Unanimous Senate Vote Condemning Hate
By Omar Noureldin
Vice President of Strategy & Operations
MPAC
Last week, the United States Senate voted unanimously to pass Senate Resolution 118 denouncing hate crimes against Muslims, Jews, and other minorities, affirming that we are a country that stands united in condemning hate.
The drafting, introduction, and passage of this resolution is the result of a joint advocacy effort between MPAC and Emerge USA. We ensured that the resolution went beyond rhetoric and resolves that the government take concrete steps to address hate crimes.
We are committed to making federal and state legislation and policies more equitable toward American Muslims so that we become an effective constituency in American public affairs. We worked with Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) to gather bipartisan support for this resolution whose co-sponsors include Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).
The resolution resolves that the US government must do four things to effectively combat hate crimes:
1. Investigate reports of hate crimes, incidents and threats against minorities in the US, hold perpetrators accountable, and bring them to justice;
2. Improve the reporting of hate crimes, and emphasize the importance of law enforcement’s collection and reporting of data pursuant to federal law;
3. Develop an interagency task force to collaborate on effective strategies and efforts to detect and deter hate crimes in order to protect minority communities; and
4. Assist victims and to enhance security measures and improve preparedness for religious institutions, places of worship, and other institutions that have been targeted because of their affiliation with a particular religious, racial or ethnic minority.
At a time when hate crimes against Muslims and other minorities in the US are on the rise, the Senate has committed to prevent and counteract all acts of hatred and bigotry. And despite a polarized Congress, we were able to achieve bipartisanship around a crucial American issue.
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