Dear Friend,

I just got off the Senate floor, where I proudly voted in favor of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act – legislation to address the surge in hate crimes related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past year, hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have spiked dramatically. In fact, we saw nearly 3,800 hate incidents targeting Asian Americans between March of last year and February of this year. Unfortunately, many of these incidents have been fueled by racist language that seeks to place undue blame on Asian Americans for the COVID-19 pandemic. These attacks are horrific and we cannot accept this violence and hate as normal. That’s why I was proud to join Senator Mazie K. Hirono and a number of my colleagues in introducing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act earlier this year.

This legislation will designate a point-person at the Department of Justice to identify hate crimes towards Asian Americans related to COVID-19 and work with state and local law enforcement to facilitate reporting and data collection. It also includes provisions to improve the reporting of hate crimes more broadly, and expand assistance and resources for victims of hate crimes.

The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act will send a very important signal to the American public that these crimes will not be tolerated. I strongly urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass this bill and send it to the President’s desk for his signature.

This year has brought great stress and challenges for the AAPI community. Hate has no place in our Commonwealth or our country. I want you to know that I stand strongly with you, and I’m grateful that you call Virginia home.

If you want to share your thoughts about an issue that’s important to you, you can send me an email any time using the form on my Senate website. You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,