62 House Republicans Voted Against Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Bill, Biden Signs Bill

KEY POINTS

The bill was introduced by Rep. Grace Men and Sen. Mazie Hirono
President Biden signed the bill Thursday
The bill highlighted the Atlanta spa shootings where 6 Asian women died

The House on Tuesday passed legislation to counter the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes amid the COVID-19 pandemic in a 364 - 62 vote, with 62 GOP members voting against it.

The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which was signed by President Joe Biden into law on Thursday, would create a new position at the Justice Department to bolster the agency’s review of hate crimes.

Introduced by Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY, and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-HI, it would also direct the Department of Justice and Health and Human Services to introduce education campaigns about bias against Asians.

Of the 426 House members who voted on the bill, 62 voted against it. All of them Republicans.

The names of the House Republicans who voted against the legislation are listed below.

The new law is the first legislative action Congress has taken to combat hate crimes against people of Asian descent.

“All of this hate hides in plain sight,” Biden said on Thursday.

“Too often it is met with silence — silence by the media, silence by our politics and silence by our history.”

A recent study from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State University San Bernandino found that hate crimes against Asians across 16 of the largest cities and counties in the United States have risen by 164% since 2020.

STOP AAPI Hate also said they received more than 6,000 complaints of racism and discrimination since last year.

The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act also highlighted the Atlanta spa shootings where 6 of the 8 victims were women of Asian descent.

"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," the bill states.

In April, the Senate passed the bill in a 94-1 vote, with the only opposition coming from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO.

“My big problem with Sen Hirono’s bill that Senate voted on today is that it turns the federal government into the speech police -- gives government sweeping authority to decide what counts as offensive speech and then monitor it. Raises big free speech questions,” Hawley said in a statement about his vote.

My big problem with Sen Hirono’s bill that Senate voted on today is that it turns the federal government into the speech police - gives government sweeping authority to decide what counts as offensive speech and then monitor it. Raises big free speech questions
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 23, 2021