[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4118 Introduced in House (IH)]
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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 Committee 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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Hate Crimes Commission Act of
2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines ``hate
crime'' to be a criminal offense--such as murder, arson, or
vandalism--against a person or property motivated in whole or
in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion,
disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender
identity.
(2) Forty-five States and the District of Columbia have
statutes criminalizing various types of bias-motivated violence
or intimidation.
(3) The Federal Government has implemented crimes statutes
since 1968, with the most recent law enacted in 2009.
(4) Approximately 250,000 hate crimes happen each year, yet
only 2 percent are reported to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI).
(5) Hate crimes not only damage the individual victim or
victims, but also traumatize entire communities and erode
public confidence in their safety.
(6) According to multiple, nonpartisan studies, hate crimes
have increased each consecutive year since 2015, with a 6.7-
percent increase in reported hate crimes in 2016, one of the
largest 1-year increases in over a decade.
(7) In May 2017, the FBI found that White supremacists and
right wing extremist groups were responsible for the most of
any domestic extremist group.
(8) According to the same FBI report, hate crimes against
LGBTQ people have been on the rise over the past three years,
with a majority targeting gay men.
(9) In addition, the FBI reported that hate crimes
motivated by anti-religious bias increased 23 percent, where 37
percent of that increase were anti-Jewish.
(10) In February 2017, a White supremacist entered a bar in
Kansas and shot at two Indian men, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and
Alok Madasani while shouting racial epithets. Srinivas later
died of his injuries.
(11) In August 2017, the White nationalist and neo-Nazi
protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, resulted in 1 death and
20 injuries from a White nationalist driving his car into a
group of counter-protesters.
(12) In July 2019, a Hindu priest in New York City was
hospitalized after a man attacked him and screamed ``this is my
neighborhood'' during the incident.
(13) There is a clear need for stronger action to
accurately report and effectively combat hate-based attacks.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.
(a) Establishment.--There is established the United States
Commission on Hate Crimes (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the
``Commission'').
(b) Membership.--The Commission shall be composed of 12 members.
Membership of the Commission shall be appointed in accordance with the
following:
(1) Two members shall be appointed by the majority leader
of the Senate.
(2) Two members shall be appointed by the minority leader
of the Senate.
(3) Two members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
(4) Two members shall be appointed by the minority leader
of the House of Representatives.
(5) Two members shall be jointly appointed by the two
appointing officials under paragraphs (1) through (4) who are
members of, or caucus with, the Democratic Party.
(6) Two members shall be jointly appointed by the two
appointing officials under paragraphs (1) through (4) who are
members of, or caucus with, the Republican Party.
(7) Not more than 6 members of the Commission shall be from
the law enforcement community and not more than 6 members of
the Commission shall be of the civil rights community.
(8) Not more than 6 of the members shall be of the same
political party.
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.
The Commission shall investigate the following:
(1) If there has been an increase in hate crimes during the
period beginning January 1, 2007, and ending 60 days after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(2) To the extent that any increase in the commission in
hate crimes is determined to exist, what factors have
contributed to such increase.
(3) What policies or actions law enforcement agencies might
adopt or engage in to reduce the commission of hate crimes.
(4) The impact of underreporting on hate crimes statistics
and hate crimes prevention.
SEC. 5. REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Commission shall submit a report to Congress and the President setting
forth the results of the investigation under section 4.
SEC. 6. DEFINITION.
In this Act, the term ``hate crime'' means an offense under section
249 of title 18, United States Code.
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