L.A. Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu called on President Joe Biden to commit to stopping anti-Asian hate crimes during his first address to a joint session of Congress, which will take place Wednesday evening.
Chu, whose district spans much of the western San Gabriel Valley and Pasadena, is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who earlier this month introduced the "No Hate Act," a bill that would provide resources to law enforcement to improve hate crimes reporting, tracking and enforcement.
The bill passed the Senate, and is expected to be taken up by the House in May.
"The bill will help us better understand and respond to the problem of anti-Asian hate crimes and all hate crimes, but we also need more people to understand the scope of the problem,” said Chu. “That is why the President's speech is such a significant event."
The Biden administration has spoken out against anti-Asian hate in the past. In March, Biden announced a slew of new actions, including funding for Asian American and Pacific Islander survivors of domestic or sexual abuse, reinstating and reinvigorating the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, establishing a task force to directly address xenophobia brought about by the coronavirus.
Chu's virtual guest for the President's address will be Robert Peterson, the son of Yong Ae Yue, who was one of the eight people killed in the Atlanta-area spa shootings last month. Peterson's mother was an immigrant from South Korea, and his father is African American.
"Both of these groups have been marginalized [and] discriminated against, whether it's police violence or community violence,” said Chu. “We should be able to come together as a country, as racial groups to fight against bigotry."
Biden's address to Congress will begin at 6 p.m. PST.
