S.Amdt. 1440

1. Replaces the bill's text with a full substitute

   Replaces the full textEverything after the enacting clause

   In S. 937 · Placed on Calendar Senate

   Struck: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

   Struck: This Act may be cited as the "COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act".

   Struck: SEC. 2. REVIEW OF COVID-19 HATE CRIMES.

   Struck: (a) In General.--Not later than 1 day after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall designate an officer or employee of the Department of Justice whose sole responsibility during the applicable period 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.

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   Struck: (b) Definitions.--In this section:

   Struck: (1) Applicable period.--The term "applicable period" means the period beginning on the date on which the officer or employee is designated under subsection (a), and ending on the date that is 1 year after the date on which the emergency period described in subparagraph (B) of section 1135(g)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-5(g)(1)) ends, except that the Attorney General may extend such period as appropriate.

   Struck: (2) COVID-19 hate crime.--The term "COVID-19 hate crime" means a crime of violence (as such term is defined in section 16 of 18, United States Code) that is motivated by--

   Struck: (A) the actual or perceived race, ethnicity, age, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability of any person; and

   Struck: (B) the actual or perceived relationship to the spread of COVID-19 of any person because of the characteristic described in subparagraph (A).

   Struck: SEC. 3. GUIDANCE.

   Struck: (a) Guidance for Law Enforcement Agencies.--The Attorney General shall issue guidance for State and local law enforcement agencies on how to--

   Struck: (1) establish online reporting of hate crimes or incidents, and to have online reporting available in multiple languages as determined by the Attorney General; and

   Struck: (2) expand culturally competent and linguistically appropriate public education campaigns, and collection of data and public reporting of hate crimes.

   Struck: (b) Guidance Relating to COVID-19 Pandemic.--The Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force and community-based organizations, shall issue guidance describing best practices to mitigate racially discriminatory language in describing the COVID-19 pandemic.

   Inserted: SECTION 1. REPORT ON DISCRIMINATION BY RECIPIENTS OF COVID-19 RELIEF BENEFITS BASED ON ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED COVID-19 STATUS.

   Inserted: (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--

   Inserted: (1) all forms of hatred against all people and the rise in violence in the wake of COVID-19 be condemned; and

   Inserted: (2) physical and verbal attacks against Asian American and Pacific Islander persons, such as those resulting in the killing an 84-year old Thai immigrant in San Francisco, California, the setting on fire of an 89-year old Chinese woman in Brooklyn, New York, and the slashing of a 61-year old Filipino American's face with a box cutter while in the New York Subway, are reprehensible, contrary to American values as well as the sanctity of human life, and must be stopped.

   Inserted: (b) Definitions.--In this section--

   Inserted: (1) the term "COVID-19 relief benefits"--

   Inserted: (A) means any benefit from the Federal Government relating to the COVID-19 pandemic; and

   Inserted: (B) includes any grant, funds, loan, loan guarantee, bankruptcy relief, mortgage, rent, or eviction relief, or other benefit received under the American Rescue Plan (Public Law 117-2), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260), the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 116-139; 134 Stat. 620), the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136; 134 Stat. 281), the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Public Law 116-127; 134 Stat. 178), the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-123; 134 Stat. 146), or an amendment made by any such Act; and

   Inserted: (2) the term "crime of violence" has the meaning given that term in section 16 of title 18, United States Code.

   Inserted: (c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report that studies--

   Inserted: (1) crimes of violence motivated by the actual or perceived relationship of any individual to the spread of COVID-19 for any reason, including appearance, mask wearing, or vaccination status; and

   Inserted: (2) the extent to which businesses that received COVID-19 relief benefits discriminated against individuals who are perceived to have spread COVID-19, which shall specifically detail the extent to which businesses that received COVID-19 relief benefits, or agents thereof, denied goods, services, or travel, or committed a crime of violence, because of the actual or perceived relationship of any individual to the spread of COVID-19 for any reason, including appearance, mask wearing, or vaccination status.

   Original wording

   Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:

Read automatically from the Congressional Record. Check the original before relying on it.

As printed