{"id":120991,"date":"2021-05-21T17:14:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-22T00:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=120991"},"modified":"2021-05-21T17:14:41","modified_gmt":"2021-05-22T00:14:41","slug":"president-biden-at-signing-of-the-covid-19-hate-crimes-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=120991","title":{"rendered":"President Biden at Signing of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you.  Thank you.  Please, thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you. Susan, progress is possible.  We\u2019re moving.  Good afternoon, everyone.  As I said from the beginning of my campaign, Madam Speaker, that the campaign for President \u2013throughout, you would call me and tell me, \u201cKeep it up\u201d \u2014 was about bringing people together, about uniting the country.  We need to u- \u2014 reunite \u2014 we need to unite as one people, one nation, one America.  And that was the thing I was most often criticized about \u2014 saying, \u201cHow can you unite the country?\u201d  We must unite the county.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9nJhtqxXvDI\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I said it in my kickoff speech in Philadelphia.  I said it when I spoke at Gettysburg.  And I emphasized it in my Inaugural Address.  A lot of people \u2014 press, to elected officials \u2014 were somewhat skeptical that could be done.  It\u2019s just beginning, but I am confident we can do this and so much more.  And I believe, with every fiber of my being, that there are simple core values and beliefs that should bring us together as America \u2014 as Americans.<\/p>\n<p>One of them is standing together against hate, against racism \u2014 the ugly poison that has long haunted and plagued our nation.<\/p>\n<p>Today, I can say that because of all of you \u2014 many of you sitting right in front of me \u2014 you\u2019ve taken that first step.  This important step.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d like to thank the Congress and the members who are here today, Democrats and Republicans, who came together to get the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act on my desk.  Well, on a desk I\u2019m about to sign on.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But I want to thank the Majority Leader Schumer and I want to thank Speaker Pelosi for your leadership.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to thank our \u2014 the Leader from the state of Kentucky for letting it go forward.  It\u2019s important.  It\u2019s important. <\/p>\n<p>Most of all, Mazie \u2014 I shouldn\u2019t have \u2014 Senator.  I called you \u201cMazie.\u201d  I apologize, Mazie. <\/p>\n<p>SENATOR HIRONO:  It\u2019s okay.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I called Chuck, \u201cChuck,\u201d anyway.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Senator Hirono, Senator Tammy Duckworth who helped deliver this 94-1 vote.  When you get involved, Tammy, you don\u2019t screw around.  You just \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 94-1.<\/p>\n<p>State Representative Grace Meng and Judy Chu, who helped deliver a six hundred and \u2014 excuse me \u2014 364-62 vote in the House of Representatives.  That\u2019s incredible.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to also thank, as I said, Republican members in Congress for their leadership, including Senator Moran and Senator Collins.<\/p>\n<p>And I also want to thank the \u2014 as I said \u2014 and to all \u2014 to all of the folks, all of the people here today who are involved in \u2014 those of you, whether you\u2019re in the Congress or not, supporting this effort, I say: Thank you, thank you, thank you.  We got a lot more to do.  But we simply haven\u2019t seen this kind of bipartisanship for much too long in Washington.  You\u2019re showing our \u2014 that our democracy can work and deliver for the American people.<\/p>\n<p>Just days after the mass shooting in Atlanta area, the<br \/>\nVice President Harris and I \u2014 we went down to Atlanta to meet with Asian Americans and the community across Georgia.  It was a raw and emotional visit we had.<\/p>\n<p>We heard about their pain, their fear, anger, and all that existed in the community.  And the feelings were \u2014 about those feelings that they felt invisible, not seen.<\/p>\n<p>We heard how too many Asian Americans have been waking up each morning this past year genuinely \u2014 genuinely \u2014 fearing for their safety just opening the door and walking down the street, and safety for their loved ones.  The moms and dads who, when they let their kids out the door to go to school, were worried.<\/p>\n<p>Attacked, blamed, scapegoated, harassed during this pandemic.  Living in fear for their lives, as I said, just walking down street. <\/p>\n<p>Grandparents afraid to leave their homes even to get vaccinated, for fear of being attacked. <\/p>\n<p>Small business owners targeted and gunned down. <\/p>\n<p>Students worried about two things: COVID-19 and being bullied.<\/p>\n<p>Documented incidents of hate against Asian Americans have seen a shocking spike \u2014 as the Vice President has outlined at the front of her comments.  Let alone \u2014 let alone the ones that have never been reported.<\/p>\n<p>Gut-wrenching attacks on some of the most vulnerable people in our nation \u2014 the elderly, low-wage workers, women \u2014 brutally attacked simply by walking outside or waiting for a bus.  Asian American women suffer twice as many incidents of harassment and violence as Asian American men. <\/p>\n<p>And the conversation we had in Atlanta is one we\u2019re hearing all across the country, that all of this hate hides in plain sight \u2014 it hides in plain sight \u2014 and too often, it is met with silence: silence by the media, silence by our politics, and silence by our history.<\/p>\n<p>For centuries, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders \u2014 diverse and vibrant communities \u2014 have helped build this nation only to be often stepped over, forgotten, or ignored.  You know, lived here for generations, but still considered, by some, the \u201cother\u201d \u2014 the \u201cother.\u201d  It\u2019s wrong.  It\u2019s simply \u2014 to use the phrase \u2014 it\u2019s simply un-American.<\/p>\n<p>My message to all of those of you who are hurting is: We see you.  And the Congress has said: We see you.  And we are committed to stop the hatred and the bias.<\/p>\n<p>My first week in office, I signed a presidential memorandum directing federal agencies \u2014 all of them \u2014 to combat the resurgence of xenophobia.  Not just one, every agency.  <\/p>\n<p>Attorney General Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Associate Attorney General Gupta are all here today.  The Department of Justice is strengthening its partnership with the community to prevent these crimes, in addition to its other work to take on violent extremism and domestic terrorism.<\/p>\n<p>And with the new law \u2014 this new law, the Department of Justice and our entire administration is going to step up.  Right now, this is a critical problem of hate crimes being underreported.<\/p>\n<p>It stems from two challenges.  First, there\u2019s lack of resources and training for state and local law enforcement to accurately identify and report hate crimes to the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, for more people in communities of color, there are language and cultural barriers in how to communicate what\u2019s happening to them.  This law is going to make a difference.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the Department of Justice will issue clearer guidance for state, city, and Tribal, and law enforcement agencies on how to establish online reporting of hate crimes.<\/p>\n<p>It will work with the Department of Health and Human Services to raise public awareness of COVID-19 hate crimes that occurred during the pandemic.  There will also be a devoted official at the Department of Justice whose sole job is to expedite the review of hate crimes reports.<\/p>\n<p>And thanks to two families here today, the law will help state and local governments ensure hate crime information is more accessible to the public. <\/p>\n<p>The family of Heather Heyer \u2014 a civil rights activist whose life was taken standing up to Nazis marching from the shadows of vengeance in Charlottesville.<\/p>\n<p>And the family of Khalid Jabara \u2014 a proud son of a family who immigrated from Lebanon in search of new beginnings \u2014 who was gunned down in front door of their home here in America \u2014 in the United States of America by a neighbor fueled by hate.<\/p>\n<p>Khalid and Heather were murdered on the same day one year apart.  And instead of sharing the dreams they had for their children, both families share profound grief.  And they\u2019ve shown incredible courage to turn their pain into purpose.<\/p>\n<p>I hope you\u2019ll not be offended, but I\u2019d ask both families to please stand.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Folks, I want to thank you.  I want to thank you for being here, because I know it\u2019s hard.  No matter how celebratory it is, it\u2019s \u2014 a law is being changed \u2014 when you have to show up at something memorializing your family, it\u2019s like you got the news 10 seconds ago.  It\u2019s the hardest thing to do.  I know from experience, it takes enormous courage. <\/p>\n<p>But I hope \u2014 I hope that every day that\u2019s passed, a memory of your son and daughter brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye.  Because I promise you: A lot of people understand, have gone through similar things.  It\u2019s hard. <\/p>\n<p>So I really mean it when I say thank you.  Thank you for being here.  It takes a lot of courage.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Because of you, the amendment named in honor of Khalid and Heather is now law to make sure that hate crimes are more accurately counted and reported, and, hopefully, leading to a continued focus on ending these crimes.<\/p>\n<p>It will provide resources to create specialized hate crimes units that will also help states create hotlines for hate crimes at state and local levels that will be accessible for people with limited English proficiency.  And it provides resources for training for state and local law enforcement to identify, investigate, and report these heinous crimes. <\/p>\n<p>But of all the good that the law can do, we have to change our hearts.  We have to change the hearts of the American people.  Hate can \u2014 I mean this from bottom my heart \u2014 hate can be given no safe harbor in America.  I mean it: no safe harbor.<\/p>\n<p>It can\u2019t be dismissed like, \u201cWell, that\u2019s just what happens.\u201d  My sister, Valerie, and I talk about it all the time.  You\u2019ve got to speak up.  Speak up and speak out.  It\u2019s on all of us \u2014 all of us together \u2014 to make it stop. <\/p>\n<p>My message is \u2014 to all of those who think this doesn\u2019t matter to them or this is not a problem: Look around.  Look in the mirror.  Look in the eyes of your children.  Every one of us are lessened \u2014 every one of us are lessened, and we\u2019re all hurt by this hate.  It has a way of seeping, sort of, through cracks in the communities and children who, in fact, wouldn\u2019t have crossed their mind. <\/p>\n<p>Words have consequences, as the senator knows \u2014 he preaches it, he understands it.  Consequences.  But silence is complicity.  Silence is complicity.  And we cannot be complicit. <\/p>\n<p>We have to speak out.  We have to act.  That\u2019s what you\u2019ve done.  And I can\u2019t thank you enough. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m proud today.  I\u2019m proud today of the United States.  I\u2019m proud today of our political system, the United States Congress.  I\u2019m proud today that Democrats and Republicans have stood up together to say something. <\/p>\n<p>Let me close with this: Grief, as we all know, is universal, but so is hope, so is love.  It sounds corny, but it really is.  It really is.  And hope and love can be contagious. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re the United States of America.  We\u2019re a good and decent people. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re unique among all nations in that we are uniquely a product of a document \u2014 not an ethnicity, not a religion, not a geography; of a document.  And think about this \u2014 I\u2019m being literal \u2014 uniquely a product of a document that says, \u201cWe hold these truths to be self-evident\u2026 that all men and women are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Every time we\u2019re silent, every time we let hate flourish, you make a lie of who we are as a nation.  I mean it literally.  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. <\/p>\n<p>I looked at this law that you all passed as maybe the first break \u2014 the first significant break on a moment in our history that has to be turned around \u2014 not Democratic or \u2014 it has to be turned around. <\/p>\n<p>As a consequence, we should do what is required by the obligations of this democracy, by our faith in God and our faith in each other to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly.<\/p>\n<p>And as fellow human beings and fellow Americans, remember: We\u2019re unique in all of history as a nation.  This is the United States of America, for God\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n<p>May God bless you all, particularly those who pushed this through and continue to push it. <\/p>\n<p>And now I\u2019m going to sign this bill.  It is a great honor.<\/p>\n<p>(A cell phone rings.)<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know who\u2019s calling, but tell them we\u2019re busy.  (Laughter.)  I was going to say, \u201cUnless it\u2019s my sister,\u201d but she\u2019s here.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>So I\u2019d like to invite to the stage Senator Hirono, Senator Duckworth, Congresswoman Grace Meng, Congresswoman Judy Chu, Congressman Don Beyer, Senator Richard Blumenthal, and Senator Moran, but I don\u2019t think he could be here today.  Actually, he should have you \u2014 I should put the table down the middle of all of you and sign it down there. <\/p>\n<p>But thank you, thank you, thank you.  All right.<\/p>\n<p>(The act is signed.)<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.  Congratulations to all.  (Applause<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you. Thank you. Please, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Susan, progress is possible. We\u2019re moving. Good afternoon, everyone. As I said from the beginning of my campaign, Madam Speaker, that the campaign for President \u2013throughout, you would call me and tell me, \u201cKeep it up\u201d \u2014 was about bringing people [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Fullscreen-capture-5212021-51106-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/120992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}