Title: Commemorating the 1-year anniversary of the March 16, 2021, shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, and denouncing anti-Asian hate.
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
This resolution condemns the acts of gun violence that led to the tragic loss of eight lives in Georgia on March 16, 2021.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 981 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 981

 Commemorating the 1-year anniversary of the March 16, 2021, shootings 
          in Atlanta, Georgia, and denouncing anti-Asian hate.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 15, 2022

   Ms. Chu (for herself, Ms. Bourdeaux, Mrs. McBath, Ms. Williams of 
Georgia, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Norton, Ms. Bonamici, 
Ms. DelBene, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mrs. Watson Coleman, 
    Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Rush, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. 
    Espaillat, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Gomez, Ms. Moore of 
  Wisconsin, Mr. Vargas, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Takano, Mr. Johnson of 
    Georgia, Mr. Pascrell, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Bera, Ms. 
 Velazquez, Ms. Speier, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Bass, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Trone, 
 Ms. Pressley, Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Bowman, Mr. 
  Kilmer, Ms. Meng, Mr. Levin of California, Ms. Newman, Mrs. Lee of 
 Nevada, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Case, Mr. Sablan, Ms. Jayapal, 
Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Mr. Scott 
of Virginia, Mr. Sires, Mr. Lieu, Mrs. Torres of California, Ms. Titus, 
 Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Kahele, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Raskin, Mr. David 
Scott of Georgia, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Porter, Mr. Cicilline, 
   Mr. Carson, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Thompson of 
Mississippi, Mr. Auchincloss, Mr. Pallone, Mrs. Fletcher, and Mr. Danny 
  K. Davis of Illinois) submitted the following resolution; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to 
    the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Commemorating the 1-year anniversary of the March 16, 2021, shootings 
          in Atlanta, Georgia, and denouncing anti-Asian hate.

Whereas, on March 16, 2021, a shooter murdered 8 people and injured 1 person in 
        the Atlanta, Georgia, region in 3 separate shootings that took place at 
        Asian-owned spas;
Whereas March 16, 2022, is the 1-year anniversary of those tragic shootings;
Whereas the victims' names were Xiaojie ``Emily'' Tan, Daoyou Feng, Delaina 
        Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Yong Ae Yue, Soon Chung ``Julie'' Park, 
        Hyun Jung Grant, and Sun Cha Kim;
Whereas, on this anniversary, the people of the United States continue to mourn 
        the loss of 8 innocent lives, 7 of whom were women, 6 of whom were women 
        of Asian descent, and several of whom were immigrants;
Whereas the Georgia shootings occurred amidst an alarming surge in anti-Asian 
        hate crimes and incidents, which has caused many Asians and Asian 
        Americans across the United States to feel fearful and unsafe;
Whereas prosecutors in Georgia's Fulton County, where 1 of the spas was located, 
        are seeking hate crimes penalties against the shooter;
Whereas the shootings that occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, have become an 
        inflection point for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community;
Whereas, in the days and weeks following the shootings, there was an outpouring 
        of support for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, and 
        actions were taken across the country to address anti-Asian hate;
Whereas March 26, 2021, was designated as a ``National Day of Action and 
        Healing'', in response to the rise of anti-Asian hate and the Georgia 
        shootings;
Whereas, on May 20, 2021, President Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act 
        into law to make resources available to address anti-Asian hate and 
        improve the hate crime reporting process;
Whereas, in the year since the Atlanta shooting, hate crimes have continued to 
        spike;
Whereas, in 2021, anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 339 percent, and in 2020, 
        they increased by 124 percent;
Whereas over 11,000 hate incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate since 
        the start of the pandemic, and many more have gone unreported;
Whereas nearly 1 in 5 Asian Americans (21.2 percent) and Pacific Islanders (20.0 
        percent) has experienced a hate incident in 2021;
Whereas Asian American and Pacific Islander women are more likely to be targeted 
        according to Stop AAPI Hate;
Whereas 74 percent of AAPI women overall have reported experiencing racism or 
        discrimination in the past year;
Whereas the majority of East Asian American women report feeling less safe since 
        the start of the pandemic;
Whereas 1 in 3 Asian American parents (30.6 percent) and Pacific Islander 
        parents (31.4 percent) has a child that has experienced a hate incident 
        at school in the past year;
Whereas 42 percent of Asian Americans believe that racial discrimination is the 
        factor in their lives that has had the greatest negative impact on their 
        mental health;
Whereas, before this rise in hate incidents, online hate speech against Asians 
        increased 2,770 percent between 2019 and 2020;
Whereas the use of anti-Asian rhetoric related to COVID-19, such as the 
        ``Chinese virus'', ``Wuhan virus'', and ``kung flu'', has perpetuated 
        anti-Asian stigma that has resulted in Asian Americans being harassed, 
        assaulted, and scapegoated for the COVID-19 pandemic and economic 
        distress in the United States;
Whereas the use of rhetoric that portrays Asian countries, and by extension 
        Asian nationals, as enemies of the United States has further contributed 
        to the scapegoating of Asian Americans and the rise in anti-Asian hate;
Whereas xenophobic rhetoric that paints China as a unique and existential enemy 
        or which seeks to make all of China responsible for the coronavirus, 
        contrary to advice from the World Health Organization, contributes to 
        anti-Asian hate;
Whereas the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, legislation to address the rise of anti-
        Asian hate and improve hate crimes reporting, was passed with strong 
        bipartisan support in both the House and Senate; and
Whereas the people of the United States continue to remember the victims of 
        these shootings and stand in solidarity with those affected by this 
        senseless tragedy: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the heinous and inexcusable acts of gun 
        violence that led to the tragic loss of 8 lives in Georgia on 
        March 16, 2021;
            (2) condemns the racism and sexism in the choice of the 
        shooter to target Asian-owned businesses and murder 7 women, 6 
        of whom were of Asian descent;
            (3) honors the memory of the victims and offers heartfelt 
        condolences to their families;
            (4) recognizes the irrevocable impact the shooting has on 
        the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and all 
        communities impacted by this tragedy;
            (5) recognizes that anti-Asian hate continues to impact the 
        Asian American and Pacific Islander community;
            (6) reaffirms the importance of addressing anti-Asian hate 
        at all levels of government and improving hate crimes reporting 
        infrastructure through the implementation of the COVID-19 Hate 
        Crimes Act; and
            (7) reaffirms the commitment of the Federal Government to 
        combat hate, bigotry, and violence against Asian Americans and 
        Pacific Islanders and to prevent tragedies like this from ever 
        happening again.
                                 <all>