Cristian Carlos. Peninsula 360 Press P360.
Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, introduced a bill in March aimed at speeding up hate crimes prosecutions of ethnic Americans in response to the growing violence in the United States against the Asian-American community.
The bill passed with 94 votes in favor and 1 vote against. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, was the one who opposed the bill.
The legislation covers the digital spectrum, where it will also force authorities to investigate hate speech on the Internet.
Additionally, it will compel institutions to disseminate information on raising awareness against discriminatory and racist practices against ethnodiverse communities in the US.
The law is expected to direct the attorney general and the Department of Health and Human Services to issue guidance on how to mitigate racist and discriminatory language used to describe the COVID-19 pandemic, such as in previous speeches where former President Donald Trump referred to the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus as "the China virus.
The process for the bill to move forward remains in the hands of the House Judiciary Committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said it would receive a floor vote. The House and Senate will ultimately have to reconcile the bill with a similar one in New York, pushed by Grace Meng, to pass a single version that can be signed by President Joe Biden.
