S. 4598

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4598 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4598

To establish a United States Commission on Hate Crimes to study and 
make recommendations on the prevention of the commission of hate 
crimes, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 20, 2026

Mrs. Gillibrand introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To establish a United States Commission on Hate Crimes to study and 
make recommendations on the prevention of the commission of hate 
crimes, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Hate Crimes Commission Act of 
2026''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (referred to in 
this section as the ``FBI'') defines a hate crime as a criminal 
offense, such as murder, arson, or vandalism, against a person 
or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias 
against a race, color, national origin, religion, disability, 
sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.
(2) Forty-six States and the District of Columbia have 
statutes criminalizing various types of bias-motivated violence 
or intimidation.
(3) Congress has enacted various statutes to address hate 
crimes since 1968, with the most recent statute, the COVID-19 
Hate Crimes Act (Public Law 117-113; 135 Stat. 265), enacted in 
2021.
(4) In 2024, the FBI reported 11,323 single-bias incidents, 
involving 13,768 victims.
(5) Hate crimes not only damage the individual victim or 
victims but also traumatize entire communities and erode public 
confidence in their safety.
(6) In 2024--
(A) 53.2 percent of victims were targeted because 
of the offender's race, ethnicity, or ancestry bias;
(B) 23.5 percent of victims were targeted because 
of the offender's religious bias;
(C) 17.2 percent of victims were targeted because 
of the offender's sexual orientation bias;
(D) 3.9 percent of victims were targeted because of 
the offender's gender identity bias;
(E) 1.3 percent of victims were targeted because of 
the offender's disability bias; and
(F) 0.9 percent of victims were targeted because of 
the offender's gender bias.
(7) In testimony before the Committee on Homeland Security 
of the House of Representatives in September 2020, FBI Director 
Christopher Wray said, ``Within the domestic terrorism bucket, 
the category as a whole, racially motivated violent extremism 
is, I think, the biggest bucket within that larger group. And 
within the racially motivated violent extremist bucket, people 
subscribing to some kind of white supremacist-type ideology is 
certainly the biggest chunk of that.''.
(8) In August 2012, a shooting at the gurdwara in Oak 
Creek, Wisconsin, left 6 people dead, and a seventh victim of 
the shooting succumbed to his injuries in 2020.
(9) In June 2016, a shooting at Pulse, an LGBTQ+ nightclub 
in Orlando, Florida, left 49 people dead and an additional 53 
people wounded.
(10) In October 2018, a shooting at the Tree of Life 
synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, left 11 people dead.
(11) In July 2019, a Hindu priest in New York City was 
hospitalized after a man attacked him and screamed ``this is my 
neighborhood'' during the incident.
(12) In August 2019, an assailant entered a Walmart in El 
Paso, Texas, to target Hispanic immigrants and left 22 people 
dead.
(13) In November 2020, a woman shouted anti-Muslim slurs 
and attacked a couple in New York City, leaving one victim 
needing surgery for facial fractures.
(14) In March 2021, a gunman targeted 3 spas across 
Atlanta, Georgia, killing 8 people, 6 of whom were Asian women.
(15) In May 2022, a gunman injured 3 people after entering 
a Korean-owned business in Dallas, Texas, and firing 13 rounds 
before fleeing.
(16) In May 2022, a gunman targeted a Tops supermarket 
located in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New 
York, killing 10 people and injuring 3 others. Of the 13 
victims, 11 were Black.
(17) In November 2022, a gunman killed 5 people and wounded 
25 others after opening fire on an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado 
Springs, Colorado.
(18) In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans 
have suffered an increasing number of hate crimes. According to 
Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 11,500 ``hate incidents'' toward Asian 
Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported between March 
2020 and March 2022.
(19) The Anti-Defamation League (commonly known as the 
``ADL'') annually surveys and reports anti-Semitic hate 
incidents across the country. In 2024, the ADL reported a 344-
percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents over the previous 5 
years.
(20) In the original 2021 Hate Crime Statistics published 
by the FBI in December 2022, the FBI acknowledged the 
significant discrepancy in reporting from local law enforcement 
agencies as a result of transitioning to the National Incident-
Based Reporting System. Due to the lack of reporting by local 
enforcement agencies, the FBI acknowledged that the 2021 Hate 
Crime Statistics cannot be compared reliably across years.
(21) In March 2023, the FBI released supplemental data for 
the 2021 Hate Crime Statistics consisting of data collected 
through the Summary Reporting System by local law enforcement 
agencies.
(22) Law enforcement organizations have consistently 
recognized the need to modernize nationwide crime reporting and 
related data.
(23) There is a clear need for stronger action to 
accurately report and effectively combat hate-based attacks.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

(a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``civil rights 
community'' means nonprofit organizations that--
(1) engage in documentation, reporting, or analysis of hate 
crimes or bias-motivated incidents; or
(2) provide legal services or public education relating to 
civil rights or discrimination.
(b) Establishment.--There is established the United States 
Commission on Hate Crimes (in this Act referred to as the 
``Commission'').
(c) Membership.--
(1) Size of commission.--The Commission shall be composed 
of 10 members.
(2) Appointment.--Members of the Commission shall be 
appointed in accordance with the following:
(A) Two members shall be appointed by the majority 
leader of the Senate.
(B) Two members shall be appointed by the minority 
leader of the Senate.
(C) Two members shall be appointed by the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives.
(D) Two members shall be appointed by the minority 
leader of the House of Representatives.
(E) Two members shall be appointed by the Attorney 
General.
(3) Limitations.--
(A) Background.--Not more than 5 members of the 
Commission may be from the law enforcement community 
and not more than 5 members of the Commission may be 
from the civil rights community.
(B) Government officials.--A Member of Congress or 
any other elected Federal, State, or local government 
official may not serve as a member of the Commission.
(4) Deadline.--Each member of the Commission shall be 
appointed not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
(d) Meetings.--
(1) First meeting.--
(A) Deadline.--The Commission shall hold its first 
meeting not later than 90 days after the date as of 
which all members of the Commission have been appointed 
under subsection (b)(2).
(B) Schedule.--During its first meeting, the 
Commission shall develop a schedule for completion of 
the investigation and report required under section 4.
(2) Subsequent meetings.--After the initial meeting of the 
Commission, the Commission shall meet bimonthly until the 
Commission terminates under section 5.

SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

(a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``hate crime'' means an 
offense under section 249 of title 18, United States Code.
(b) Investigation.--The Commission shall investigate the following:
(1) The factors, including social media and technology, 
that have contributed to the consistently high rate of hate 
crime incidents across the United States.
(2) Policies or actions that law enforcement agencies might 
adopt or engage in to reduce the commission of hate crimes.
(3) The impact of underreporting on hate crimes statistics 
and hate crimes prevention.
(4) Ways to improve hate crimes reporting and ensure full 
and complete participation in the National Incident-Based 
Reporting System by local law enforcement agencies, including 
by identifying any barriers that may deter such reporting.
(5) Bias prevention efforts and responses to hate crimes 
that are successful and possible through coordination with 
nonprofit organizations, local education agencies, and 
government entities.
(6) The prevalence and rise of online hate crime incidents.
(c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date as of which all 
members of the Commission have been appointed under section 3(c)(2), 
the Commission shall publish and submit to Congress and the President a 
report that sets forth the results of the investigation conducted under 
subsection (b) of this section, including recommendations for--
(1) actions Federal agencies can take to help improve hate 
crimes reporting by local law enforcement agencies, as 
described in subsection (b)(4); and
(2) bias prevention efforts and responses to hate crimes, 
as described in subsection (b)(5).
(d) Information From Federal Agencies and Other Entities.--Any 
department, agency, bureau, board, commission, office, or other 
instrumentality of the United States shall directly provide to the 
Commission, upon request, any documents, statistical data, or other 
information the Commission determines necessary to carry out its duties 
under this Act.

SEC. 5. SUNSET.

The Commission shall terminate on the date that is 90 days after 
the date on which the Commission publishes and submits to Congress and 
the President the report under section 4(c).

SEC. 6. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE AUDIT.

(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(2) Zero-reporting agency.--The term ``zero-reporting 
agency'' means any State, local, or Tribal law enforcement 
agency that reports zero hate crimes in a calendar year to the 
National Incident-Based Reporting System of the Federal Bureau 
of Investigation.
(b) Audit.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct an 
audit of the hate crime data collected by the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation.
(c) Contents of Audit.--In conducting the audit under subsection 
(b), the Comptroller General shall--
(1) assess the methodologies and procedures used by the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation to collect and verify hate 
crime data; and
(2) evaluate the accuracy of the data described in 
paragraph (1) by conducting a comparative analysis with other 
relevant hate crime data sources, which may include--
(A) data collected by civil rights organizations 
serving communities frequently targeted by hate crimes; 
and
(B) data collected by the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics through the National Crime Victimization 
Survey.
(d) Report.--Not later than 180 days after completing the audit 
under subsection (b), the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress 
a report containing--
(1) the findings of the audit, including recommendations to 
improve the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of hate 
crime data received through the National Incident Bias 
Reporting System, which may include the use of automated 
systems to identify anomalies in the collected hate crime data 
such as--
(A) a State, local, or Tribal law enforcement 
agency classifying as a zero-reporting agency for 
consecutive years; and
(B) hate crime data reporting patterns from a law 
enforcement agency that are statistically inconsistent 
with hate crime data reporting patterns observed in 
other comparable reporting agencies; and
(2) the response of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 
the findings of the audit detailing any actions that the Bureau 
has taken or planned to take to improve the accuracy and 
oversight of hate crime data reporting.
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