Senate Democrats voted against an amendment Thursday to prohibit federal funds for colleges that discriminate against Asian Americans.
Amendment SA 1456 was proposed by Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as an addition to the “COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act,” proposed by Democratic Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono. Hirono’s bill seeks to “designate [an] officer or employee of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to facilitate the expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes and reports of COVID-19 hate crimes.”
Cruz’s amendment sought to prohibit federal funds for higher education institutions that discriminate against Asian Americans. The amendment states that no school may receive federal funding if the institution has “a policy in place or engages in a practice that discriminates against Asian Americans in recruitment, applicant review, or admissions,” according to the amendment text.
Every Senate Democrat voted against Cruz’s amendment, which failed to pass at a vote of 49-48.
As an Asian American, I will just leave this here. pic.twitter.com/s7cM9dIofV
— Aaron Ginn (@aginnt) April 22, 2021
The Texas Senator was one of six Republicans who initially opposed the “COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act,” introduced by Hirono and Democratic New York Rep. Grace Meng in March, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Cruz told the Houston Chronicle the bill “is not designed to do anything to prevent or punish actual crimes. It is instead a Democratic messaging vehicle designed to push the demonstrably false idea that it is somehow racist to acknowledge that Covid-19 originated in Wuhan, China and that the Chinese Communist Party actively lied and suppressed information about the outbreak, allowing it to become a global pandemic.”
“When Democrats decide to take hate and racism seriously, that means they will address this and not ignore it because it doesn’t fit neatly into their messaging tactics,” Cruz said. (RELATED: Justice Department Probe Into Yale Finds Civil Rights Violations, Discrimination Against Asian American And White Applicants)
The “COVID-19, Hate Crimes Act” passed in the Senate on Thursday with a vote of 94-1, with only Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley opposed.