President Joe Biden signs the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act in the East Room of the White House, on Thursday. He is joined by (from right) Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena), Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).
The law, which passed both houses with overwhelming bipartisan support, establishes a new position within the Justice Department to review COVID-19-related hate crimes, and allocates resources to local law enforcement agencies to improve reporting. In remarks prior to signing the law, Biden said ““Every time we’re silent, every time we let hate flourish, we make a lie of who we are as a nation … We cannot let the very foundation of this country continue to be eaten away like it has been in other moments in our history and happening again.”