[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2030 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2030
To establish a United States Commission on Hate Crimes to study and
make recommendations on the prevention of the commission of hate
crimes, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 15, 2023
Mrs. Gillibrand introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a United States Commission on Hate Crimes to study and
make recommendations on the prevention of the commission of 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 ``Hate Crimes Commission Act of
2023''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (referred to in
this section as the ``FBI'') defines a hate crime as a criminal
offense--such as murder, arson, or vandalism--against a person
or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias
against a race, color, national origin, religion, disability,
sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.
(2) Forty-six States and the District of Columbia have
statutes criminalizing various types of bias-motivated violence
or intimidation.
(3) Congress has enacted various statutes to address hate
crimes since 1968, with the most recent statute, the COVID-19
Hate Crimes Act (Public Law 117-113; 135 Stat. 265), enacted in
2021.
(4) In 2021, the FBI reported 10,840 single-bias incidents,
an increase of nearly 12 percent from 2020.
(5) Hate crimes not only damage the individual victim or
victims, but also traumatize entire communities and erode
public confidence in their safety.
(6) In 2021--
(A) 64.5 percent of victims were targeted because
of the offender's race, ethnicity, or ancestry bias;
(B) 15.9 percent of victims were targeted because
of the offender's sexual orientation bias;
(C) 14.1 percent of victims were targeted because
of the offender's religious bias;
(D) 3.2 percent of victims were targeted because of
the offender's gender identity bias;
(E) 1.4 percent of victims were targeted because of
the offender's disability bias; and
(F) 1 percent of victims were targeted because of
the offender's gender bias.
(7) In testimony before the Committee on Homeland Security
of the House of Representatives in September 2020, FBI Director
Christopher Wray said, ``Within the domestic terrorism bucket,
the category as a whole, racially motivated violent extremism
is, I think, the biggest bucket within that larger group. And
within the racially motivated violent extremist bucket, people
subscribing to some kind of white supremacist-type ideology is
certainly the biggest chunk of that.''.
(8) In August 2012, a shooting at the gurdwara in Oak
Creek, Wisconsin, left 6 people dead, and a seventh victim of
the shooting succumbed to his injuries in 2020.
(9) In October 2018, a shooting at the Tree of Life
synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, left 11 people dead.
(10) In July 2019, a Hindu priest in New York City was
hospitalized after a man attacked him and screamed ``this is my
neighborhood'' during the incident.
(11) In August 2019, an assailant entered a Walmart in El
Paso, Texas, to target Hispanic immigrants and left 22 people
dead.
(12) In November 2020, a woman shouted anti-Muslim slurs
and attacked a couple in New York City, leaving one victim
needing surgery for facial fractures.
(13) In March 2021, a gunman targeted 3 spas across
Atlanta, Georgia, killing 8 people, 6 of whom were Asian women.
(14) In May 2022, a gunman injured 3 people after entering
a Korean-owned business in Dallas, Texas, and firing 13 rounds
before fleeing.
(15) In May 2022, a gunman targeted a Tops supermarket
located in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New
York, killing 10 people and injuring 3 others. Of the 13
victims, 11 were Black.
(16) In November 2022, a gunman killed 5 people and wounded
25 others after opening fire on an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado
Springs, Colorado.
(17) In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans
have suffered an increasing number of hate crimes. According to
Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 11,500 ``hate incidents'' toward Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported between March
2020 and March 2022.
(18) The Anti-Defamation League (commonly known as the
``ADL'') annually surveys and reports anti-Semitic hate
incidents across the country. In 2022, the ADL reported a 36-
percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents compared to 2021.
(19) In the original 2021 Hate Crime Statistics published
by the FBI in December 2022, the FBI acknowledged the
significant discrepancy in reporting from local law enforcement
agencies as a result of transitioning to the National Incident-
Based Reporting System. Due to the lack of reporting by local
enforcement agencies, the FBI acknowledged that the 2021 Hate
Crime Statistics cannot be compared reliably across years.
(20) In March 2023, the FBI released supplemental data for
the 2021 Hate Crime Statistics consisting of data collected
through the Summary Reporting System by local law enforcement
agencies.
(21) There is a clear need for stronger action to
accurately report and effectively combat hate-based attacks.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.
(a) Establishment.--There is established the United States
Commission on Hate Crimes (in this Act referred to as the
``Commission'').
(b) Membership.--
(1) Size of commission.--The Commission shall be composed
of 12 members.
(2) Appointment.--Members of the Commission shall be
appointed in accordance with the following:
(A) Two members shall be appointed by the majority
leader of the Senate.
(B) Two members shall be appointed by the minority
leader of the Senate.
(C) Two members shall be appointed by the Speaker
of the House of Representatives.
(D) Two members shall be appointed by the minority
leader of the House of Representatives.
(E) Two members shall be appointed by the Attorney
General.
(F) Two members shall be appointed by the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
(3) Limitations.--Not more than 5 members of the Commission
may be from the law enforcement community and not more than 5
members of the Commission may be from the civil rights
community.
(4) Deadline.--Each member of the Commission shall be
appointed not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of
this Act.
(c) Meetings.--The Commission shall hold its first meeting not
later than 90 days after the date as of which all members of the
Commission have been appointed under subsection (b)(2).
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``hate crime'' means an
offense under section 249 of title 18, United States Code.
(b) Investigation.--The Commission shall investigate the following:
(1) Whether the number of hate crimes committed has
increased during the period beginning on January 1, 2015, and
ending on the date that is 60 days after the date of enactment
of this Act.
(2) To the extent that the Commission determines under
paragraph (1) that the number of hate crimes committed has
increased, the factors that have contributed to the increase.
(3) Policies or actions that law enforcement agencies might
adopt or engage in to reduce the commission of hate crimes.
(4) The impact of underreporting on hate crimes statistics
and hate crimes prevention.
(5) Ways to improve hate crimes reporting and ensure full
and complete participation in the National Incident-Based
Reporting System by local law enforcement agencies, including
by identifying any barriers that may deter such reporting.
(6) Bias prevention efforts and responses to hate crimes
that are successful and possible through coordination with
nonprofit organizations, local education agencies, and
government entities.
(7) The prevalence and rise of online hate crime incidents.
SEC. 5. REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date as of which all members of the
Commission have been appointed under section 3(b)(2), the Commission
shall submit a report to Congress and the President that sets forth the
results of the investigation conducted under section 4, including
recommendations for--
(1) actions Federal agencies can take to help improve hate
crimes reporting by local law enforcement agencies, as
described in section 4(b)(5); and
(2) bias prevention efforts and responses to hate crimes,
as described in section 4(b)(6).
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