Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

TODAY at 10AM ET, @SenSchumer, @SpeakerPelosi, with Sen. @maziehirono, @RepGraceMeng & @RepAndyKimNJ hold a news conference on the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. The conference comes ahead of a vote on the bill later this week.
@CourthouseNews

Schumer says the rising tide of violence against Asian Americans is unacceptable. Also: There's a bipartisan amendment added to this bill from Blumenthal and Moran that would add resources for state/local law enforcement to improve hate crime reporting/training/rehab.

Schumer acknowledges they need 60 senators to join them to pass the bill. "Who would oppose this simple but necessary legislation?" he asks, then: "The Senate will debate and take action to combat hate crimes against Asian Americans."

There's no reason this shouldn't be a bipartisan bill. It's not some kind of 'gotcha!' legislation, Schumer adds, "It is legislation our times demand."

Now: Speaker Pelosi says there will be a mark-up on the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act bill next week in the House. A mark-up entails weighing legislation language, reviewing amendments etc. A vote will also follow next week
Legislation: documentcloud.org/documents/2061…
@CourthouseNews

Sen. @maziehirono at today's presser says she no longer wears headphones when out for a walk in public because of the recent uptick in hate crimes against AAPI.

The senator fears being attacked in public. She isn't alone among AAPIs.
The call for this legislation isn't hyperbole, she argues. The threat posed to AAPI must be addressed and ended. These threats should be reported, she adds. It isn't a controversial bill.

An attack on one group is an attack on all of us and there is no place in a democracy for these kinds of unprovoked attacks on a group of people who are only being targeted because they are AAPIs, Sen. @maziehirono says.

Rep Grace Meng, D-NY talks about the reporting streamline features built into this legislation.

One of the main issues with reporting hate crimes or related incidents is that the target or victim may not have access to reporting tools in their own language.

Increased reporting on hate crimes would give a clearer picture of what's happening so delivery of resources can be tailor made, Meng says. "It's about our parents & grandparents walking down the street safely .. so our kids can go outside to play without fear of being harassed"

Rep. Andy Kim, D-NJ, impassioned, says that he's never felt this level of fear, vulnerability, and isolation before. When he visited families of the spa shooting victims in GA, they just wanted to know: what is Congress going to do to actually fix this?

Rep Kim says he knows xenophobia has been with us and it is likely to only get worse, esp. as competition with China keeps growing.

"We need to think about how we embrace and talk about the AAPI community in our nation. The next few weeks will determine the next few decades of how Asian Americans are treated and understood in this country," @RepAndyKimNJ says today re: passing the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.

Schumer says there should be no obstruction on passing this bill in the House next week. There's nothing hidden, its just a simple bill, he argues, that will give local law enforcement the tools they need to understand/manage/deal with hate crimes towards this group of Americans.

Rep Meng says the intention of the bill was to get a more clear and accurate picture of what happened during the pandemic but this is something we're interested in the long term. This wouldn't just help AAPI communities but all communities long after Covid, Meng says.