IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 257 

Condemning hate crime and any other form of racism, religious or ethnic 

bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting a minority in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Mrs. COMSTOCK (for herself, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. TAYLOR, and Mr. CURBELO

of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning hate crime and any other form of racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting a minority in the United 

States. 

Whereas, in the past several years, violent crimes, threats of 

violence, and other incidents of hate-motivated targeting 

of religious, racial, and ethnic minorities have increased 

across the United States; 

Whereas, in 2015, hate crimes targeting Muslims in the 

United States increased by 67 percent, reaching a level 

of violence targeting Muslim Americans that the United 

States had not experienced since the aftermath of the 

September 11, 2001, attacks, according to the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation; 


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•HRES 257 IH 

Whereas, in 2015, anti-Semitic incidents increased in the 

United States for the second straight year, according to 

the Anti-Defamation League’s 2015 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, which describes trends such as the tripling of assaults targeting Jews since 2012 and the rise 

of online harassment and hate speech directed at Jewish 

journalists and individuals through social media; 

Whereas, in 2015, anti-Semitic incidents at institutions of 

higher education nearly doubled compared to the number 

of those incidents in 2014, and during the 2016–2017 

school year there has been an increase in White supremacist activity on college campuses across the United 

States, according to the Anti-Defamation League; 

Whereas, in 2015, among single-bias hate crime incidents in 

the United States, 59.2 percent of victims were targeted 

due to racial, ethnic, or ancestry bias, and among those 

victims, 52.2 percent were victims of crimes motivated by 

their offenders’ anti-Black or anti-African-American bias, 

according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

Whereas, in 2017, there have been more than 100 reported 

bomb threats against Jewish community centers, Jewish 

day schools, and other Jewish organizations and institutions in more than 38 States; 

Whereas, in 2017, Islamic centers and mosques have been 

burned in the States of Texas, Washington, and Florida, 

and Jewish cemeteries have been desecrated in the States 

of Missouri and Pennsylvania; 

Whereas, in 2017, there has been harassment and hate-based 

violence against individuals who are perceived to be Muslim, including members of South Asian communities in 

the United States, and Hindu and Sikh Americans have 


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been the target of hate-based violence targeting religious 

minorities; and 

Whereas, on February 28, 2017, President Donald Trump, 

before a joint session of Congress, acknowledged threats 

targeting Jewish community centers and the vandalism of 

Jewish cemeteries, and stated that ‘‘we are a country 

that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of 

its very ugly forms’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) affirms that the United States stands 

3 united in condemning hate and evil in all forms; 

4 (2) rejects hate-motivated crime as an attack on 

5 the fabric of the society of the United States and the 

6 ideals of pluralism and respect; 

7 (3) condemns hate crime and any other form of 

8 racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, in9 citement to violence, or animus targeting a minority 

10 in the United States; 

11 (4) calls on Federal law enforcement officials, 

12 working with State and local officials— 

13 (A) to expeditiously investigate all credible 

14 reports of hate crimes and incidents and threats 

15 against minorities in the United States; and 

16 (B) to hold the perpetrators of those 

17 crimes, incidents, or threats accountable and 

18 bring the perpetrators to justice; 


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1 (5) encourages the Department of Justice and 

2 other Federal agencies— 

3 (A) to work to improve the reporting of 

4 hate crimes; and 

5 (B) to emphasize the importance of the 

6 agencies’ collection and reporting of data pursu7 ant to Federal law; 

8 (6) encourages the development of an inter9 agency task force led by the Attorney General and 

10 bringing together the Department of Justice, the 

11 Department of Homeland Security, the Department 

12 of Education, the Department of State, the Federal 

13 Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of the Direc14 tor of National Intelligence to collaborate on the de15 velopment of effective strategies and efforts to detect 

16 and deter hate crime in order to protect minority 

17 communities; and 

18 (7) calls on the executive branch— 

19 (A) to offer Federal assistance that may be 

20 available for victims of hate crimes; and 

21 (B) to enhance security measures and im22 prove preparedness for religious institutions, 

23 places of worship, and other institutions that 

24 have been targeted because of the affiliation of 


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1 the institutions with any particular religious, 

2 racial, or ethnic minority in the United States. 

Æ 


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