Biden signs anti-Asian hate crime bill marking 'significant break' in partisanship

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was seen closely chatting before the ceremony with Attorney General Merrick Garland, who sat front row for the remarks alongside Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.Asked how it felt to be inside the White House without a mask, Pelosi told one reporter, "Fabulous."Drafted in response to an alarming rise in violence against Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, the legislation is intended to expedite the review of pandemic-related hate crimes and make grants available to help local law enforcement improve reporting of bias-driven incidents.It specifically directs the Justice Department to designate a point person to assist with expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes, provide guidance for state and local law enforcement agencies to establish online reporting of hate crimes in multiple languages, expand "linguistically appropriate" public education campaigns and issue guidance on best practices to curb racially discriminatory language in describing the pandemic.The House of Representatives on Tuesday gave final passage to the bill with a 364-62 vote after the Senate passed the bill last month, 94-1. "I have seen how hate can impede our progress and I have seen how people uniting against hate can strengthen our country.""This bill brings us one step closer to stopping hate, not only for Asian Americans, but for all Americans," she added.Democrats have argued the rise in crimes against Asian Americans is linked to former President Donald Trump's branding of COVID-19 as the "China virus," among other names.While some advocates say the bill takes relatively modest steps to equip law enforcement and communities to better deal with the rise in violence against the AAPI community, House Democrats argued Tuesday the legislation will help prevent attacks by facilitating better reporting of the incidents.The legislation was introduced after the shooting of eight people, including six Asian women, at several spas in the Atlanta area in March.