Press Releases

U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) today introduced the Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act, bipartisan legislation to strengthen the credible and accurate reporting of hate crimes to better respond to the national rise of these bias-driven incidents. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) most recent 2023 Hate Crimes Statistics report documented 11,862 hate crime incidents – the highest number ever reported by the agency, with a sharp increase in antisemitic and anti-Black incidents.

The FBI has acknowledged however, that hate crimes data is incomplete and underreported. Their 2023 Hate Crimes Statistics report includes data from just 16,009 law enforcement agencies nationwide, meaning that more than 2,000 jurisdictions did not report any data at all.  Of the jurisdictions that did participate, nearly 80 percent reported zero hate crimes.

“As many communities across the country are seeing an alarming increase in hateful rhetoric and violence, there is much more we can do in Congress to better address the increase in hate crimes,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “Our legislation would ensure we improve the credibility and accuracy of our data, allowing us to make well-informed decisions to better allocate resources with the goal of preventing as many hate crimes as possible in American communities. Violence and discrimination are never acceptable, and our legislation is an important and necessary step forward in addressing the rise of hate.”

“Antisemitic incidents are underreported across the nation, and we need to ensure communities are accurately reporting them as well as other hate crimes,” said Rep. Don Bacon. “This bill will enable the Department of Justice to determine if communities are accurately reporting these instances. If left unchecked, these hate crimes will continue to go unreported and the crimes will continue to rise.”

“While FBI data showed 1,832 reported antisemitic crimes in 2023, a 63% increase from the prior year, this is only a portion of the crimes committed against the Jewish community as hate crimes are widely underreported. To effectively address antisemitism in the United States, we must understand the true degree to which hate-based violence exists,” said Ted Deutch, CEO of American Jewish Committee (AJC). “The American public overwhelmingly agrees – American Jewish Committee’s (AJC’s) State of Antisemitism in America 2024 Report found more than nine in 10 say it is important that law enforcement be required to report hate crimes to a federal government database. AJC thanks Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Don Bacon (R-NE) for reintroducing the Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act, a necessary first step in understanding the real extent to which anti-Jewish crimes occur in the United States.”

“The Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community has historically been targeted and scapegoated and experienced significant increases in hate-motivated verbal and physical attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. But even now, community surveys indicate that a staggering 49% of AANHPIs nationwide were targeted by acts of hate in 2024,” said Sim Singh Attariwala, Director of Anti-Hate Program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC). “Anti-Asian sentiment remains a top safety concern for many AANHPIs, especially in major metropolitan areas. For decades hate crimes have been underreported by law enforcement. Consistent, credible and accurate data is critical to developing policies that prevent hate crimes and protect all communities. We welcome initiatives that improve efforts to increase accountability and counter hate and discrimination.” 

“Hate crimes nationwide have surged to historic levels, with antisemitic incidents reaching their highest point in decades,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). “We know that many incidents go unreported, and so even these record-breaking numbers fail to reflect the true scale of hate crime incidents across the country. We thank Reps. Beyer and Bacon for continuing to champion this bipartisan effort to incentivize law enforcement’s accurate and robust participation in hate crime reporting.”

“As dire as the data on hate crimes and bias incidents in our country is, the unfortunate truth is that the reality is likely worse: Each year, thousands of law enforcement agencies do not report any such crimes and incidents to the FBI, leaving huge gaps in our knowledge about the lived experiences of marginalized communities,” said Mannirmal Kaur, Federal Policy Manager for the Sikh Coalition. “Mandating the reporting of hate crimes and bias incidents is one of the strongest policy steps that the federal government could take towards truly understanding the scope of hate-motivated violence and crimes. Doing so will in turn allow us to effectively diagnose where we most urgently need to strengthen laws and statutes, invest in front-end prevention, and take other actions to make our communities safer.”

“Over the past few years, the FBI has reported increasing levels of hate violence, especially against Black people,” said Sakira Cook, Federal Policy Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). “Despite this documented rising trend, we know that incomplete reporting to the FBI is a persistent problem. This bipartisan legislation is designed to address the fact that thousands of federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies did not report any data to the FBI in 2023, and 80% of the 16,000 agencies that did participate affirmatively reported zero (0) hate crimes, including about 60 agencies serving populations of over 100,000 people.  We cannot effectively confront this national problem without more accurate and complete data and an inclusive and intersectional approach to countering all forms of hate. We applaud the leadership of Reps. Don Beyer and Don Bacon for introducing the Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act and look forward to working together to ensure its passage.”

“At National Council of Jewish Women, we believe that every person has the right to live free from hate and violence,” said Darcy Hirsh, Senior Director of Government Relations and Advocacy for the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). “Yet the Jewish community and our neighbors in countless other communities are living in fear every day, with hate crimes continuing to threaten our safety. In 2023, the number of reported hate crimes – including anti-Jewish hate crimes – reached an all-time high, an urgent reminder that inaction hurts individuals and families. The Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act will ensure that law enforcement agencies around the country are accurately reporting hate crimes, creating a clearer picture of the threats communities face so that we can develop meaningful, effective solutions. We are grateful to Representatives Beyer and Bacon for championing this essential bipartisan legislation to protect all of our communities”

“Sikh Americans continue to be one of the most targeted religious groups in hate crimes per capita. Unfortunately, we know that these numbers do not account for the true scope of hate nationally, as often law enforcement agencies under-report, or sometimes fail to report the number of hate crimes in their region” said Kiran Kaur Gill, Executive Director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF). “As SALDEF works to combat hate crimes, it is crucial to have access to accurate and credible data. By mandating local governments report hate crime data in order to be eligible for federal funding, the federal government takes an important step in addressing hate in America. SALDEF commends the Offices of Representatives Beyer and Bacon for their leadership efforts in safeguarding our communities.”

The Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop a system to assess whether localities are reporting credible and accurate data on hate crimes. If a locality is found to not be reporting credible data or fails to provide any data at all, it would be required to conduct community education and awareness initiatives to maintain eligibility for certain federal funding allocations.

Text of the Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act is available here.

Beyer is the author of the bipartisan, bicameral Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act, signed into law by President Biden in 2021 as part of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.