Bill fighting hate crimes against Asian Americans approved by Congress

Congress approved legislation Tuesday intended to curtail a striking rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, sending President Joe Biden a bipartisan denunciation of the spate of brutal attacks that have proliferated during coronavirus pandemic.

"Asian Americans have been screaming out for help, and the House and Senate and President Biden have clearly heard our pleas," said Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., who helped lead efforts to pass the bill in the House. To many Asian Americans, the pandemic has invigorated deep-seated biases that in some cases date back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of more than a century ago. President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to the virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China, as the "China Virus" or the "Kung Flu." And as cases of the illness began to rise in the U.S., so too did the attacks, with thousands of violent incidents reported in the past year.