Sen. Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led a coalition of Senators in introducing a resolution condemning a spike in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The resolution is cosponsored by senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Kennedy (R-La.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Todd Young (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and James Risch (R-Idaho).
The Resolution affirms that the United States condemns crimes and expressions of racism and hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. It also calls on the Judiciary Committee to convene a hearing on the surge in violence against the AAPI community and applauds the Justice Department for conducting a 30-day review to identify how best to track and combat violence.
The resolution outlines data on a dramatic rise in hate crimes and violence against the AAPI community following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The resolution is endorsed by the Korean American Grass Roots Conference and Korean Americans for Political Action.
“We deeply appreciate Senator Grassley’s efforts to denounce all forms of racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders,” said Wonseok Song, executive director of the Korean American Grassroots Conference, the largest nationwide network of Korean American voters. “It is encouraging to see that the Senator understands that words of condemnation are not enough and that he, as the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calls for concrete actions to hold the perpetrators of racially charged violence accountable. We look forward to working together with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to prevent further incidents from taking place.”
“On behalf of Korean Americans for Political Action, we welcome and support any and all bipartisan efforts, including this Senate companion resolution introduced by Senator Grassley to combat these despicable and intolerable acts of hate and racism against Americans of Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent with specific calls for actions to improve hate crime reporting, drive greater awareness of all forms of hate speech, threats and violence and sustain these efforts with appropriate resources and community involvement,” said John Lim, chair of the board of directors for Korean Americans for Political Action.
“For so long, the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in this country have called out for help in the face of racism, discrimination, assaults and violence throughout history but with very little avail. Today is a new day for the AAPI community. FACE applauds Senator Grassley’s historic senate resolution to not only recognize and condemn the growing hate crimes but all manifestations of racism and anti-Asian and Pacific Islander and ethnic intolerance. More importantly, this resolution recognizes the importance and calls upon taking tangible steps to improve the federal government’s capacity to track and identify, investigate, improve and hold the perpetrators of crimes, incidents and threats accountable – a missing piece that has been long due to the AAPI community,” said Hyepin Im, President & CEO of Faith and Community Empowerment.
Text of the resolution is available HERE. A similar resolution was introduced in the House, with bipartisan support.
This week, Grassley also called on the Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on hate crimes against the AAPI community and spoke about the issue on the Senate floor.
