Hate Crimes Commission Act of 2026

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

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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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