The Board of Directors of the National Institute for Lobbying Ethics released the following statement regarding the March 16 shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, and the increasing violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
“NILE strongly denounces the recent violence against the AAPI community and offers our condolences to the families of the eight individuals who were murdered. Unfortunately, the events in Atlanta are only one of many examples of the growing tide of domestic terrorism in the nation. As extremist sentiments continue to permeate our society, these targeted attacks must be recognized and labeled as hate crimes.
Hate crimes against the AAPI community have risen sharply. The Pew Research Center noted that 58% of Asian adults have reported increased expression of "racist or racially insensitive views” about Asian individuals since the coronavirus outbreak. The NILE Board of Directors urges Congress to act swiftly to address the pervasiveness of hate crimes in the nation.
Representative Judy Chu (California) has called on Congress to pass legislation that would enable the United States Department of Justice to track hate crimes more easily. This would include establishing state hate crime hotlines and creating locally focused grant programs to promote reporting of hate crimes.
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (Illinois) introduced a Hate Crime Commission bill in 2017 which calls for an evenly split 12-member commission to examine the causes of and work on solutions to effectively respond to the increase in hate crimes.
Representative Michelle Steel (California) and Representative Katie Porter (California) have also introduced a bipartisan resolution in the House condemning hate, racism, and intolerance against the AAPI community.
NILE stands in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community during this heartbreaking time and calls on Congress to pursue strong, bipartisan actions to combat the rising tide of hate crimes against Americans of Asian descent.”
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