Preventing Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3515 To facilitate the expedited review of anti-Semitic hate crimes, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2021 Mr. KUSTOFF (for himself and Mr. MCCARTHY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To facilitate the expedited review of anti-Semitic 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 Anti-Se- 4 mitic Hate Crimes Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Jews are the targets of the majority of hate 8 crimes committed in the United States against any 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3515.IH H3515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3515 IH religious group, including attacks on houses of wor- 1 ship and Jewish community centers. 2 (2) Amid ongoing conflict in May 2021 between 3 Israel, which is one of the closest allies of the United 4 States, and Hamas, which is a terrorist organization 5 and has been designated by the United States as 6 such since 1997, media reports indicate that there 7 has been a dramatic increase in hate crimes and vio- 8 lence against Jews in the United States. 9 (3) Media reports indicate that activists and 10 mobs acting in support of the terrorist group, 11 Hamas, and its sympathizers have incited and per- 12 petrated hate crimes and violence against Jews in 13 the United States in 2021. 14 (4) A recent survey conducted by the Anti-Def- 15 amation League indicates that 63 percent of Amer- 16 ican Jews have directly experienced or witnessed 17 anti-Semitic hate incidents within the past five 18 years. 19 (5) Anti-Semitism has long perpetrated myths 20 about Jews, including the Russian fabrication of the 21 Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the wide circula- 22 tion of libelous falsehoods about the Jewish murder 23 of infants. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3515.IH H3515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3515 IH (6) In its most extreme form, anti-Semitism 1 aims at the physical destruction of the Jewish peo- 2 ple, as seen in pogroms, forced conversions and Nazi 3 Germany’s murder of over six million Jews. 4 (7) Anti-Semitism has included attacks on the 5 livelihood of Jews including prohibitions on land 6 ownership, campaigns to boycott, confiscate or de- 7 stroy Jewish businesses, and denial of the ability of 8 Jews to practice certain professions. 9 (8) In the United States, Jews have suffered 10 from systematic discrimination in the form of exclu- 11 sion from home ownership in certain neighborhoods, 12 prohibition from staying in certain hotels, restric- 13 tions upon membership in private clubs and other 14 associations, limitations upon admission to certain 15 educational institutions and other barriers to equal 16 justice under the law. 17 (9) In the United States, Jews have faced, and 18 continue to face, false accusations of divided loyalty 19 between the United States and Israel, false claims 20 that they purchase political power with money, and 21 false accusations about control of the financial sys- 22 tem, along with other negative stereotypes. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3515.IH H3515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3515 IH (10) The people of the United States stand in 1 solidarity with those affected by hate incidents di- 2 rected toward the American Jewish community. 3 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF HATE CRIMES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 days after the 5 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 6 designate an officer or employee of the Department of 7 Justice whose responsibility during the applicable period 8 shall be to facilitate the expedited review of anti-Semitic 9 hate crimes (as described in section 249 of title 18, United 10 States Code) and reports of any such crime to Federal, 11 State, local, or Tribal law enforcement agencies. 12 (b) APPLICABLE PERIOD DEFINED.—In this section, 13 the term ‘‘applicable period’’ means the period beginning 14 on the date on which the officer or employee is designated 15 under subsection (a), and ending on the date that is 3 16 years after the date of enactment of this Act, except that 17 the Attorney General may extend such period as appro- 18 priate. 19 SEC. 4. IMPROVING ANTI-SEMITIC HATE CRIME PREVEN- 20 TION EFFORTS. 21 (a) GUIDANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN- 22 CIES.—The Attorney General shall issue guidance for 23 State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, pursu- 24 ant to this Act and other applicable law, on how to expand 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3515.IH H3515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3515 IH public education campaigns aimed at raising awareness of 1 anti-Semitic hate crimes and reaching victims, that are 2 equally effective for people with disabilities as for people 3 without disabilities. 4 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 6 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 90 days 7 thereafter until December 31, 2024, the Attorney 8 General shall issue a report to the appropriate con- 9 gressional committees summarizing— 10 (A) the number of hate crimes and other 11 incidents reported to the Federal Bureau of In- 12 vestigation during the preceding 90 days for 13 which the government has reason to believe that 14 the victim was targeted because he or she is 15 Jewish or was perceived to be Jewish; 16 (B) the number of active investigations 17 into anti-Semitic hate crimes, disaggregated by 18 the division of the Department of Justice re- 19 sponsible for the investigation; 20 (C) the number of active prosecutions of 21 anti-Semitic hate crimes, disaggregated by dis- 22 trict, primary charge filed, and whether the 23 prosecution is primarily conducted by the rel- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3515.IH H3515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3515 IH evant United States Attorney, the Criminal Di- 1 vision, or the Civil Rights Division; and 2 (D) other efforts undertaken by the De- 3 partment of Justice during the preceding 90 4 days to reduce the number of anti-Semitic hate 5 crimes in the United States. 6 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 7 TEES DEFINED.—As used in this section, the term 8 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 9 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 10 Senate; 11 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 12 House of Representatives; 13 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 14 the Senate; and 15 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 16 the House of Representatives. 17 (c) ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR REPEAT VIOLENT 18 HATE CRIME OFFENDERS.—Section 249 of title 18, 19 United States Code, is amended— 20 (1) by amending subsection (a)(1)(B) to read 21 as follows: 22 ‘‘(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of 23 years or for life, fined in accordance with this 24 title, or both, if— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3515.IH H3515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3515 IH ‘‘(i) the violation of this section occurs 1 after a prior conviction under this section 2 or a hate crime felony under State law has 3 become final; 4 ‘‘(ii) death results from the offense; or 5 ‘‘(iii) the offense includes kidnapping 6 or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual 7 abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated 8 sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.’’; 9 (2) by amending subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii) to 10 read as follows: 11 ‘‘(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term 12 of years or for life, fined in accordance 13 with this title, or both, if— 14 ‘‘(I) the violation of this section 15 occurs after a prior conviction under 16 this section or a hate crime felony 17 under State law has become final; 18 ‘‘(II) death results from the of- 19 fense; or 20 ‘‘(III) the offense includes kid- 21 napping or an attempt to kidnap, ag- 22 gravated sexual abuse or an attempt 23 to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or 24 an attempt to kill.’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3515.IH H3515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3515 IH (3) in subsection (c)— 1 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’; 2 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe- 3 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(6) the term ‘hate crime felony under State 6 law’ means any crime under State law that— 7 ‘‘(A) is punishable by more than one year; 8 and 9 ‘‘(B) has as an element the use, attempted 10 use, or threatened use of physical force against 11 the person or property of another because of 12 any actual or perceived characteristic listed in 13 subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2).’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3515.IH H3515 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS