I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4118 

To establish a United States Commission on Hate Crimes to study and 

make recommendations on the prevention of the commission of hate 

crimes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2019 

Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. 

DEMINGS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KHANNA, 

Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. RUSH, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 

KELLY of Illinois, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. DEAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. EVANS, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. 

LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a United States Commission on Hate Crimes 

to study and make recommendations on the prevention 

of the commission 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 Crimes Commis5 sion Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds as follows: 

3 (1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines 

4 ‘‘hate crime’’ to be a criminal offense—such as mur5 der, arson, or vandalism—against a person or prop6 erty motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s 

7 bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual ori8 entation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. 

9 (2) Forty-five States and the District of Colum10 bia have statutes criminalizing various types of bias11 motivated violence or intimidation. 

12 (3) The Federal Government has implemented 

13 crimes statutes since 1968, with the most recent law 

14 enacted in 2009. 

15 (4) Approximately 250,000 hate crimes happen 

16 each year, yet only 2 percent are reported to the 

17 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

18 (5) Hate crimes not only damage the individual 

19 victim or victims, but also traumatize entire commu20 nities and erode public confidence in their safety. 

21 (6) According to multiple, nonpartisan studies, 

22 hate crimes have increased each consecutive year 

23 since 2015, with a 6.7-percent increase in reported 

24 hate crimes in 2016, one of the largest 1-year in25 creases in over a decade. 


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1 (7) In May 2017, the FBI found that White su2 premacists and right wing extremist groups were re3 sponsible for the most of any domestic extremist 

4 group. 

5 (8) According to the same FBI report, hate 

6 crimes against LGBTQ people have been on the rise 

7 over the past three years, with a majority targeting 

8 gay men. 

9 (9) In addition, the FBI reported that hate 

10 crimes motivated by anti-religious bias increased 23 

11 percent, where 37 percent of that increase were anti12 Jewish. 

13 (10) In February 2017, a White supremacist 

14 entered a bar in Kansas and shot at two Indian 

15 men, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani while 

16 shouting racial epithets. Srinivas later died of his in17 juries. 

18 (11) In August 2017, the White nationalist and 

19 neo-Nazi protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, re20 sulted in 1 death and 20 injuries from a White na21 tionalist driving his car into a group of counter-pro22 testers. 

23 (12) In July 2019, a Hindu priest in New York 

24 City was hospitalized after a man attacked him and 


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1 screamed ‘‘this is my neighborhood’’ during the inci2 dent. 

3 (13) There is a clear need for stronger action 

4 to accurately report and effectively combat hate5 based attacks. 

6 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

8 United States Commission on Hate Crimes (hereinafter 

9 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com11 posed of 12 members. Membership of the Commission 

12 shall be appointed in accordance with the following: 

13 (1) Two members shall be appointed by the ma14 jority leader of the Senate. 

15 (2) Two members shall be appointed by the mi16 nority leader of the Senate. 

17 (3) Two members shall be appointed by the 

18 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

19 (4) Two members shall be appointed by the mi20 nority leader of the House of Representatives. 

21 (5) Two members shall be jointly appointed by 

22 the two appointing officials under paragraphs (1) 

23 through (4) who are members of, or caucus with, the 

24 Democratic Party. 


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1 (6) Two members shall be jointly appointed by 

2 the two appointing officials under paragraphs (1) 

3 through (4) who are members of, or caucus with, the 

4 Republican Party. 

5 (7) Not more than 6 members of the Commis6 sion shall be from the law enforcement community 

7 and not more than 6 members of the Commission 

8 shall be of the civil rights community. 

9 (8) Not more than 6 of the members shall be 

10 of the same political party. 

11 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

12 The Commission shall investigate the following: 

13 (1) If there has been an increase in hate crimes 

14 during the period beginning January 1, 2007, and 

15 ending 60 days after the date of enactment of this 

16 Act. 

17 (2) To the extent that any increase in the com18 mission in hate crimes is determined to exist, what 

19 factors have contributed to such increase. 

20 (3) What policies or actions law enforcement 

21 agencies might adopt or engage in to reduce the 

22 commission of hate crimes. 

23 (4) The impact of underreporting on hate 

24 crimes statistics and hate crimes prevention. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Commission shall submit a report to Con4 gress and the President setting forth the results of the 

5 investigation under section 4. 

6 SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘hate crime’’ means an offense 

8 under section 249 of title 18, United States Code. 

Æ 


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