Hate Crimes Commission Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4118 To establish a United States Commission on Hate Crimes to study and make recommendations on the prevention of the commission of hate crimes, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2019 Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. RUSH, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. DEAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. EVANS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish a United States Commission on Hate Crimes to study and make recommendations on the prevention of the commission of 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 ‘‘Hate Crimes Commis- 4 sion Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4118.IH H4118 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4118 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 The Congress finds as follows: 2 (1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines 3 ‘‘hate crime’’ to be a criminal offense—such as mur- 4 der, arson, or vandalism—against a person or prop- 5 erty motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s 6 bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual ori- 7 entation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. 8 (2) Forty-five States and the District of Colum- 9 bia have statutes criminalizing various types of bias- 10 motivated violence or intimidation. 11 (3) The Federal Government has implemented 12 crimes statutes since 1968, with the most recent law 13 enacted in 2009. 14 (4) Approximately 250,000 hate crimes happen 15 each year, yet only 2 percent are reported to the 16 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 17 (5) Hate crimes not only damage the individual 18 victim or victims, but also traumatize entire commu- 19 nities and erode public confidence in their safety. 20 (6) According to multiple, nonpartisan studies, 21 hate crimes have increased each consecutive year 22 since 2015, with a 6.7-percent increase in reported 23 hate crimes in 2016, one of the largest 1-year in- 24 creases in over a decade. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4118.IH H4118 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4118 IH (7) In May 2017, the FBI found that White su- 1 premacists and right wing extremist groups were re- 2 sponsible for the most of any domestic extremist 3 group. 4 (8) According to the same FBI report, hate 5 crimes against LGBTQ people have been on the rise 6 over the past three years, with a majority targeting 7 gay men. 8 (9) In addition, the FBI reported that hate 9 crimes motivated by anti-religious bias increased 23 10 percent, where 37 percent of that increase were anti- 11 Jewish. 12 (10) In February 2017, a White supremacist 13 entered a bar in Kansas and shot at two Indian 14 men, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani while 15 shouting racial epithets. Srinivas later died of his in- 16 juries. 17 (11) In August 2017, the White nationalist and 18 neo-Nazi protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, re- 19 sulted in 1 death and 20 injuries from a White na- 20 tionalist driving his car into a group of counter-pro- 21 testers. 22 (12) In July 2019, a Hindu priest in New York 23 City was hospitalized after a man attacked him and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4118.IH H4118 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4118 IH screamed ‘‘this is my neighborhood’’ during the inci- 1 dent. 2 (13) There is a clear need for stronger action 3 to accurately report and effectively combat hate- 4 based attacks. 5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 7 United States Commission on Hate Crimes (hereinafter 8 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be com- 10 posed of 12 members. Membership of the Commission 11 shall be appointed in accordance with the following: 12 (1) Two members shall be appointed by the ma- 13 jority leader of the Senate. 14 (2) Two members shall be appointed by the mi- 15 nority leader of the Senate. 16 (3) Two members shall be appointed by the 17 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 18 (4) Two members shall be appointed by the mi- 19 nority leader of the House of Representatives. 20 (5) Two members shall be jointly appointed by 21 the two appointing officials under paragraphs (1) 22 through (4) who are members of, or caucus with, the 23 Democratic Party. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4118.IH H4118 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4118 IH (6) Two members shall be jointly appointed by 1 the two appointing officials under paragraphs (1) 2 through (4) who are members of, or caucus with, the 3 Republican Party. 4 (7) Not more than 6 members of the Commis- 5 sion shall be from the law enforcement community 6 and not more than 6 members of the Commission 7 shall be of the civil rights community. 8 (8) Not more than 6 of the members shall be 9 of the same political party. 10 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 11 The Commission shall investigate the following: 12 (1) If there has been an increase in hate crimes 13 during the period beginning January 1, 2007, and 14 ending 60 days after the date of enactment of this 15 Act. 16 (2) To the extent that any increase in the com- 17 mission in hate crimes is determined to exist, what 18 factors have contributed to such increase. 19 (3) What policies or actions law enforcement 20 agencies might adopt or engage in to reduce the 21 commission of hate crimes. 22 (4) The impact of underreporting on hate 23 crimes statistics and hate crimes prevention. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4118.IH H4118 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4118 IH SEC. 5. REPORT. 1 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 2 of this Act, the Commission shall submit a report to Con- 3 gress and the President setting forth the results of the 4 investigation under section 4. 5 SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 6 In this Act, the term ‘‘hate crime’’ means an offense 7 under section 249 of title 18, United States Code. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4118.IH H4118 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS