Hate Crimes Commission Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.1834 | Sponsor: Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja (D-IL)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Hate Crimes Commission Act of 2021
This bill establishes the United States Commission on Hate Crimes. The commission must investigate and report on

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hate Crimes Commission Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines ``hate 
        crime'' to be 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, religion, 
        disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender 
        identity.
            (2) Forty-five States and the District of Columbia 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) In 2019, hate crimes rose by 2.7 percent.
            (5) In 2019, there were 51 reported deaths from hate 
        crimes, which is the highest number since the FBI began 
        reporting on this statistic in the early 1990s.
            (6) Hate crimes not only damage the individual victim or 
        victims, but also traumatize entire communities and erode 
        public confidence in their safety.
            (7) In 2019, hate crimes directed at Latinos increased by 
        almost 9 percent from the year before.
            (8) In 2019, hate crimes based on sexual orientation 
        represented 16.7% of total hate crimes that year, and gender 
        identity based hate crimes represented 2.7% of total hate 
        crimes, which was an increase from the year before.
            (9) In a September 2020 House Homeland Security Committee 
        testimony, FBI Director Christopher Wray said: ``Within the 
        domestic terrorism bucket, the category as a whole, racially 
        motivated violent extremism is, I think, the biggest bucket 
        within that larger group. And within the racially motivated 
        violent extremist bucket, people subscribing to some kind of 
        White supremacist-type ideology is certainly the biggest chunk 
        of that.''.
            (10) The largest increase within the 2019 hate crime data 
        was found in anti-Semitic hate crimes, which rose by 14 
        percent.
            (11) In August 2019, an assailant entered a Walmart in El 
        Paso, Texas, to target Hispanics and left 22 dead.
            (12) In October 2018, a shooting at the Tree of Life 
        synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, left 11 dead.
            (13) 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 incident.
            (14) In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, Asian 
        Americans have suffered an increasing number of hate crimes. 
        According to Stop AAPI Hate, 2,808 ``hate incidents'' toward 
        AAPIs were reported between March and December 2020.
            (15) 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.
            (16) Many hate crimes go unreported. In 2019, there was a 
        decrease in the number of police agencies providing this data 
        to the FBI, with only 14 percent of police agencies in the 
        country reporting one or more hate crimes that year.
            (17) 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 composed of 12 members. 
Membership of the Commission shall be appointed in accordance with the 
following:
            (1) Two members shall be appointed by the majority leader 
        of the Senate.
            (2) Two members shall be appointed by the minority 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 minority 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.
            (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 Commission 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 commission of 
        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.
            (5) What community bias prevention responses are successful 
        and possible through coordination with nonprofits, local 
        education agencies, and government entities.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Commission shall submit a report to Congress 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.
                                 <all>