2835) have enabled Federal authorities to understand and, 
        where appropriate, investigate and prosecute hate crimes.
            (4) A more complete understanding of the national problem 
        posed by hate crime is in the public interest and supports the 
        Federal interest in eradicating bias-motivated violence 
        referenced in section 249(b)(1)(C) of title 18, United States 
        Code.
            (5) However, a complete understanding of the national 
        problem posed by hate crimes is hindered by incomplete data 
        from Federal, State, and local jurisdictions through the 
        Uniform Crime Reports program authorized under section 534 of 
        title 28, United States Code, and administered by the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation.
            (6) Multiple factors contribute to the provision of 
        inaccurate and incomplete data regarding the incidence of hate 
        crime through the Uniform Crime Reports program. A significant 
        contributing factor is the quality and quantity of training 
        that State and local law enforcement agencies receive on the 
        identification and reporting of suspected bias-motivated 
        crimes.
            (7) The problem of crimes motivated by bias is sufficiently 
        serious, widespread, and interstate in nature as to warrant 
        Federal financial assistance to States and local jurisdictions.
            (8) Federal financial assistance with regard to certain 
        violent crimes motivated by bias enables Federal, State, and 
        local authorities to work together as partners in the 
        investigation and prosecution of such crimes.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Hate crime.--The term ``hate crime'' means an act 
        described in section 245, 247, or 249 of title 18, United 
        States Code, or in section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 
        (42 U.S.C. 3631).
            (2) Priority agency.--The term ``priority agency'' means--
                    (A) a law enforcement agency of a unit of local 
                government that serves a population of not less than 
                100,000, as computed by the Federal Bureau of 
                Investigation; or
                    (B) a law enforcement agency of a unit of local 
                government that--
                            (i) serves a population of not less than 
                        50,000 and less than 100,000, as computed by 
                        the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
                            (ii) has reported no hate crimes through 
                        the Uniform Crime Reports program in each of 
                        the 3 most recent calendar years for which such 
                        data is available.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
        Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
            (4) Uniform crime reports.--The term ``Uniform Crime 
        Reports'' means the reports authorized under section 534 of 
        title 28, United States Code, and administered by the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation that compile nationwide criminal 
        statistics for use--
                    (A) in law enforcement administration, operation, 
                and management; and
                    (B) to assess the nature and type of crime in the 
                United States.
            (5) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local 
        government'' has the meaning given the term in section 901 of 
        title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
        1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
    (d) Reporting of Hate Crimes.--
            (1) Implementation grants.--
                    (A) In general.--The Attorney General may make 
                grants to States and units of local government to 
                assist the State or unit of local government in 
                implementing the National Incident-Based Reporting 
                System, including to train employees in identifying and 
                classifying hate crimes in the National Incident-Based 
                Reporting System.
                    (B) Priority.--In making grants under subparagraph 
                (A), the Attorney General shall give priority to States 
                and units of local government that develop and 
                implement the programs and activities described in 
                subsection (f)(2)(A).
            (2) Reporting.--
                    (A) Compliance.--
                            (i) In general.--Except as provided in 
                        clause (ii), in each fiscal year beginning 
                        after the date that is 3 years after the date 
                        on which a State or unit of local government 
                        first receives a grant under paragraph (1), the 
                        State or unit of local government shall provide 
                        to the Attorney General, through the Uniform 
                        Crime Reporting system, information pertaining 
                        to hate crimes committed in that jurisdiction 
                        during the preceding fiscal year.
                            (ii) Extensions; waiver.--The Attorney 
                        General--
                                    (I) may provide a 120-day extension 
                                to a State or unit of local government 
                                that is making good faith efforts to 
                                comply with clause (i); and
                                    (II) shall waive the requirements 
                                of clause (i) if compliance with that 
                                subparagraph by a State or unit of 
                                local government would be 
                                unconstitutional under the constitution 
                                of the State or of the State in which 
                                the unit of local government is 
                                located, respectively.
                    (B) Failure to comply.--If a State or unit of local 
                government that receives a grant under paragraph (1) 
                fails to substantially comply with subparagraph (A) of 
                this paragraph, the State or unit of local government 
                shall repay the grant in full, plus reasonable interest 
                and penalty charges allowable by law or established by 
                the Attorney General.
    (e) Grants for State-run Hate Crime Hotlines.--
            (1) Grants authorized.--
                    (A) In general.--The Attorney General shall make 
                grants to States to create State-run hate crime 
                reporting hotlines.
                    (B) Grant period.--A grant made under subparagraph 
                (A) shall be for a period of not more than 5 years.
            (2) Hotline requirements.--A State shall ensure, with 
        respect to a hotline funded by a grant under paragraph (1), 
        that--
                    (A) the hotline directs individuals to--
                            (i) law enforcement if appropriate; and
                            (ii) local support services;
                    (B) any personally identifiable information that an 
                individual provides to an agency of the State through 
                the hotline is not directly or indirectly disclosed, 
                without the consent of the individual, to--
                            (i) any other agency of that State;
                            (ii) any other State;
                            (iii) the Federal Government; or
                            (iv) any other person or entity;
                    (C) the staff members who operate the hotline are 
                trained to be knowledgeable about--
                            (i) applicable Federal, State, and local 
                        hate crime laws; and
                            (ii) local law enforcement resources and 
                        applicable local support services; and
                    (D) the hotline is accessible to--
                            (i) individuals with limited English 
                        proficiency, where appropriate; and
                            (ii) individuals with disabilities.
            (3) Best practices.--The Attorney General shall issue 
        guidance to States on best practices for implementing the 
        requirements of paragraph (2).
    (f) Information Collection by States and Units of Local 
Government.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' 
                means--
                            (i) a State law enforcement agency; and
                            (ii) a priority agency.
                    (B) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' 
                means--
                            (i) a State; or
                            (ii) a unit of local government that has a 
                        priority agency.
            (2) Grants.--
                    (A) In general.--The Attorney General may make 
                grants to eligible entities to assist covered agencies 
                within the jurisdiction of the eligible entity in 
                conducting law enforcement activities or crime 
                reduction programs to prevent, address, or otherwise 
                respond to hate crime, particularly as those activities 
                or programs relate to reporting hate crimes through the 
                Uniform Crime Reports program, including--
                            (i) adopting a policy on identifying, 
                        investigating, and reporting hate crimes;
                            (ii) developing a standardized system of 
                        collecting, analyzing, and reporting the 
                        incidence of hate crime;
                            (iii) establishing a unit specialized in 
                        identifying, investigating, and reporting hate 
                        crimes;
                            (iv) engaging in community relations 
                        functions related to hate crime prevention and 
                        education such as--
                                    (I) establishing a liaison with 
                                formal community-based organizations or 
                                leaders; and
                                    (II) conducting public meetings or 
                                educational forums on the impact of 
                                hate crimes, services available to hate 
                                crime victims, and the relevant 
                                Federal, State, and local laws 
                                pertaining to hate crimes; and
                            (v) providing hate crime trainings for 
                        agency personnel.
                    (B) Subgrants.--A State that receives a grant under 
                subparagraph (A) may award a subgrant to a unit of 
                local government within the State for the purposes 
                under that subparagraph, except that a unit of local 
                government may provide funding from such a subgrant to 
                any law enforcement agency of the unit of local 
                government.
            (3) Information required of states and units of local 
        government.--
                    (A) In general.--For each fiscal year in which a 
                State or unit of local government receives a grant or 
                subgrant under paragraph (2), the State or unit of 
                local government shall--
                            (i) collect information from each law 
                        enforcement agency that receives funding from 
                        the grant or subgrant summarizing the law 
                        enforcement activities or crime reduction 
                        programs conducted by the agency to prevent, 
                        address, or otherwise respond to hate crime, 
                        particularly as those activities or programs 
                        relate to reporting hate crimes through the 
                        Uniform Crime Reports program; and
                            (ii) submit to the Attorney General a 
                        report containing the information collected 
                        under clause (i).
                    (B) Semiannual law enforcement agency report.--
                            (i) In general.--In collecting the 
                        information required under subparagraph (A)(i), 
                        a State or unit of local government shall 
                        require each law enforcement agency that 
                        receives funding from a grant or subgrant 
                        awarded to the State or unit of local 
                        government under paragraph (2) to submit a 
                        semiannual report to the State or unit of local 
                        government that includes a summary of the law 
                        enforcement activities or crime reduction 
                        programs conducted by the agency during the 
                        reporting period to prevent, address, or 
                        otherwise respond to hate crime, particularly 
                        as those activities or programs relate to 
                        reporting hate crimes through the Uniform Crime 
                        Reports program.
                            (ii) Contents.--In a report submitted under 
                        clause (i), a law enforcement agency shall, at 
                        a minimum, disclose--
                                    (I) whether the agency has adopted 
                                a policy on identifying, investigating, 
                                and reporting hate crimes;
                                    (II) whether the agency has 
                                developed a standardized system of 
                                collecting, analyzing, and reporting 
                                the incidence of hate crime;
                                    (III) whether the agency has 
                                established a unit specialized in 
                                identifying, investigating, and 
                                reporting hate crimes;
                                    (IV) whether the agency engages in 
                                community relations functions related 
                                to hate crime, such as--
                                            (aa) establishing a liaison 
                                        with formal community-based 
                                        organizations or leaders; and
                                            (bb) conducting public 
                                        meetings or educational forums 
                                        on the impact of hate crime, 
                                        services available to hate 
                                        crime victims, and the relevant 
                                        Federal, State, and local laws 
                                        pertaining to hate crime; and
                                    (V) the number of hate crime 
                                trainings for agency personnel, 
                                including the duration of the 
                                trainings, conducted by the agency 
                                during the reporting period.
            (4) Compliance and redirection of funds.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), beginning not later than 1 year after the date of 
                this Act, a State or unit of local government receiving 
                a grant or subgrant under paragraph (2) shall comply 
                with paragraph (3).
                    (B) Extensions; waiver.--The Attorney General--
                            (i) may provide a 120-day extension to a 
                        State or unit of local government that is 
                        making good faith efforts to collect the 
                        information required under paragraph (3); and
                            (ii) shall waive the requirements of 
                        paragraph (3) for a State or unit of local 
                        government if compliance with that subsection 
                        by the State or unit of local government would 
                        be unconstitutional under the constitution of 
                        the State or of the State in which the unit of 
                        local government is located, respectively.
    (g) Requirements of the Attorney General.--
            (1) Information collection and analysis; report.--In order 
        to improve the accuracy of data regarding the incidence of hate 
        crime provided through the Uniform Crime Reports program, and 
        promote a more complete understanding of the national problem 
        posed by hate crime, the Attorney General shall--
                    (A) collect and analyze the information provided by 
                States and units of local government under subsection 
                (f) for the purpose of developing policies related to 
                the provision of accurate data obtained under the Hate 
                Crime Statistics Act (Public Law 101-275; 28 U.S.C. 534 
                note) by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
                    (B) for each calendar year beginning after the date 
                of enactment of this Act, publish and submit to 
                Congress a report based on the information collected 
                and analyzed under subparagraph (A).
            (2) Contents of report.--A report submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall include--
                    (A) a qualitative analysis of the relationship 
                between--
                            (i) the number of hate crimes reported by 
                        State law enforcement agencies or other law 
                        enforcement agencies that received funding from 
                        a grant or subgrant awarded under paragraph (2) 
                        through the Uniform Crime Reports program; and
                            (ii) the nature and extent of law 
                        enforcement activities or crime reduction 
                        programs conducted by those agencies to 
                        prevent, address, or otherwise respond to hate 
                        crime; and
                    (B) a quantitative analysis of the number of State 
                law enforcement agencies and other law enforcement 
                agencies that received funding from a grant or subgrant 
                awarded under paragraph (2) that have--
                            (i) adopted a policy on identifying, 
                        investigating, and reporting hate crimes;
                            (ii) developed a standardized system of 
                        collecting, analyzing, and reporting the 
                        incidence of hate crime;
                            (iii) established a unit specialized in 
                        identifying, investigating, and reporting hate 
                        crimes;
                            (iv) engaged in community relations 
                        functions related to hate crime, such as--
                                    (I) establishing a liaison with 
                                formal community-based organizations or 
                                leaders; and
                                    (II) conducting public meetings or 
                                educational forums on the impact of 
                                hate crime, services available to hate 
                                crime victims, and the relevant 
                                Federal, State, and local laws 
                                pertaining to hate crime; and
                            (v) conducted hate crime trainings for 
                        agency personnel during the reporting period, 
                        including--
                                    (I) the total number of trainings 
                                conducted by each agency; and
                                    (II) the duration of the trainings 
                                described in subclause (I).
    (h) Alternative Sentencing.--Section 249 of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Supervised Release.--If a court includes, as a part of a 
sentence of imprisonment imposed for a violation of subsection (a), a 
requirement that the defendant be placed on a term of supervised 
release after imprisonment under section 3583, the court may order, as 
an explicit condition of supervised release, that the defendant 
undertake educational classes or community service directly related to 
the community harmed by the defendant's offense.''.

            Passed the Senate April 22, 2021.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
117th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 937

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

  To facilitate the expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes, and for 
                            other purposes.