On the recordApril 22, 2021
if you believe the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act is a good piece of legislation--and, obviously, over 90 Senators voted to move to proceed to this bill--then you can't vote for the Lee amendment because the first thing he does before he puts out his own idea of what we should consider instead is to strike key sections of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act that require the Attorney General to issue guidance to establish online reporting of hate crime incidents, collect data on hate crime incidents, and expand public education in campaigns. The Lee amendment strikes that. He doesn't want us to do that. He wants us to assign the Attorney General the responsibility, in the next 180 days, to survey every COVID-19 restriction in every State in the Union. I urge a vote against the Lee amendment. Vote on Amendment No. 1425 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
