117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 937 

AN ACT 

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. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Following the spread of COVID–19 in 

7 2020, there has been a dramatic increase in hate 

8 crimes and violence against Asian-Americans and 

9 Pacific Islanders. 

10 (2) According to a recent report, there were 

11 nearly 3,800 reported cases of anti-Asian discrimina12 tion and incidents related to COVID–19 between 

13 March 19, 2020, and February 28, 2021, in all 50 

14 States and the District of Columbia. 

15 (3) During this time frame, race has been cited 

16 as the primary reason for discrimination, making up 

17 over 90 percent of incidents, and the United States 

18 condemns and denounces any and all anti-Asian and 

19 Pacific Islander sentiment in any form. 

20 (4) Roughly 36 percent of these incidents took 

21 place at a business and more than 2,000,000 Asian22 American businesses have contributed to the diverse 

23 fabric of American life. 

24 (5) More than 1,900,000 Asian-American and 

25 Pacific Islander older adults, particularly those older 

26 adults who are recent immigrants or have limited 
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1 English proficiency, may face even greater chal2 lenges in dealing with the COVID–19 pandemic, in3 cluding discrimination, economic insecurity, and lan4 guage isolation. 

5 (6) In the midst of this alarming surge in anti6 Asian hate crimes and incidents, a shooter murdered 

7 the following 8 people in the Atlanta, Georgia re8 gion, 7 of whom were women and 6 of whom were 

9 women of Asian descent: 

10 (A) Xiaojie Tan. 

11 (B) Daoyou Feng. 

12 (C) Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonza ́lez. 

13 (D) Paul Andre Michels. 

14 (E) Soon Chung Park. 

15 (F) Hyun Jung Grant. 

16 (G) Suncha Kim. 

17 (H) Yong Ae Yue. 

18 (7) The people of the United States will always 

19 remember the victims of these shootings and stand 

20 in solidarity with those affected by this senseless 

21 tragedy and incidents of hate that have affected the 

22 Asian and Pacific Islander communities. 

23 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF HATE CRIMES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 days after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 
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1 designate an officer or employee of the Department of 

2 Justice whose responsibility during the applicable period 

3 shall be to facilitate the expedited review of hate crimes 

4 (as described in section 249 of title 18, United States 

5 Code) and reports of any such crime to Federal, State, 

6 local, or Tribal law enforcement agencies. 

7 (b) APPLICABLE PERIOD DEFINED.—In this section, 

8 the term ‘‘applicable period’’ means the period beginning 

9 on the date on which the officer or employee is designated 

10 under subsection (a), and ending on the date that is 1 

11 year after the date on which the emergency period de12 scribed in subparagraph (B) of section 1135(g)(1) of the 

13 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)) ends, ex14 cept that the Attorney General may extend such period 

15 as appropriate. 

16 SEC. 4. GUIDANCE. 

17 (a) GUIDANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN18 CIES.—The Attorney General shall issue guidance for 

19 State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, pursu20 ant to this Act and other applicable law, on how to— 

21 (1) establish online reporting of hate crimes or 

22 incidents, and to have online reporting that is equal23 ly effective for people with disabilities as for people 

24 without disabilities available in multiple languages as 

25 determined by the Attorney General; 
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1 (2) collect data disaggregated by the protected 

2 characteristics described in section 249 of title 18, 

3 United States Code; and 

4 (3) expand public education campaigns aimed 

5 at raising awareness of hate crimes and reaching 

6 victims, that are equally effective for people with dis7 abilities as for people without disabilities. 

8 (b) GUIDANCE RELATING TO COVID–19 PAN9 DEMIC.—The Attorney General and the Secretary of 

10 Health and Human Services, in coordination with the 

11 COVID–19 Health Equity Task Force and community12 based organizations, shall issue guidance aimed at raising 

13 awareness of hate crimes during the COVID–19 pan14 demic. 

15 SEC. 5. JABARA-HEYER NO HATE ACT. 

16 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

17 ‘‘Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition 

18 to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act of 2021’’ 

19 or the ‘‘Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act’’. 

20 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

21 (1) The incidence of violence known as hate 

22 crimes, or crimes motivated by bias, poses a serious 

23 national problem. 

24 (2) According to data obtained by the Federal 

25 Bureau of Investigation, the incidence of such vio-
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1 lence increased in 2019, the most recent year for 

2 which data is available. 

3 (3) In 1990, Congress enacted the Hate Crime 

4 Statistics Act (Public Law 101–275; 28 U.S.C. 534 

5 note) to provide the Federal Government, law en6 forcement agencies, and the public with data regard7 ing the incidence of hate crime. The Hate Crime 

8 Statistics Act and the Matthew Shepard and James 

9 Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (division E of 

10 Public Law 111–84; 123 Stat. 2835) have enabled 

11 Federal authorities to understand and, where appro12 priate, investigate and prosecute hate crimes. 

13 (4) A more complete understanding of the na14 tional problem posed by hate crime is in the public 

15 interest and supports the Federal interest in eradi16 cating bias-motivated violence referenced in section 

17 249(b)(1)(C) of title 18, United States Code. 

18 (5) However, a complete understanding of the 

19 national problem posed by hate crimes is hindered 

20 by incomplete data from Federal, State, and local 

21 jurisdictions through the Uniform Crime Reports 

22 program authorized under section 534 of title 28, 

23 United States Code, and administered by the Fed24 eral Bureau of Investigation. 
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1 (6) Multiple factors contribute to the provision 

2 of inaccurate and incomplete data regarding the in3 cidence of hate crime through the Uniform Crime 

4 Reports program. A significant contributing factor is 

5 the quality and quantity of training that State and 

6 local law enforcement agencies receive on the identi7 fication and reporting of suspected bias-motivated 

8 crimes. 

9 (7) The problem of crimes motivated by bias is 

10 sufficiently serious, widespread, and interstate in na11 ture as to warrant Federal financial assistance to 

12 States and local jurisdictions. 

13 (8) Federal financial assistance with regard to 

14 certain violent crimes motivated by bias enables Fed15 eral, State, and local authorities to work together as 

16 partners in the investigation and prosecution of such 

17 crimes. 

18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) HATE CRIME.—The term ‘‘hate crime’’ 

20 means an act described in section 245, 247, or 249 

21 of title 18, United States Code, or in section 901 of 

22 the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631). 

23 (2) PRIORITY AGENCY.—The term ‘‘priority 

24 agency’’ means— 
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1 (A) a law enforcement agency of a unit of 

2 local government that serves a population of not 

3 less than 100,000, as computed by the Federal 

4 Bureau of Investigation; or 

5 (B) a law enforcement agency of a unit of 

6 local government that— 

7 (i) serves a population of not less than 

8 50,000 and less than 100,000, as com9 puted by the Federal Bureau of Investiga10 tion; and 

11 (ii) has reported no hate crimes 

12 through the Uniform Crime Reports pro13 gram in each of the 3 most recent calendar 

14 years for which such data is available. 

15 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean16 ing given the term in section 901 of title I of the 

17 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

18 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251). 

19 (4) UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS.—The term 

20 ‘‘Uniform Crime Reports’’ means the reports author21 ized under section 534 of title 28, United States 

22 Code, and administered by the Federal Bureau of 

23 Investigation that compile nationwide criminal sta24 tistics for use— 
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1 (A) in law enforcement administration, op2 eration, and management; and 

3 (B) to assess the nature and type of crime 

4 in the United States. 

5 (5) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

6 ‘‘unit of local government’’ has the meaning given 

7 the term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus 

8 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

9 U.S.C. 10251). 

10 (d) REPORTING OF HATE CRIMES.— 

11 (1) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

13 may make grants to States and units of local 

14 government to assist the State or unit of local 

15 government in implementing the National Inci16 dent-Based Reporting System, including to 

17 train employees in identifying and classifying 

18 hate crimes in the National Incident-Based Re19 porting System. 

20 (B) PRIORITY.—In making grants under 

21 subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall 

22 give priority to States and units of local govern23 ment that develop and implement the programs 

24 and activities described in subsection (f)(2)(A). 

25 (2) REPORTING.— 
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1 (A) COMPLIANCE.— 

2 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

3 in clause (ii), in each fiscal year beginning 

4 after the date that is 3 years after the date 

5 on which a State or unit of local govern6 ment first receives a grant under para7 graph (1), the State or unit of local gov8 ernment shall provide to the Attorney Gen9 eral, through the Uniform Crime Report10 ing system, information pertaining to hate 

11 crimes committed in that jurisdiction dur12 ing the preceding fiscal year. 

13 (ii) EXTENSIONS; WAIVER.—The At14 torney General— 

15 (I) may provide a 120-day exten16 sion to a State or unit of local govern17 ment that is making good faith efforts 

18 to comply with clause (i); and 

19 (II) shall waive the requirements 

20 of clause (i) if compliance with that 

21 subparagraph by a State or unit of 

22 local government would be unconstitu23 tional under the constitution of the 

24 State or of the State in which the unit 
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1 of local government is located, respec2 tively. 

3 (B) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If a State or 

4 unit of local government that receives a grant 

5 under paragraph (1) fails to substantially com6 ply with subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, 

7 the State or unit of local government shall 

8 repay the grant in full, plus reasonable interest 

9 and penalty charges allowable by law or estab10 lished by the Attorney General. 

11 (e) GRANTS FOR STATE-RUN HATE CRIME HOT12 LINES.— 

13 (1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

15 shall make grants to States to create State-run 

16 hate crime reporting hotlines. 

17 (B) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant made under 

18 subparagraph (A) shall be for a period of not 

19 more than 5 years. 

20 (2) HOTLINE REQUIREMENTS.—A State shall 

21 ensure, with respect to a hotline funded by a grant 

22 under paragraph (1), that— 

23 (A) the hotline directs individuals to— 

24 (i) law enforcement if appropriate; 

25 and 
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1 (ii) local support services; 

2 (B) any personally identifiable information 

3 that an individual provides to an agency of the 

4 State through the hotline is not directly or indi5 rectly disclosed, without the consent of the indi6 vidual, to— 

7 (i) any other agency of that State; 

8 (ii) any other State; 

9 (iii) the Federal Government; or 

10 (iv) any other person or entity; 

11 (C) the staff members who operate the 

12 hotline are trained to be knowledgeable about— 

13 (i) applicable Federal, State, and local 

14 hate crime laws; and 

15 (ii) local law enforcement resources 

16 and applicable local support services; and 

17 (D) the hotline is accessible to— 

18 (i) individuals with limited English 

19 proficiency, where appropriate; and 

20 (ii) individuals with disabilities. 

21 (3) BEST PRACTICES.—The Attorney General 

22 shall issue guidance to States on best practices for 

23 implementing the requirements of paragraph (2). 

24 (f) INFORMATION COLLECTION BY STATES AND

25 UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.— 
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1 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

2 (A) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘cov3 ered agency’’ means— 

4 (i) a State law enforcement agency; 

5 and 

6 (ii) a priority agency. 

7 (B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible 

8 entity’’ means— 

9 (i) a State; or 

10 (ii) a unit of local government that 

11 has a priority agency. 

12 (2) GRANTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

14 may make grants to eligible entities to assist 

15 covered agencies within the jurisdiction of the 

16 eligible entity in conducting law enforcement ac17 tivities or crime reduction programs to prevent, 

18 address, or otherwise respond to hate crime, 

19 particularly as those activities or programs re20 late to reporting hate crimes through the Uni21 form Crime Reports program, including— 

22 (i) adopting a policy on identifying, 

23 investigating, and reporting hate crimes; 
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1 (ii) developing a standardized system 

2 of collecting, analyzing, and reporting the 

3 incidence of hate crime; 

4 (iii) establishing a unit specialized in 

5 identifying, investigating, and reporting 

6 hate crimes; 

7 (iv) engaging in community relations 

8 functions related to hate crime prevention 

9 and education such as— 

10 (I) establishing a liaison with for11 mal community-based organizations or 

12 leaders; and 

13 (II) conducting public meetings 

14 or educational forums on the impact 

15 of hate crimes, services available to 

16 hate crime victims, and the relevant 

17 Federal, State, and local laws per18 taining to hate crimes; and 

19 (v) providing hate crime trainings for 

20 agency personnel. 

21 (B) SUBGRANTS.—A State that receives a 

22 grant under subparagraph (A) may award a 

23 subgrant to a unit of local government within 

24 the State for the purposes under that subpara25 graph, except that a unit of local government 
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1 may provide funding from such a subgrant to 

2 any law enforcement agency of the unit of local 

3 government. 

4 (3) INFORMATION REQUIRED OF STATES AND

5 UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year in 

7 which a State or unit of local government re8 ceives a grant or subgrant under paragraph (2), 

9 the State or unit of local government shall— 

10 (i) collect information from each law 

11 enforcement agency that receives funding 

12 from the grant or subgrant summarizing 

13 the law enforcement activities or crime re14 duction programs conducted by the agency 

15 to prevent, address, or otherwise respond 

16 to hate crime, particularly as those activi17 ties or programs relate to reporting hate 

18 crimes through the Uniform Crime Reports 

19 program; and 

20 (ii) submit to the Attorney General a 

21 report containing the information collected 

22 under clause (i). 

23 (B) SEMIANNUAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

24 AGENCY REPORT.— 
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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—In collecting the in2 formation required under subparagraph 

3 (A)(i), a State or unit of local government 

4 shall require each law enforcement agency 

5 that receives funding from a grant or 

6 subgrant awarded to the State or unit of 

7 local government under paragraph (2) to 

8 submit a semiannual report to the State or 

9 unit of local government that includes a 

10 summary of the law enforcement activities 

11 or crime reduction programs conducted by 

12 the agency during the reporting period to 

13 prevent, address, or otherwise respond to 

14 hate crime, particularly as those activities 

15 or programs relate to reporting hate 

16 crimes through the Uniform Crime Reports 

17 program. 

18 (ii) CONTENTS.—In a report sub19 mitted under clause (i), a law enforcement 

20 agency shall, at a minimum, disclose— 

21 (I) whether the agency has 

22 adopted a policy on identifying, inves23 tigating, and reporting hate crimes; 

24 (II) whether the agency has de25 veloped a standardized system of col-
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1 lecting, analyzing, and reporting the 

2 incidence of hate crime; 

3 (III) whether the agency has es4 tablished a unit specialized in identi5 fying, investigating, and reporting 

6 hate crimes; 

7 (IV) whether the agency engages 

8 in community relations functions re9 lated to hate crime, such as— 

10 (aa) establishing a liaison 

11 with formal community-based or12 ganizations or leaders; and 

13 (bb) conducting public meet14 ings or educational forums on the 

15 impact of hate crime, services 

16 available to hate crime victims, 

17 and the relevant Federal, State, 

18 and local laws pertaining to hate 

19 crime; and 

20 (V) the number of hate crime 

21 trainings for agency personnel, includ22 ing the duration of the trainings, con23 ducted by the agency during the re24 porting period. 
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1 (4) COMPLIANCE AND REDIRECTION OF

2 FUNDS.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

4 subparagraph (B), beginning not later than 1 

5 year after the date of this Act, a State or unit 

6 of local government receiving a grant or 

7 subgrant under paragraph (2) shall comply with 

8 paragraph (3). 

9 (B) EXTENSIONS; WAIVER.—The Attorney 

10 General— 

11 (i) may provide a 120-day extension 

12 to a State or unit of local government that 

13 is making good faith efforts to collect the 

14 information required under paragraph (3); 

15 and 

16 (ii) shall waive the requirements of 

17 paragraph (3) for a State or unit of local 

18 government if compliance with that sub19 section by the State or unit of local gov20 ernment would be unconstitutional under 

21 the constitution of the State or of the 

22 State in which the unit of local government 

23 is located, respectively. 

24 (g) REQUIREMENTS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
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1 (1) INFORMATION COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS; 

2 REPORT.—In order to improve the accuracy of data 

3 regarding the incidence of hate crime provided 

4 through the Uniform Crime Reports program, and 

5 promote a more complete understanding of the na6 tional problem posed by hate crime, the Attorney 

7 General shall— 

8 (A) collect and analyze the information 

9 provided by States and units of local govern10 ment under subsection (f) for the purpose of 

11 developing policies related to the provision of 

12 accurate data obtained under the Hate Crime 

13 Statistics Act (Public Law 101–275; 28 U.S.C. 

14 534 note) by the Federal Bureau of Investiga15 tion; and 

16 (B) for each calendar year beginning after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, publish and 

18 submit to Congress a report based on the infor19 mation collected and analyzed under subpara20 graph (A). 

21 (2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—A report sub22 mitted under paragraph (1) shall include— 

23 (A) a qualitative analysis of the relation24 ship between— 
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1 (i) the number of hate crimes reported 

2 by State law enforcement agencies or other 

3 law enforcement agencies that received 

4 funding from a grant or subgrant awarded 

5 under paragraph (2) through the Uniform 

6 Crime Reports program; and 

7 (ii) the nature and extent of law en8 forcement activities or crime reduction pro9 grams conducted by those agencies to pre10 vent, address, or otherwise respond to hate 

11 crime; and 

12 (B) a quantitative analysis of the number 

13 of State law enforcement agencies and other 

14 law enforcement agencies that received funding 

15 from a grant or subgrant awarded under para16 graph (2) that have— 

17 (i) adopted a policy on identifying, in18 vestigating, and reporting hate crimes; 

19 (ii) developed a standardized system 

20 of collecting, analyzing, and reporting the 

21 incidence of hate crime; 

22 (iii) established a unit specialized in 

23 identifying, investigating, and reporting 

24 hate crimes; 
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1 (iv) engaged in community relations 

2 functions related to hate crime, such as— 

3 (I) establishing a liaison with for4 mal community-based organizations or 

5 leaders; and 

6 (II) conducting public meetings 

7 or educational forums on the impact 

8 of hate crime, services available to 

9 hate crime victims, and the relevant 

10 Federal, State, and local laws per11 taining to hate crime; and 

12 (v) conducted hate crime trainings for 

13 agency personnel during the reporting pe14 riod, including— 

15 (I) the total number of trainings 

16 conducted by each agency; and 

17 (II) the duration of the trainings 

18 described in subclause (I). 

19 (h) ALTERNATIVE SENTENCING.—Section 249 of 

20 title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following: 

22 ‘‘(e) SUPERVISED RELEASE.—If a court includes, as 

23 a part of a sentence of imprisonment imposed for a viola24 tion of subsection (a), a requirement that the defendant 

25 be placed on a term of supervised release after imprison-
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1 ment under section 3583, the court may order, as an ex2 plicit condition of supervised release, that the defendant 

3 undertake educational classes or community service di4 rectly related to the community harmed by the defendant’s 

5 offense.’’. 

Passed the Senate April 22, 2021. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 937 

AN ACT 

To facilitate the expedited review of COVID–19 

hate crimes, and for other purposes.