On the recordApril 14, 2021
Madam President, today I express my concern over the rise in violent crime and in particular the hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Every single one of us ought to be horrified to see our fellow Americans attacked because of their race or ethnicity. We are united in our opposition to this hateful violence. We are united in seeing it investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I introduced a resolution to this effect, and I will welcome all my Senate colleagues to join me. I am very happy to see that Attorney General Garland has turned his attention to this problem. On March 30, he directed the Department of Justice to engage in a 30-day review of the Department's response to hate crimes. I hope the Senate will benefit from the results of that review. However, our responses to the problem of hate crimes must be guided by the facts and a pursuit of sound policy. I am not sure that we have done the legwork to arrive at a legislative solution that will make a difference to preventing, deterring, and punishing these crimes. Along with my colleague Senator Cotton, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism, we are requesting a full or subcommittee hearing on the issue, and we should do that after the Attorney General's review has been completed. We now have before the Senate S.…





