Bill Summary
This legislation, known as the "Preventing Antisemitic Hate Crimes Act," aims to address the increase in hate crimes against the Jewish community in the United States. It acknowledges the historical and ongoing discrimination faced by Jews, and recognizes the recent uptick in hate crimes during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. The Act directs the Attorney General to designate an officer or employee responsible for expediting the review of antisemitic hate crimes and reporting them to law enforcement agencies. It also requires the Attorney General to issue guidance for law enforcement agencies on how to raise awareness and reach victims of antisemitic hate crimes, and to provide regular reports to Congress on hate crime statistics and Department of Justice efforts to combat them. Additionally, the legislation enhances penalties for repeat violent hate crime offenders and defines "hate crime felony under State law" as any crime that is punishable by more than one year and involves the use of physical force against an individual because of their perceived or actual characteristics.
Possible Impacts
1. The legislation may affect people who identify as Jewish by providing expedited review of hate crimes committed against them.
2. The legislation may affect people with disabilities by ensuring that public education campaigns aimed at raising awareness of antisemitic hate crimes are equally effective for people with disabilities as for people without disabilities.
3. The legislation may affect individuals who have been convicted of hate crimes by enhancing penalties for repeat violent hate crime offenders, such as longer prison sentences and higher fines.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1939 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
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 referred 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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Antisemitic Hate Crimes
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Jews are the targets of the majority of hate crimes
committed in the United States against any religious group,
including attacks on houses of worship and Jewish community
centers.
(2) Amid ongoing conflict in May 2021 between Israel, which
is one of the closest allies of the United States, and Hamas,
which is a terrorist organization and has been designated by
the United States as such since 1997, media reports indicate
that there has been a dramatic increase in hate crimes and
violence against Jews in the United States.
(3) Media reports indicate that activists and mobs acting
in support of the terrorist group, Hamas, and its sympathizers
have incited and perpetrated hate crimes and violence against
Jews in the United States in 2021.
(4) A recent survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League
indicates that 63 percent of American Jews have directly
experienced or witnessed antisemitic hate incidents within the
past 5 years.
(5) Antisemitism has long perpetrated myths about Jews,
including the Russian fabrication of the Protocols of the
Elders of Zion and the wide circulation of libelous falsehoods
about the Jewish murder of infants.
(6) The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
defines antisemitism as ``a certain perception of Jews, which
may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical
manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or
non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish
community institutions and religious facilities''.
(7) In its most extreme form, antisemitism aims at the
physical destruction of the Jewish people, as seen in pogroms,
forced conversions, and Nazi Germany's murder of over 6,000,000
Jews.
(8) Antisemitism has included attacks on the livelihood of
Jews, including prohibitions on land ownership, campaigns to
boycott, confiscate, or destroy Jewish businesses, and denial
of the ability of Jews to practice certain professions.
(9) In the United States, Jews have suffered from
systematic discrimination in the form of exclusion from home
ownership in certain neighborhoods, prohibition from staying in
certain hotels, restrictions upon membership in private clubs
and other associations, limitations upon admission to certain
educational institutions, and other barriers to equal justice
under the law.
(10) In the United States, Jews have faced, and continue to
face, false accusations of divided loyalty between the United
States and Israel, false claims that they purchase political
power with money, and false accusations about control of the
financial system, along with other negative stereotypes.
(11) The people of the United States stand in solidarity
with those affected by hate incidents directed toward the
American Jewish community.
SEC. 3. REVIEW OF HATE CRIMES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 7 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Attorney General shall designate an officer or
employee of the Department of Justice whose responsibility during the
applicable period shall be to facilitate the expedited review of
antisemitic hate crimes (as described in section 249 of title 18,
United States Code) and reports of any such crime to Federal, State,
local, or Tribal law enforcement agencies.
(b) Applicable Period Defined.--In this section, the term
``applicable period'' means the period beginning on the date on which
the officer or employee is designated under subsection (a), and ending
on the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
except that the Attorney General may extend such period as appropriate.
SEC. 4. IMPROVING ANTISEMITIC HATE CRIME PREVENTION EFFORTS.
(a) Guidance for Law Enforcement Agencies.--The Attorney General
shall issue guidance for State, local, and Tribal law enforcement
agencies, pursuant to this Act and other applicable law, on how to
expand public education campaigns aimed at raising awareness of
antisemitic hate crimes and reaching victims that are equally effective
for people with disabilities as for people without disabilities.
(b) Report to Congress.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter until
December 31, 2024, the Attorney General shall issue a report to
the appropriate congressional committees summarizing--
(A) the number of hate crimes and other incidents
reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation during
the preceding 90 days for which the government has
reason to believe that the victim was targeted because
he or she is Jewish or was perceived to be Jewish;
(B) the number of active investigations into
antisemitic hate crimes, disaggregated by the division
of the Department of Justice responsible for the
investigation;
(C) the number of active prosecutions of
antisemitic hate crimes, disaggregated by district,
primary charge filed, and whether the prosecution is
primarily conducted by the relevant United States
Attorney, the Criminal Division, or the Civil Rights
Division; and
(D) other efforts undertaken by the Department of
Justice during the preceding 90 days to reduce the
number of antisemitic hate crimes in the United States.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--As used
in this section, the term ``appropriate congressional
committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives;
(C) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
and
(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(c) Enhanced Penalties for Repeat Violent Hate Crime Offenders.--
Section 249 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by amending subparagraph (B)
to read as follows:
``(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or
for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both,
if--
``(i) the violation of this section occurs
after a prior conviction under this section or
a hate crime felony under State law has become
final;
``(ii) death results from the offense; or
``(iii) the offense includes kidnapping or
an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse
or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual
abuse, or an attempt to kill.''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)(A), in clause (ii) to read as
follows:
``(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term of
years or for life, fined in accordance with
this title, or both, if--
``(I) the violation of this section
occurs after a prior conviction under
this section or a hate crime felony
under State law has become final;
``(II) death results from the
offense; or
``(III) the offense includes
kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap,
aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt
to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or
an attempt to kill.''; and
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph
(6);
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the
end; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
``(5) the term `hate crime felony under State law' means
any crime under State law that--
``(A) is punishable by more than 1 year; and
``(B) has as an element the use, attempted use, or
threatened use of physical force against the person or
property of another because of any actual or perceived
characteristic described in paragraph (1) or (2) of
subsection (a) of the person; and''.
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