President Biden to sign COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law this week

Washington, May 19, 2021: The US House of Representatives has passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act with a strong bipartisan support and a vote of 364 in favour to 62 against.

The Bill which sailed through Senate with nearly unanimous support and has cleared the house of representatives, is now on President Joe Biden’s desk and the legislation will be signed into law by the President later this week at the White House according to spokesperson Jen Psaki.

The aim of the anti-hate bill is to curb the alarming rise in attacks some of which were fatal, particularly on Asian Americans and pacific islanders following the start of the pandemic, with some people believing Donald Trump’s claims that the virus is in fact the “china virus”. The worst of the anti-Asian sentiment was expressed in an attack in Atlanta this year, where a man was arrested and charged for killing a total of 8 people including 6 women of Asian descent who worked in massage parlous.

The legislation which is known to be backed by President Biden will help to increase public awareness on the issue of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, provide guidance to state and local level governments on how to combat hate crimes, and will also speed up reviews on COVID-19 related hate crimes targeted on Asians.

According to House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, it is important that the nation and its lawmakers send a clear united message on strengthening defense against anti-Asian violence and also to present ways to address the issue not just during the pandemic but also in the future years to come.

Since March 2020, and up to March 2021, there have been over 6600 reported incidents of anti-Asian discriminatory violence and hate crimes, with videos emerging of businesses being vandalized, elder people being beaten up and even stabbings in public areas.

While on the floor of the House, Nancy Pelosi further commented on the importance of the bill being passed and said it was shameful that after all the heroism shown by the AAPI community during the fight with the pandemic, in their roles of emergency responders and health workers, the community was being targeted in such a hateful and discriminatory way.

Stay tuned to BaaghiTV for latest news and Updates!