I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4172 
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 
JUNE 15, 2023 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI
(for himself, Ms. MENG, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BUSH, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. 
CARSON, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. CHU, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CON-
NOLLY, Mr. CORREA, Mr. COSTA, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
DEGETTE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Ms. GARCIA 
of Texas, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. 
GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. 
HUFFMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON 
of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KILMER, Ms. LEE of California, 
Mr. LIEU, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OMAR, 
Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. POCAN, Ms. ROSS, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Geor-
gia, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. THOMPSON of 
California, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mrs. 
TRAHAN, Mr. VEASEY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Geor-
gia, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hate Crimes Commis-
sion Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (re-
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘FBI’’) defines a 
hate crime as a criminal offense—such as murder, 
arson, or vandalism—against a person or property 
motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias 
against a race, color, national origin, religion, dis-
ability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gen-
der identity. 
(2) Forty-six States and the District of Colum-
bia have statutes criminalizing various types of bias- 
motivated violence or intimidation. 
(3) Congress has enacted various statutes to 
address hate crimes since 1968, with the most re-
cent statute, the COVID–19 Hate Crimes Act (Pub-
lic Law 117–113; 135 Stat. 265), enacted in 2021. 
(4) In 2021, the FBI reported 10,840 single- 
bias incidents, an increase of nearly 12 percent from 
2020. 
(5) Hate crimes not only damage the individual 
victim or victims, but also traumatize entire commu-
nities and erode public confidence in their safety. 
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(6) In 2021— 
(A) 64.5 percent of victims were targeted 
because of the offender’s race, ethnicity, or an-
cestry bias; 
(B) 15.9 percent of victims were targeted 
because of the offender’s sexual orientation 
bias; 
(C) 14.1 percent of victims were targeted 
because of the offender’s religious bias; 
(D) 3.2 percent of victims were targeted 
because of the offender’s gender identity bias; 
(E) 1.4 percent of victims were targeted 
because of the offender’s disability bias; and 
(F) 1 percent of victims were targeted be-
cause of the offender’s gender bias. 
(7) In testimony before the Committee on 
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 
in September 2020, FBI Director Christopher Wray 
said, ‘‘Within the domestic terrorism bucket, the cat-
egory as a whole, racially motivated violent extre-
mism is, I think, the biggest bucket within that larg-
er group. And within the racially motivated violent 
extremist bucket, people subscribing to some kind of 
white supremacist-type ideology is certainly the big-
gest chunk of that.’’. 
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(8) In August 2012, a shooting at the gurdwara 
in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, left 6 people dead, and a 
seventh victim of the shooting succumbed to his in-
juries in 2020. 
(9) In October 2018, a shooting at the Tree of 
Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, left 11 
people dead. 
(10) In July 2019, a Hindu priest in New York 
City was hospitalized after a man attacked him and 
screamed ‘‘this is my neighborhood’’ during the inci-
dent. 
(11) In August 2019, an assailant entered a 
Walmart in El Paso, Texas, to target Hispanic im-
migrants and left 22 people dead. 
(12) In November 2020, a woman shouted anti- 
Muslim slurs and attacked a couple in New York 
City, leaving one victim needing surgery for facial 
fractures. 
(13) In March 2021, a gunman targeted 3 spas 
across Atlanta, Georgia, killing 8 people, 6 of whom 
were Asian women. 
(14) In May 2022, a gunman injured 3 people 
after entering a Korean-owned business in Dallas, 
Texas, and firing 13 rounds before fleeing. 
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(15) In May 2022, a gunman targeted a Tops 
supermarket located in a predominantly Black 
neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 peo-
ple and injuring 3 others. Of the 13 victims, 11 were 
Black. 
(16) In November 2022, a gunman killed 5 peo-
ple and wounded 25 others after opening fire on an 
LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 
(17) In response to the COVID–19 pandemic, 
Asian Americans have suffered an increasing num-
ber of hate crimes. According to Stop AAPI Hate, 
nearly 11,500 ‘‘hate incidents’’ toward Asian Ameri-
cans and Pacific Islanders were reported between 
March 2020 and March 2022. 
(18) The Anti-Defamation League (commonly 
known as the ‘‘ADL’’) annually surveys and reports 
anti-Semitic hate incidents across the country. In 
2022, the ADL reported a 36-percent increase in 
anti-Semitic incidents compared to 2021. 
(19) In the original 2021 Hate Crime Statistics 
published by the FBI in December 2022, the FBI 
acknowledged the significant discrepancy in report-
ing from local law enforcement agencies as a result 
of transitioning to the National Incident-Based Re-
porting System. Due to the lack of reporting by local 
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enforcement agencies, the FBI acknowledged that 
the 2021 Hate Crime Statistics cannot be compared 
reliably across years. 
(20) In March 2023, the FBI released supple-
mental data for the 2021 Hate Crime Statistics con-
sisting of data collected through the Summary Re-
porting System by local law enforcement agencies. 
(21) There is a clear need for stronger action 
to accurately report and effectively combat hate- 
based attacks. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 
United States Commission on Hate Crimes (in this Act 
referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) SIZE
OF
COMMISSION.—The Commission 
shall be composed of 12 members. 
(2) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the Commis-
sion shall be appointed in accordance with the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Two members shall be appointed by 
the majority leader of the Senate. 
(B) Two members shall be appointed by 
the minority leader of the Senate. 
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(C) Two members shall be appointed by 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
(D) Two members shall be appointed by 
the minority leader of the House of Representa-
tives. 
(E) Two members shall be appointed by 
the Attorney General. 
(F) Two members shall be appointed by 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
(3) LIMITATIONS.—Not more than 5 members 
of the Commission may be from the law enforcement 
community and not more than 5 members of the 
Commission may be from the civil rights community. 
(4) DEADLINE.—Each member of the Commis-
sion shall be appointed not later than 60 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act. 
(c) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall hold its first 
meeting not later than 90 days after the date as of which 
all members of the Commission have been appointed under 
subsection (b)(2). 
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 
(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘hate 
crime’’ means an offense under section 249 of title 18, 
United States Code. 
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(b) INVESTIGATION.—The Commission shall inves-
tigate the following: 
(1) Whether the number of hate crimes com-
mitted has increased during the period beginning on 
January 1, 2015, and ending on the date that is 60 
days after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(2) To the extent that the Commission deter-
mines under paragraph (1) that the number of hate 
crimes committed has increased, the factors that 
have contributed to the increase. 
(3) Policies or actions that law enforcement 
agencies might adopt or engage in to reduce the 
commission of hate crimes. 
(4) The impact of underreporting on hate 
crimes statistics and hate crimes prevention. 
(5) Ways to improve hate crimes reporting and 
ensure full and complete participation in the Na-
tional Incident-Based Reporting System by local law 
enforcement agencies, including by identifying any 
barriers that may deter such reporting. 
(6) Bias prevention efforts and responses to 
hate crimes that are successful and possible through 
coordination with nonprofit organizations, local edu-
cation agencies, and government entities. 
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(7) The prevalence and rise of online hate crime 
incidents. 
SEC. 5. REPORT. 
Not later than 1 year after the date as of which all 
members of the Commission have been appointed under 
section 3(b)(2), the Commission shall submit a report to 
Congress and the President that sets forth the results of 
the investigation conducted under section 4, including rec-
ommendations for— 
(1) actions Federal agencies can take to help 
improve hate crimes reporting by local law enforce-
ment agencies, as described in section 4(b)(5); and 
(2) bias prevention efforts and responses to 
hate crimes, as described in section 4(b)(6). 
Æ 
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