I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2541 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

establish grants to reduce the incidence of hate crimes, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 14, 2021 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. EVANS, Ms. 

WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. CARSON, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to establish grants to reduce the incidence 

of 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hate Crime Victim 

5 Assistance Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Hate crimes have been on the rise over the 

2 previous years across the United States. In 2015, 

3 according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

4 (FBI), 56.9 percent of single-bias incidents were 

5 motivated by either race, ethnicity or ancestry bias. 

6 (2) The same report mentions that 21.4 percent 

7 were prompted by religious bias; 18.1 percent sexual 

8 orientation bias; 2.0 percent gender-identity bias; 

9 and 1.3 percent disability bias. 

10 (3) Out of the 56.9 percent of the single-bias 

11 incidents that were motivated by race reported to 

12 the FBI in 2015, 9.4 percent of these were classified 

13 as anti-Hispanic or Latino, and 3.3 percent of these 

14 single bias incidents had an anti-Asian bias. 

15 (4) Previous data from the FBI suggest that 

16 hate crimes against African Americans have seen a 

17 dramatic increase over the years. Such trends can be 

18 traced back to 2003, when hate crimes against Afri19 can Americans were twice as much as all other race 

20 groups combined. 

21 (5) A 2015 study conducted by the Los Angeles 

22 County Commission on Human Relations notes that 

23 half of the hate crimes in Los Angeles County were 

24 racially motivated—58 percent of those attacks tar25 geted the County’s African-American population, alVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2541.IH H2541

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1 though they only constituted 4 percent of the coun2 ty’s population. 

3 (6) Previous research suggests that Black males 

4 are also more vulnerable to violent victimization. 

5 Furthermore, data suggest that communities of color 

6 continue to be victims of hate crime violence. 

7 (7) The Los Angeles County Commission on 

8 Human Relations report found that the number of 

9 hate crimes targeting Asian and Pacific islanders 

10 tripled from six to eighteen since 2014. The same 

11 report notes that Anti-Latino hate crimes also rose 

12 from 36 in 2014 to 61 in 2015. 

13 (8) A study conducted by the Human Rights 

14 Campaign notes that out of the number of hate 

15 crimes committed against the transgender commu16 nity from 2013–2015, at least 87 percent of victims 

17 were transgender people of color. 

18 (9) Only 16, or 30 percent, were killed in 

19 States that have hate crime laws that account for 

20 crimes motivated by the victim’s gender identity; but 

21 despite these provisions and a Federal hate crime 

22 law, not a single one of these murders was pros23 ecuted or reported to the FBI as a hate crime. 

24 (10) The United States is currently facing a 

25 surge in religious bias. According to the Southern 


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1 Poverty Law Center, there are currently 917 hate 

2 groups operating across the country. 

3 (11) A CNN report found that in the first 

4 months of 2017 the country experienced a substan5 tial increase in Anti-Semitic incidents. In compari6 son to the same period in 2016, Anti-Semitic inci7 dents were 86 percent higher. 

8 (12) Historically hate crimes have gone under 

9 reported. On average there are 250,000 hate crime 

10 victims each year, of which only one-third are re11 ported to the police. 

12 (13) It is Congress’ responsibility to provide for 

13 sustainable and feasible solutions to reduce, prevent 

14 and mitigate underlying factors responsible for bias 

15 incidents. 

16 SEC. 3. LOCAL HATE CRIME HOTLINES AND HATE CRIME 

17 INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE WEB SITES. 

18 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

19 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘PART MM—HATE CRIME HOTLINES AND 

22 WEBSITES 

23 ‘‘SEC. 3031. HATE CRIME HOTLINES AND WEBSITES. 

24 ‘‘(a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney Gen25 eral shall make grants to States, units of local governVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2541.IH H2541

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1 ment, or any combination thereof, in partnership with 

2 stakeholders, service providers, and nonprofit organiza3 tions. 

4 ‘‘(b) MANDATORY GRANT USES.—Grant funds shall 

5 be expended for each of the following purposes: 

6 ‘‘(1) HATE CRIME INFORMATION AND ASSIST7 ANCE WEBSITE.—To provide for the establishment 

8 and operation of a hate crime information and as9 sistance website, which shall be a highly secure 

10 Internet website that provides information and as11 sistance to victims of hate crimes. In establishing 

12 and operating the hate crime information and assist13 ance website, the grantee shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) use grant funds for startup and oper15 ational costs associated with establishing and 

16 operating the website; 

17 ‘‘(B) provide accurate information that de18 scribes the services available to victims of hate 

19 crimes, including health care and mental health 

20 services, social services, transportation, and 

21 other relevant services; and 

22 ‘‘(C) make the website available to the op23 erator of the hate crime hotline established or 

24 expanded pursuant to paragraph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(2) HATE CRIME HOTLINES.—To establish or 

2 expand a hate crime hotline to provide information 

3 and assistance to victims of hate crimes. In addition, 

4 grantees may, in operating the hotline, work in con5 junction with other local programs and activities 

6 that serve targeted areas and that provide legal, 

7 health (including physical and mental health), and 

8 other support services to victims of hate crimes. In 

9 establishing and operating the hotline, the entity 

10 shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) contract with a carrier for the use of 

12 a toll-free telephone line; 

13 ‘‘(B) employ, train (including technology 

14 training), and supervise personnel to answer in15 coming calls and provide counseling and refer16 ral services to callers on a 24-hour-a-day basis; 

17 ‘‘(C) assemble and maintain a current 

18 database of information relating to services for 

19 victims of hate crimes to which callers through20 out the United States may be referred; and 

21 ‘‘(D) be prohibited from asking hotline 

22 callers about their citizenship status. 

23 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec24 tion shall be construed to require any shelter or service 

25 provider, whether public or private, to be linked to the 


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1 hate crime information and assistance website or to pro2 vide information to the recipient of the grant described 

3 in paragraph (1) or to the website. 

4 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—The Attorney General may ap5 prove an application for a grant under this section only 

6 if such application— 

7 ‘‘(1) contains such agreements, assurances, and 

8 information, be in such form, and be submitted in 

9 such manner, as the Attorney General shall by rule 

10 require; 

11 ‘‘(2) in the case of an application for a grant 

12 to carry out activities described in subsection (b)(2), 

13 includes a complete description of the applicant’s 

14 plan for the operation of a hate crime hotline, in15 cluding descriptions of— 

16 ‘‘(A) the training program for hotline per17 sonnel, including technology training to ensure 

18 that all persons affiliated with the hotline are 

19 able to effectively operate any technological sys20 tems used by the hotline; 

21 ‘‘(B) the hiring criteria for hotline per22 sonnel; 

23 ‘‘(C) the methods for the creation, mainte24 nance, and updating of a resource database; 


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1 ‘‘(D) a plan for publicizing the availability 

2 of the hotline; 

3 ‘‘(E) a plan for providing service to non4 English speaking callers that— 

5 ‘‘(i) is based on data from the Bureau 

6 of the Census and be consistent with the 

7 local area demographics where the hate 

8 crime hotline will operate—such plan will 

9 outline which languages are most prevalent 

10 and commonly requested for translation 

11 services; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) is based on qualitative and quan13 titative observation from community serv14 ice providers including those that provide 

15 health and mental health services, social 

16 services, transportation, and other relevant 

17 services; and 

18 ‘‘(F) a plan for facilitating access to the 

19 hotline by persons with hearing impairments; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(3) in the case of an application for a grant 

22 to carry out activities described in subsection 

23 (b)(1)— 

24 ‘‘(A) include a complete description of the 

25 applicant’s plan for the development, operation, 


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1 maintenance, and updating of information and 

2 resources of the hate crime information and as3 sistance website; 

4 ‘‘(B) include a certification that the appli5 cant will implement a high-level security system 

6 to ensure the confidentiality of the website, tak7 ing into consideration the safety of hate crime 

8 victims; 

9 ‘‘(C) include an assurance that, after the 

10 third year of the website project, the recipient 

11 of the grant will develop a plan to secure other 

12 public or private funding resources to ensure 

13 the continued operation and maintenance of the 

14 website; 

15 ‘‘(D) demonstrate that the applicant has 

16 recognized expertise in the area of hate crimes 

17 and a record of high quality service to victims 

18 of hate crimes, including a demonstration of 

19 support from advocacy groups; and 

20 ‘‘(E) demonstrate that the applicant has a 

21 commitment to diversity, and to the provision of 

22 services to the ethnic, racial, religious, and non23 English speaking minorities, in addition to 

24 older individuals, individuals with disabilities, 


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1 and individuals of various gender, gender iden2 tity, and sexual orientation. 

3 ‘‘(e) RENEWAL OF GRANTS.—A grant made under 

4 this part may be renewed, without limitations on the dura5 tion of such renewal, to provide additional funds, if the 

6 Attorney General determines that the funds made avail7 able to the recipient were used in a manner required under 

8 an approved application and if the recipient can dem9 onstrate significant progress in achieving the objectives of 

10 the initial application. 

11 ‘‘(f) NO-COST EXTENSIONS.—Notwithstanding sub12 section (e), the Attorney General may extend a grant pe13 riod, without limitations as to the duration of such exten14 sion, to provide additional time to complete the objectives 

15 of the initial grant award. 

16 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this part: 

17 ‘‘(1) The term ‘hate crime’ means a crime in 

18 which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or 

19 in the case of a property crime, the property that is 

20 the object of the crime, because of the actual or per21 ceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, 

22 gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orienta23 tion of any person. 

24 ‘‘(2) The term ‘targeted area’ means an area 

25 with a demonstrated lack of resources, as deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2541.IH H2541

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1 mined by the Attorney General, for victims of hate 

2 crimes. 

3 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

5 appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 

6 for fiscal year 2022 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

7 ‘‘(2) WEBSITE.—Of the amounts appropriated, 

8 not less than 10 percent shall be used for purposes 

9 of carrying out activities under subsection (b)(1). 

10 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY.—Funds authorized to be 

11 appropriated under this section may remain avail12 able until expended. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 3032. REPORT. 

14 ‘‘A State or unit of local government that receives 

15 funds under this part during a fiscal year shall submit 

16 to the Attorney General a description and an evaluation 

17 report on a date specified by the Attorney General regard18 ing the effectiveness of the programs carried out with a 

19 grant under this part.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIME EDU21 CATION AND TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. 

22 Title I of such Act, as amended, is further amended 

23 by inserting after part MM the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART NN—HATE CRIME EDUCATION AND 

2 TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM 

3 ‘‘SEC. 3041. HATE CRIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING GRANT 

4 PROGRAM. 

5 ‘‘(a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

7 establish a program to make grants to States and 

8 units of local government for any purpose described 

9 in paragraph (2). 

10 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the grant pro11 gram under this subsection is to enable a law en12 forcement agency of a State or unit of local govern13 ment to establish and carry out education and train14 ing programs on solving and preventing hate crimes 

15 and establishing community dialogue with groups 

16 whose members are at-risk of being victims of hate 

17 crimes. 

18 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

19 grant under this part, a State or unit of local gov20 ernment shall be in compliance with reporting re21 quirements applicable to such entity pursuant to the 

22 Hate Crimes Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534 note). 

23 ‘‘(b) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN

24 GRANT APPLICATIONS.—The Attorney General shall give 

25 priority in considering applications that show dispropor26 tionate hate crime activity relative to the total population 


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1 within the local area where the education and training pro2 gram will operate. 

3 ‘‘(c) DISPROPORTIONATE HATE CRIME ACTIVITY.— 

4 For the purposes of this section, the Attorney General, 

5 in consultation with the Bureau of the Census, shall de6 velop guidelines that define and quantify levels of hate 

7 crime activity using statistical data from the Census and 

8 data available from the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. 

9 ‘‘(d) CONTENTS.—In accordance with such require10 ments as the Attorney General may by rule establish, each 

11 application for a grant under this section shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) include a long-term strategy and detailed 

13 implementation plan that reflects consultation with 

14 community groups and appropriate stakeholders; 

15 ‘‘(2) demonstrate a specific public safety need; 

16 ‘‘(3) explain the applicant’s inability to address 

17 the need without Federal assistance; 

18 ‘‘(4) identify related governmental and commu19 nity initiatives which compliment or will be coordi20 nated with the proposal; 

21 ‘‘(5) certify that there has been appropriate co22 ordination with all affected agencies; 

23 ‘‘(6) explain how the grant will be used to reori24 ent the affected law enforcement agency’s mission 

25 toward community-oriented policing or enhance its 


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1 involvement in or commitment to community-ori2 ented policing; and 

3 ‘‘(7) provide assurances that the applicant will, 

4 to the extent practicable, seek, recruit, and hire 

5 members of racial and ethnic minority groups and 

6 women in order to increase their ranks within the 

7 sworn positions in the law enforcement agency. 

8 ‘‘(e) RENEWAL OF GRANTS.—A grant made under 

9 this part may be renewed, without limitations on the dura10 tion of such renewal, to provide additional funds, if the 

11 Attorney General determines that the funds made avail12 able to the recipient were used in a manner required under 

13 an approved application and if the recipient can dem14 onstrate significant progress in achieving the objectives of 

15 the initial application. 

16 ‘‘(f) NO-COST EXTENSIONS.—Notwithstanding sub17 section (e), the Attorney General may extend a grant pe18 riod, without limitations as to the duration of such exten19 sion, to provide additional time to complete the objectives 

20 of the initial grant award. 

21 ‘‘(g) SUSPENSION OF FUNDS.—If the Attorney Gen22 eral determines that a grant recipient under this section 

23 is not in substantial compliance with the terms and re24 quirements of an approved grant application, the Attorney 


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1 General may revoke or suspend funding of that grant, in 

2 whole, or in part. 

3 ‘‘(h) AVAILABILITY AND AUDITING.—The Attorney 

4 General shall have access for the purpose of audit and ex5 amination to any pertinent books, documents, papers, or 

6 records of a grant recipient under this section and to the 

7 pertinent books, documents, papers, or records of State 

8 and local governments, persons, businesses, and other en9 tities that are involved in programs, projects, or activities 

10 for which assistance is provided under this part. 

11 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 $15,000,000 for the fiscal year 2022 and each succeeding 

14 fiscal year. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 3042. REPORT. 

16 ‘‘A State or unit of local government that receives 

17 funds under this part during a fiscal year shall submit 

18 to the Attorney General a description and an evaluation 

19 report on a date specified by the Attorney General regard20 ing the effectiveness of the programs carried out with a 

21 grant under this part.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. COMMUNITY BASED RESPONSES TO HATE CRIMES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall estab24 lish a grant program within the Office for Victims of 

25 Crime in the Office of Justice Programs, under which the 


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1 Attorney General may award grants to local community 

2 based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and faith3 based organizations to establish or expand local programs 

4 and activities that serve targeted areas and that provide 

5 legal, health (including physical and mental health), and 

6 other support services to victims of hate crimes as defined 

7 in subsection (g)(1) of section 3. Grant funds may be used 

8 for activities including— 

9 (1) hiring counselors; 

10 (2) providing training and resources to victims; 

11 and 

12 (3) language support services. 

13 (b) TARGETED AREA DEFINED.—For the purposes 

14 of this section, a targeted area shall be defined as the area 

15 described in and defined in subsection (g)(2) of section 

16 3 of this Act. 

17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $15,000,000 for the fiscal year 2022 and each succeeding 

20 fiscal year. 

21 SEC. 6. DATABASE OF HATE CRIME REPORTS TO LOCAL 

22 HOTLINES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—A grantee receiving funds under 

24 this Act shall, on the date that is 1 year after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, subVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2541.IH H2541

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1 mit to the appropriate State Attorney General, and the 

2 Attorney General, an annual report of hate crimes re3 ported to the hotlines established under part MM of the 

4 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

5 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.). 

6 (b) REPORT CONTENTS.—The report in subsection 

7 (a) shall include the following information with respect to 

8 each hate crime reported: 

9 (1) A description of hate crimes that occurred 

10 in the State, including a description of where the 

11 hate crimes occurred in the grantee’s State. 

12 (2) The frequency, in total number and percent13 age terms, of the use of weapons in reported hate 

14 crimes in the grantee’s State. 

15 (3) A summary of the total number of hate 

16 crimes that were reported in the grantee’s State. 

17 (4) A description of the methodologies used by 

18 the grantee to collect data. 

19 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec20 tion shall be construed to require the publication of per21 sonally identifiable data, which include the names, ad22 dresses, or physical description of any victims or persons 

23 reporting hate crimes. 

24 (d) ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS PER25 MITTED FOR CERTAIN REPORTS.—The Attorney General 


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1 may, during the first 180 days after the Act’s enactment, 

2 prescribe additional reporting requirements for reports 

3 submitted to the Federal Government, subject to the limi4 tations in subsection (d), to ensure consistent data report5 ing. 

Æ 


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