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 Com-
mittee 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, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hate Crimes Commis-
sion Act of 2019’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:42 Aug 16, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4118.IH
H4118
pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines 
‘‘hate crime’’ to be a criminal offense—such as mur-
der, arson, or vandalism—against a person or prop-
erty motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s 
bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual ori-
entation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. 
(2) Forty-five States and the District of Colum-
bia have statutes criminalizing various types of bias- 
motivated violence or intimidation. 
(3) The Federal Government has implemented 
crimes statutes since 1968, with the most recent law 
enacted in 2009. 
(4) Approximately 250,000 hate crimes happen 
each year, yet only 2 percent are reported to the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 
(5) Hate crimes not only damage the individual 
victim or victims, but also traumatize entire commu-
nities and erode public confidence in their safety. 
(6) According to multiple, nonpartisan studies, 
hate crimes have increased each consecutive year 
since 2015, with a 6.7-percent increase in reported 
hate crimes in 2016, one of the largest 1-year in-
creases in over a decade. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:42 Aug 16, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4118.IH
H4118
pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
(7) In May 2017, the FBI found that White su-
premacists and right wing extremist groups were re-
sponsible for the most of any domestic extremist 
group. 
(8) According to the same FBI report, hate 
crimes against LGBTQ people have been on the rise 
over the past three years, with a majority targeting 
gay men. 
(9) In addition, the FBI reported that hate 
crimes motivated by anti-religious bias increased 23 
percent, where 37 percent of that increase were anti- 
Jewish. 
(10) In February 2017, a White supremacist 
entered a bar in Kansas and shot at two Indian 
men, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani while 
shouting racial epithets. Srinivas later died of his in-
juries. 
(11) In August 2017, the White nationalist and 
neo-Nazi protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, re-
sulted in 1 death and 20 injuries from a White na-
tionalist driving his car into a group of counter-pro-
testers. 
(12) In July 2019, a Hindu priest in New York 
City was hospitalized after a man attacked him and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:42 Aug 16, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4118.IH
H4118
pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
screamed ‘‘this is my neighborhood’’ during the inci-
dent. 
(13) 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 (hereinafter 
in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com-
posed of 12 members. Membership of the Commission 
shall be appointed in accordance with the following: 
(1) Two members shall be appointed by the ma-
jority leader of the Senate. 
(2) Two members shall be appointed by the mi-
nority leader of the Senate. 
(3) Two members shall be appointed by the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
(4) Two members shall be appointed by the mi-
nority leader of the House of Representatives. 
(5) Two members shall be jointly appointed by 
the two appointing officials under paragraphs (1) 
through (4) who are members of, or caucus with, the 
Democratic Party. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:42 Aug 16, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4118.IH
H4118
pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
(6) Two members shall be jointly appointed by 
the two appointing officials under paragraphs (1) 
through (4) who are members of, or caucus with, the 
Republican Party. 
(7) Not more than 6 members of the Commis-
sion shall be from the law enforcement community 
and not more than 6 members of the Commission 
shall be of the civil rights community. 
(8) Not more than 6 of the members shall be 
of the same political party. 
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 
The Commission shall investigate the following: 
(1) If there has been an increase in hate crimes 
during the period beginning January 1, 2007, and 
ending 60 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(2) To the extent that any increase in the com-
mission in hate crimes is determined to exist, what 
factors have contributed to such increase. 
(3) What policies or actions 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. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:42 Aug 16, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4118.IH
H4118
pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
SEC. 5. REPORT. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Commission shall submit a report to Con-
gress and the President setting forth the results of the 
investigation under section 4. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘hate crime’’ means an offense 
under section 249 of title 18, United States Code. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:42 Aug 16, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H4118.IH
H4118
pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS