U.S. Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) introduced the Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act to the House in March of 2024 in an effort to improve reporting of hate crime incidents and stop rising levels of antisemitism.
The bill, H.R. 7648, would amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 by adding a requirement for the Attorney General to "establish a method of evaluating and use such method to evaluate whether a covered jurisdiction has credibly reporting hate crimes." Local jurisdictions that are found to have not credibly reported hate crime activity are not eligible for grant money or programs unless they also show evidence of having established "a unit or liaison specialized in identifying, investigating, and reporting hate crimes and engaging in community relations functions related to preventing hate crime" or conduct other regular efforts of community education.
Reps. Beyer and Bacon introduced the legislation in the wake of rising levels of antisemitism. The FBI reported that in their most recent 2022 Hate Crimes Statistics report, data was provided by only 14,660 law enforcement agencies out of a total of 18,800 nationwide. This marks the fifth consecutive year of declining agency participation and lowest number of participating agencies since 2012.
Even with the gaps in data, the FBI's 2022 annual report recorded the highest number of anti-Jewish incidents since 1993.
“Reported hate crime incidents across the country are at record highs, with anti-Jewish hate crimes at a number not seen in decades. ADL has tracked a more-than-360% increase in antisemitic incidents in the first three months after Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th," Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a press release on the proposed legislation. "Unfortunately, we know that even these record highs do not capture the full extent of hate crime incidents in the country."
The Anti-Defamation League is an anti-hate group that advocates for legislation and community education to reduce hate crime activity in the U.S. Greenblatt has served as the CEO since 2015 and has regularly discussed the rise of antisemitic groups in the country. In 2022, he published an article with Time Magazine about the friendship he started with Damien Patton, a former white supremacist who participated in a synagogue shooting as a teen despite being Jewish himself.
Greenblatt described how Patton's troubled upbringing led to his involvement with white supremacist groups as a minor, and how Patton later testified against his accomplices and served probation, then joined the Navy. Later, he became a successful entrepreneur of the tech company Banjo. Decades later, his history was exposed, prompting his resignation from Banjo. Greenblatt highlights Patton's sincere remorse and efforts at atonement, arguing against cancel culture and advocating for redemption and personal growth, as well as community engagement to prevent further situations from happening again in the future.