"For the third year in a row, hate crimes across the country have risen, this year by 17 per cent," Beyer said. "With each passing year, the problem of hate in the United States grows, and it requires Congress to take up and pass the No Hate Act."
The legislation includes training on hate crime identification and reporting for local police departments, 17 per cent of which failed to file a single hate crime report between 2009 and 2015, the release said.
The legislation would also establish a federal private right of action for hate crimes, offering victims of hate crimes the option to fight for remedies in civil court, and ensuring that everyone — even in states without hate crime laws on the books — can have his or her day in court, the release said.
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Beyer sponsored the No Hate Act in the House of Representatives and Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
Beyer’s comments followed the October 27 massacre of 11 Jewish worshipers at a synagogue and Tuesday’s release of an annual FBI report showing a 17 per cent increase in reported hate crimes in 2017 over the previous year.
