CONGRESSMAN BOYLE STATEMENT ON PASSAGE OF COVID-19 HATE CRIMES ACT

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02) released the following statement after passage of the Senate-passed COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act this evening:

"This Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we cannot forget the violence inflicted upon the AAPI community throughout this pandemic," said Congressman Boyle. "It is unacceptable that there have been over 6,600 reports of anti-Asian hate since last year. We must continue to better track, report, and address them to ensure no community is terrorized by racially-motivated violence. This bipartisan legislation honors the memory of those victims, and also reaffirms the commitment of the United States to combat this hate and to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again."

The bill that passed this evening, and that is now headed to President Biden for his signature, merged two pieces of legislation:

• The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which is bicameral legislation that particularly focuses on COVID-19 hate crimes and the dramatic increase in hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act, which is bipartisan, bicameral legislation that relates to hate crimes more broadly, and is focused on improving the reporting of hate crimes; encouraging law enforcement prevention, training, and education on hate crimes; establishing hate crime hotlines; and rehabilitating perpetrators of hate crimes through education and community service.