A number of Republicans explained their opposition to an Asian anti-hate bill that passed Congress on Wednesday, with most concerned about provisions in the measure that do nothing to actually protect Asian Americans while empowering government liberals to go after disfavored political speech.
The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act was first introduced in the Senate in March by Sen Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and in the House by Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.). According to its backers, the legislation will designate a person within the Justice Department to more quickly investigate allegations of hate crimes against Asian Americans.
It also provides guidance on how to make reporting such crimes more efficient, as well as ensuring the process is made simpler for the general public to understand. Also, according to Hirono’s office, the measure provides direction in “detailing best practices to mitigate racially discriminatory language in describing the COVID–19 pandemic.”
But several Republicans pushed back on the measure with most citing its lack of real enforcement.
In a statement to the Texas Tribune, the Lone Star State’s junior senator, Ted Cruz, agreed that such crimes “should be vigorously prosecuted.” However, he added that he sees the legislation as little more than a Democratic “messaging tactic.”
The bill “is not designed to do anything to prevent or punish actual crimes,” said Cruz. “It is instead a Democratic messaging vehicle designed to push the demonstrably false idea that it is somehow racist to acknowledge that Covid-19 originated in Wuhan, China and that the Chinese Communist Party actively lied and suppressed information about the outbreak, allowing it to become a global pandemic.”
He went on to call out Democrats for failing to question why the Biden Justice Department dropped a lawsuit, begun under the Trump administration, against Yale University alleging entrance requirements were discriminatory against Asian and white applicants through the imposition of quotas. The suit was withdrawn in February after Joe Biden was inaugurated.
“When Democrats decide to take hate and racism seriously that means they will address this and not ignore it because it doesn’t fit neatly into their messaging tactics,” Cruz said.
Meanwhile, Senate colleague and Missouri Republican Josh Hawley also cited the bill’s overly “broad” language.
“It’s too broad,” Hawley, who was Missouri’s attorney general when he was elected to the Senate, told the New York Post.
“I’m just concerned the bill is hugely broad, hugely open-ended. Mandates all this data collection in expansive categories that the federal government will collect and maintain. That concerns me,” Hawley told reporters last week. “It just you know the ability and power to define crimes, to define incidents going forward, and collect all that data, it just seemed hugely, hugely overbroad
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said on Twitter after he voted against the bill because he said it “does nothing to protect any individual victim or any individual group” and that “what this is really about” is handing “a bunch of federal money out.”
The House just passed COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, my thoughts below on why I couldn't support it. pic.twitter.com/30WElXONT7
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) May 18, 2021
In all, 62 House Republicans voted against the measure, which passed the chamber 364-62. President Biden is expected to sign the measure.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
[email protected]
Jon is a staff writer for BizPac Review with 30 years' worth of reporting experience, as well as an author and U.S. Army veteran. He has a BA in political science from Ashford University and an MA in national security studies/intelligence analysis from American Military University.
- Jan. 6 committee chair Benny Thompson offers a stunning take on potential Trump criminal actions - January 2, 2022
- Life-long New Yorker posts ‘sad’ Twitter ode on post-pandemic Big Apple being ‘shadow of its former self’ - January 2, 2022
- NYPD officer shot in head in police lot as he slept in vehicle between shifts - January 2, 2022
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
