Preventing Antisemitic Hate Crimes Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1939 To facilitate the expedited review of antisemitic hate crimes, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. DAINES, Ms. ERNST, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. CRUZ, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. HOEVEN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To facilitate the expedited review of antisemitic hate crimes, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Antisemitic 4 Hate Crimes Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:22 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1939.IS S1939 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1939 IS (1) Jews are the targets of the majority of hate 1 crimes committed in the United States against any 2 religious group, including attacks on houses of wor- 3 ship and Jewish community centers. 4 (2) Amid ongoing conflict in May 2021 between 5 Israel, which is one of the closest allies of the United 6 States, and Hamas, which is a terrorist organization 7 and has been designated by the United States as 8 such since 1997, media reports indicate that there 9 has been a dramatic increase in hate crimes and vio- 10 lence against Jews in the United States. 11 (3) Media reports indicate that activists and 12 mobs acting in support of the terrorist group, 13 Hamas, and its sympathizers have incited and per- 14 petrated hate crimes and violence against Jews in 15 the United States in 2021. 16 (4) A recent survey conducted by the Anti-Def- 17 amation League indicates that 63 percent of Amer- 18 ican Jews have directly experienced or witnessed 19 antisemitic hate incidents within the past 5 years. 20 (5) Antisemitism has long perpetrated myths 21 about Jews, including the Russian fabrication of the 22 Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the wide circula- 23 tion of libelous falsehoods about the Jewish murder 24 of infants. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:22 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1939.IS S1939 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1939 IS (6) The International Holocaust Remembrance 1 Alliance defines antisemitism as ‘‘a certain percep- 2 tion of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred to- 3 ward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations 4 of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non- 5 Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward 6 Jewish community institutions and religious facili- 7 ties’’. 8 (7) In its most extreme form, antisemitism 9 aims at the physical destruction of the Jewish peo- 10 ple, as seen in pogroms, forced conversions, and 11 Nazi Germany’s murder of over 6,000,000 Jews. 12 (8) Antisemitism has included attacks on the 13 livelihood of Jews, including prohibitions on land 14 ownership, campaigns to boycott, confiscate, or de- 15 stroy Jewish businesses, and denial of the ability of 16 Jews to practice certain professions. 17 (9) In the United States, Jews have suffered 18 from systematic discrimination in the form of exclu- 19 sion from home ownership in certain neighborhoods, 20 prohibition from staying in certain hotels, restric- 21 tions upon membership in private clubs and other 22 associations, limitations upon admission to certain 23 educational institutions, and other barriers to equal 24 justice under the law. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:22 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1939.IS S1939 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1939 IS (10) In the United States, Jews have faced, and 1 continue to face, false accusations of divided loyalty 2 between the United States and Israel, false claims 3 that they purchase political power with money, and 4 false accusations about control of the financial sys- 5 tem, along with other negative stereotypes. 6 (11) The people of the United States stand in 7 solidarity with those affected by hate incidents di- 8 rected toward the American Jewish community. 9 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF HATE CRIMES. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 days after the 11 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 12 designate an officer or employee of the Department of 13 Justice whose responsibility during the applicable period 14 shall be to facilitate the expedited review of antisemitic 15 hate crimes (as described in section 249 of title 18, United 16 States Code) and reports of any such crime to Federal, 17 State, local, or Tribal law enforcement agencies. 18 (b) APPLICABLE PERIOD DEFINED.—In this section, 19 the term ‘‘applicable period’’ means the period beginning 20 on the date on which the officer or employee is designated 21 under subsection (a), and ending on the date that is 3 22 years after the date of enactment of this Act, except that 23 the Attorney General may extend such period as appro- 24 priate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:22 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1939.IS S1939 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1939 IS SEC. 4. IMPROVING ANTISEMITIC HATE CRIME PREVEN- 1 TION EFFORTS. 2 (a) GUIDANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN- 3 CIES.—The Attorney General shall issue guidance for 4 State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, pursu- 5 ant to this Act and other applicable law, on how to expand 6 public education campaigns aimed at raising awareness of 7 antisemitic hate crimes and reaching victims that are 8 equally effective for people with disabilities as for people 9 without disabilities. 10 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 12 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 90 days 13 thereafter until December 31, 2024, the Attorney 14 General shall issue a report to the appropriate con- 15 gressional committees summarizing— 16 (A) the number of hate crimes and other 17 incidents reported to the Federal Bureau of In- 18 vestigation during the preceding 90 days for 19 which the government has reason to believe that 20 the victim was targeted because he or she is 21 Jewish or was perceived to be Jewish; 22 (B) the number of active investigations 23 into antisemitic hate crimes, disaggregated by 24 the division of the Department of Justice re- 25 sponsible for the investigation; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:22 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1939.IS S1939 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1939 IS (C) the number of active prosecutions of 1 antisemitic hate crimes, disaggregated by dis- 2 trict, primary charge filed, and whether the 3 prosecution is primarily conducted by the rel- 4 evant United States Attorney, the Criminal Di- 5 vision, or the Civil Rights Division; and 6 (D) other efforts undertaken by the De- 7 partment of Justice during the preceding 90 8 days to reduce the number of antisemitic hate 9 crimes in the United States. 10 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 11 TEES DEFINED.—As used in this section, the term 12 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 13 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 14 Senate; 15 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 16 House of Representatives; 17 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 18 the Senate; and 19 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 20 the House of Representatives. 21 (c) ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR REPEAT VIOLENT 22 HATE CRIME OFFENDERS.—Section 249 of title 18, 23 United States Code, is amended— 24 (1) in subsection (a)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:22 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1939.IS S1939 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1939 IS (A) in paragraph (1), by amending sub- 1 paragraph (B) to read as follows: 2 ‘‘(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of 3 years or for life, fined in accordance with this 4 title, or both, if— 5 ‘‘(i) the violation of this section occurs 6 after a prior conviction under this section 7 or a hate crime felony under State law has 8 become final; 9 ‘‘(ii) death results from the offense; or 10 ‘‘(iii) the offense includes kidnapping 11 or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual 12 abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated 13 sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.’’; and 14 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), in clause (ii) to 15 read as follows: 16 ‘‘(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term 17 of years or for life, fined in accordance 18 with this title, or both, if— 19 ‘‘(I) the violation of this section 20 occurs after a prior conviction under 21 this section or a hate crime felony 22 under State law has become final; 23 ‘‘(II) death results from the of- 24 fense; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:22 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1939.IS S1939 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1939 IS ‘‘(III) the offense includes kid- 1 napping or an attempt to kidnap, ag- 2 gravated sexual abuse or an attempt 3 to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or 4 an attempt to kill.’’; and 5 (2) in subsection (c)— 6 (A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 7 paragraph (6); 8 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 9 the end; and 10 (C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 11 following: 12 ‘‘(5) the term ‘hate crime felony under State 13 law’ means any crime under State law that— 14 ‘‘(A) is punishable by more than 1 year; 15 and 16 ‘‘(B) has as an element the use, attempted 17 use, or threatened use of physical force against 18 the person or property of another because of 19 any actual or perceived characteristic described 20 in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) of the 21 person; and’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:22 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1939.IS S1939 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS