I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3515 

To facilitate the expedited review of anti-Semitic hate crimes, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2021 

Mr. KUSTOFF (for himself and Mr. MCCARTHY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To facilitate the expedited review of anti-Semitic 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 ‘‘Preventing Anti-Se5 mitic Hate Crimes Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Jews are the targets of the majority of hate 

9 crimes committed in the United States against any 


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1 religious group, including attacks on houses of wor2 ship and Jewish community centers. 

3 (2) Amid ongoing conflict in May 2021 between 

4 Israel, which is one of the closest allies of the United 

5 States, and Hamas, which is a terrorist organization 

6 and has been designated by the United States as 

7 such since 1997, media reports indicate that there 

8 has been a dramatic increase in hate crimes and vio9 lence against Jews in the United States. 

10 (3) Media reports indicate that activists and 

11 mobs acting in support of the terrorist group, 

12 Hamas, and its sympathizers have incited and per13 petrated hate crimes and violence against Jews in 

14 the United States in 2021. 

15 (4) A recent survey conducted by the Anti-Def16 amation League indicates that 63 percent of Amer17 ican Jews have directly experienced or witnessed 

18 anti-Semitic hate incidents within the past five 

19 years. 

20 (5) Anti-Semitism has long perpetrated myths 

21 about Jews, including the Russian fabrication of the 

22 Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the wide circula23 tion of libelous falsehoods about the Jewish murder 

24 of infants. 


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1 (6) In its most extreme form, anti-Semitism 

2 aims at the physical destruction of the Jewish peo3 ple, as seen in pogroms, forced conversions and Nazi 

4 Germany’s murder of over six million Jews. 

5 (7) Anti-Semitism has included attacks on the 

6 livelihood of Jews including prohibitions on land 

7 ownership, campaigns to boycott, confiscate or de8 stroy Jewish businesses, and denial of the ability of 

9 Jews to practice certain professions. 

10 (8) In the United States, Jews have suffered 

11 from systematic discrimination in the form of exclu12 sion from home ownership in certain neighborhoods, 

13 prohibition from staying in certain hotels, restric14 tions upon membership in private clubs and other 

15 associations, limitations upon admission to certain 

16 educational institutions and other barriers to equal 

17 justice under the law. 

18 (9) In the United States, Jews have faced, and 

19 continue to face, false accusations of divided loyalty 

20 between the United States and Israel, false claims 

21 that they purchase political power with money, and 

22 false accusations about control of the financial sys23 tem, along with other negative stereotypes. 


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1 (10) The people of the United States stand in 

2 solidarity with those affected by hate incidents di3 rected toward the American Jewish community. 

4 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF HATE CRIMES. 

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

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

7 designate an officer or employee of the Department of 

8 Justice whose responsibility during the applicable period 

9 shall be to facilitate the expedited review of anti-Semitic 

10 hate crimes (as described in section 249 of title 18, United 

11 States Code) and reports of any such crime to Federal, 

12 State, local, or Tribal law enforcement agencies. 

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

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

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

16 under subsection (a), and ending on the date that is 3 

17 years after the date of enactment of this Act, except that 

18 the Attorney General may extend such period as appro19 priate. 

20 SEC. 4. IMPROVING ANTI-SEMITIC HATE CRIME PREVEN21 TION EFFORTS. 

22 (a) GUIDANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN23 CIES.—The Attorney General shall issue guidance for 

24 State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, pursu25 ant to this Act and other applicable law, on how to expand 


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1 public education campaigns aimed at raising awareness of 

2 anti-Semitic hate crimes and reaching victims, that are 

3 equally effective for people with disabilities as for people 

4 without disabilities. 

5 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 90 days 

8 thereafter until December 31, 2024, the Attorney 

9 General shall issue a report to the appropriate con10 gressional committees summarizing— 

11 (A) the number of hate crimes and other 

12 incidents reported to the Federal Bureau of In13 vestigation during the preceding 90 days for 

14 which the government has reason to believe that 

15 the victim was targeted because he or she is 

16 Jewish or was perceived to be Jewish; 

17 (B) the number of active investigations 

18 into anti-Semitic hate crimes, disaggregated by 

19 the division of the Department of Justice re20 sponsible for the investigation; 

21 (C) the number of active prosecutions of 

22 anti-Semitic hate crimes, disaggregated by dis23 trict, primary charge filed, and whether the 

24 prosecution is primarily conducted by the relVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3515.IH H3515

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1 evant United States Attorney, the Criminal Di2 vision, or the Civil Rights Division; and 

3 (D) other efforts undertaken by the De4 partment of Justice during the preceding 90 

5 days to reduce the number of anti-Semitic hate 

6 crimes in the United States. 

7 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT8 TEES DEFINED.—As used in this section, the term 

9 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

11 Senate; 

12 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

13 House of Representatives; 

14 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

15 the Senate; and 

16 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

17 the House of Representatives. 

18 (c) ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR REPEAT VIOLENT

19 HATE CRIME OFFENDERS.—Section 249 of title 18, 

20 United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) by amending subsection (a)(1)(B) to read 

22 as follows: 

23 ‘‘(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of 

24 years or for life, fined in accordance with this 

25 title, or both, if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the violation of this section occurs 

2 after a prior conviction under this section 

3 or a hate crime felony under State law has 

4 become final; 

5 ‘‘(ii) death results from the offense; or 

6 ‘‘(iii) the offense includes kidnapping 

7 or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual 

8 abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated 

9 sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.’’; 

10 (2) by amending subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii) to 

11 read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term 

13 of years or for life, fined in accordance 

14 with this title, or both, if— 

15 ‘‘(I) the violation of this section 

16 occurs after a prior conviction under 

17 this section or a hate crime felony 

18 under State law has become final; 

19 ‘‘(II) death results from the of20 fense; or 

21 ‘‘(III) the offense includes kid22 napping or an attempt to kidnap, ag23 gravated sexual abuse or an attempt 

24 to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or 

25 an attempt to kill.’’; and 


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1 (3) in subsection (c)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(6) the term ‘hate crime felony under State 

7 law’ means any crime under State law that— 

8 ‘‘(A) is punishable by more than one year; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) has as an element the use, attempted 

11 use, or threatened use of physical force against 

12 the person or property of another because of 

13 any actual or perceived characteristic listed in 

14 subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2).’’. 

Æ 


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