National Review Online
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Democrats have put together a remarkably silly piece
of legislation, ostensibly intended to do something about anti-Asian hate
crimes, and are daring Republicans to oppose it. The improbable hope is that
the GOP will give the Democrats a politically sound excuse to end the filibuster.
Hate crimes are already monitored and punished at both
the federal and the state level. On top of this, the bill would have the
attorney general “designate an officer or employee of the Department of Justice
whose sole responsibility [for at least one year] shall be to facilitate the
expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes and reports of any such crime to
Federal, State, or local law enforcement agencies.”
Yes, it would dedicate a single person to
monitoring hate crimes specifically related to COVID-19, just as the
pandemic is nearing its end. “COVID-19 hate crimes” are defined as violent
crimes in which the perpetrator was motivated by a belief that the victim —
owing to his or her “race, ethnicity, age, color, religion, national origin,
sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability” — had some role in
spreading COVID-19.
The executive branch would also be instructed to offer
more guidance to state and local law-enforcement agencies on how to collect
hate-crime reports, and to provide “best practices to mitigate racially
discriminatory language in describing the COVID-19 pandemic.”
It goes without saying that violent crime is serious.
There is also evidence that hate crimes against Asian Americans have risen
during the pandemic. There could even be a federal role in fighting such
crimes, if states fail to provide Asian Americans the equal protection of the
laws.
So far, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling that Republicans won’t filibuster the bill
and instead will allow it to move forward so that amendments could be made
before any final passage.
But unless Democrats are willing to address its
significant flaws, Republicans should oppose this bill and trust voters to see
through the Democrats’ ploy.
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