H.R. 1843, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act would provide greater oversight of COVID-19 hate crimes by requiring the Attorney General to designate a DOJ officer or employee to facilitate expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes reported to federal, state, and/or local law enforcement; to issue guidance for State and local law enforcement agencies to establish online reporting of hate crimes or incidents in multiple languages and to expand culturally competent and linguistically appropriate public education campaigns, and collection of data and public reporting of hate crimes; and to issue guidance describing best practices to mitigate racially discriminatory language in describing the COVID–19 pandemic, in coordination with the HHS Secretary, the COVID–19 Health Equity Task Force and community-based organizations.
