[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 14, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S1907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    VIOLENCE AGAINST ASIAN AMERICANS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, we live in partisan times, but there are 
moments when we can break through the typical divisions and work 
together on matters of real urgency. The anti-Asian hate crimes 
legislation this week is such a matter. It is a very straightforward 
and relatively modest bill to address a pressing and important issue in 
the country. It would designate a point person at the Justice 
Department to identify hate crimes towards Asian Americans related to 
COVID-19--telling Federal law enforcement to make these hate crimes a 
top priority during the pandemic.
  Just as important, it would send a strong message to two groups: to 
the Asian-American community that the country is paying attention to 
them and to all of America that this kind of bigotry cannot be 
tolerated.
  I was gratified to hear the Republican leader yesterday say that the 
Senate Republican conference wanted to move forward on the bill.
  This bill was never intended to be some kind of ``gotcha'' 
legislation. It is led by Senators Hirono and Duckworth, two 
outstanding Asian-American Senators who rightfully want to respond to 
the rising tide of anti-Asian violence over the past year. When they 
asked me to move the bill quickly, I thought that was exactly the right 
thing to do, and here it is on the floor.
  The fact that Leader McConnell said yesterday he believes 
discrimination against Asian Americans is a real problem and wants to 
move forward and be constructive is a very good thing, and I salute him 
for it. The entire Senate ought to stand up against the recent surge of 
anti-Asian violence. We can take the first step later today by voting 
to proceed to the legislation.
  As I said yesterday, my intention is to have a bipartisan amendment 
process, beginning with the amendment offered by Senators Moran and 
Blumenthal--one a Republican and one a Democrat. In consultation with 
the Republican leader, we can work out an agreement on other germane, 
non-"gotcha'' amendments to the bill if Senators have them. We should 
be able and should really try in earnest to reach a final resolution 
and pass the bill through the Senate very, very soon.

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