US politicians on Tuesday sent an anti-hate bill to President Joe Biden's desk that aims to prevent violence against Asian-Americans, following an alarming rise in attacks including murders during the coronavirus pandemic.
The House of Representatives passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act with a strong bipartisan vote of 364 to 62, weeks after it cleared the Senate with nearly unanimous support.
Mr Biden backs the legislation, which will speed up reviews of COVID-related hate crimes against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, expand public awareness about the problem, and provide state and local governments with guidance on how to combat hate crimes.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was critical to send a unified message on the importance of strengthening the nation's defences against anti-AAPI violence.
"Together, these steps will make a significant difference to address hate crimes in America - not only during this pandemic, but for years to come," Ms Pelosi said on the House floor.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki tweeted that Mr Biden "looks forward to signing this important legislation into law at the White House later this week."
More than 6,600 incidences of anti-AAPI discrimination and violence were reported between March 2020 and March 2021, Ms Pelosi said.
Seniors have been attacked and businesses vandalised, while videos have shown Asian-Americans getting stabbed, beaten up and otherwise confronted in public spaces.
"These attacks are even more shameful in light of the heroism of our AAPI community during the pandemic," Ms Pelosi said, noting the large numbers of Asian-Americans serving as emergency responders and health care providers.
The worst attack came in March in Georgia, where a 21-year-old man was arrested and charged in the murder of eight people including six women of Asian origin who worked at massage parlours in and around Atlanta.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a court filing last week that alleged shooter Robert Aaron Long selected his victims because of their "actual or perceived race, national origin, sex, and gender".
Ms Willis plans to seek the death penalty and file hate crime charges against Long, who is white.
Mr Biden denounced the upsurge of violence against Asian-Americans following the Georgia shootings, saying in a March speech that hate and racism was "the ugly poison that's long haunted our nation".
Such bigotry and violence has been "often met with silence" in the United States, the president said.
"But that has to change because our silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit," Mr Biden stressed.
"We have to speak out, we have to act," he added, as he called on Americans to "combat this resurgence of xenophobia."
