I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1843 

To facilitate the expedited review of COVID–19 hate crimes, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Ms. MENG (for herself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. JACOBS of California, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

KUSTER, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of 

New York, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. RUSH, Ms. CHU, 

Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. CARSON, Mr. TRONE, 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. BUSH, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. LIEU, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. KIND, 

Mr. JONES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. ROSS, Ms. 

BASS, Mr. SIRES, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. LEE of 

California, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. BOURDEAUX, Mr. 

DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. KILMER, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. CONNOLLY, 

Ms. ESHOO, and Mr. LEVIN of California) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To facilitate the expedited review of COVID–19 hate crimes, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Hate 

3 Crimes Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REVIEW OF COVID–19 HATE CRIMES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

7 shall designate an officer or employee of the Department 

8 of Justice whose sole responsibility during the applicable 

9 period shall be to facilitate the expedited review of 

10 COVID–19 hate crimes and reports of any such crime to 

11 Federal, State, or local law enforcement agencies. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) The term ‘‘applicable period’’ means the pe14 riod beginning on the date on which the officer or 

15 employee is designated under subsection (a), and 

16 ending on the date that is one year after the date 

17 on which the emergency period described in subpara18 graph (B) of section 1135(g)(1) of the Social Secu19 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)) ends, except 

20 that the Attorney General may extend such period 

21 as appropriate. 

22 (2) The term ‘‘COVID–19 hate crime’’ means 

23 a crime of violence (as such term is defined under 

24 title 18, United States Code) that is motivated by— 

25 (A) the actual or perceived race, ethnicity, 

26 age, color, religion, national origin, sexual oriVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1843.IH H1843

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1 entation, gender, gender identity, or disability 

2 of any person; and 

3 (B) the actual or perceived relationship to 

4 the spread of COVID–19 of any person because 

5 of the characteristic described in subparagraph 

6 (A). 

7 SEC. 3. GUIDANCE. 

8 (a) GUIDANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN9 CIES.—The Attorney General shall issue guidance for 

10 State and local law enforcement agencies on the following: 

11 (1) The establishment of online reporting of 

12 hate crimes or incidents, and the availability of on13 line reporting in multiple languages. 

14 (2) The expansion of culturally competent and 

15 linguistically appropriate public education cam16 paigns, and the collection of data and public report17 ing of hate crimes. 

18 (b) BEST PRACTICES TO DESCRIBE THE COVID–19 

19 PANDEMIC.—The Attorney General and the Secretary of 

20 Health and Human Services, in coordination with the 

21 COVID–19 Health Equity Task Force and community22 based organizations, shall issue guidance describing best 

23 practices to mitigate racially discriminatory language in 

24 describing the COVID–19 pandemic. 

Æ 


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