The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“COVID-19 HATE CRIMES ACT” mentioning Charles E. Schumer was published in the Senate section on pages S2137-S2138 on April 22.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
COVID-19 HATE CRIMES ACT
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, after nearly 2 weeks of Democrats and Republicans working together, the Senate is going to take a final vote on the anti-Asian hate crimes bill later this morning. The vote today on the anti-Asian hate crimes bill is proof that when the Senate is given the opportunity to work, the Senate can work to solve important issues.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans across the country have been victims of the surge of discrimination and racially motivated violence and bigotry. In New York, I attended rally after rally and heard one story after another about Asian Americans who were afraid to ride the subway, afraid to go to work, afraid to walk down the streets, and having to adjust their daily lives for fear of being spat upon, glared at, or even worse. This was not an occasional occurrence. It is occurring every day in just about every corner of America.
Now, racism has always existed in America, unfortunately and sadly, and the legacy of anti-Asian sentiment goes back centuries to dark chapters in our history like the Chinese Exclusion Act and the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II.
Now, we have made great strides since those days, but over the past several years, the forces of hate and bigotry seemed to have gained strength, too often encouraged by our former President. It is time for all of us to stand up.
By passing this bill, the Senate makes it very clear that hate and discrimination against any group has no place in America. Bigotry against one is bigotry against all, and I believe that passage of this bill will send two--two--very important messages.
One important message is to the Asian-American community. By passing this bill, we say to the Asian-American community that their government is paying attention to them, has heard their concerns, and will respond to protect them; and, second, by passing this bill, we will send a message to the country that should be all too obvious by now. Hate crimes will not be tolerated, and Federal law enforcement will do everything in its power to detect, deter, and, if necessary, prosecute crimes to the full extent of the law.
So this bill has a one-two punch, to assure the Asian-American community we are going after the bigotry against them and to tell the American people, particularly those bigots, we are going after you in a legal way, of course.
Now, yesterday, we reached an agreement to consider three more Republican amendments to the bill before a final vote. The legislation, as is, already includes significant bipartisan input, including modifications from Senator Collins and bipartisan legislation called the No Hate Act developed by Senators Moran and Blumenthal and modified by Senator Scott of Florida. Senator Warnock has also made sure the bill recognizes the recent tragedy in Atlanta in which six women of Asian descent were killed.
Through it all, Senators Durbin, Duckworth, and especially the bill's sponsor, Senator Hirono, have demonstrated exceptional leadership; the same for Representative Meng in the House.
Over the past 6 years, we have had too few opportunities to work together on timely, bipartisan legislation. Let this be a reminder that when Senators of good will work with each other, at the end of the day, we can achieve a good result. We can do it again in the next few weeks with a bipartisan water infrastructure bill, which will be on the floor next week, and soon thereafter, another bipartisan package of legislation concerning American competitiveness.
Let's continue the bipartisan momentum as we move into next week, but today I want to thank my colleagues who have worked together to bring this bill to the finish line. I look forward to seeing the anti-Asian hate crimes bill passed by this Chamber today and move one step closer to reaching the President's desk.
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