Senate sends bill to make lynching a federal hate crime to Biden

The Senate on Monday night passed legislation to make lynching a federal hate crime, sending the bill to President Biden’s desk.

“After more than 200 failed attempts to outlaw lynching, Congress is finally succeeding in taking a long overdue action by passing the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act. Hallelujah, it is long overdue,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said from the floor. 

The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent, meaning every senator signed off on it moving forward.

The measure previously passed the House in a 422-3 vote, with only GOP Reps. Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Chip Roy (Texas) voting against it. 

The bill now goes to Biden’s desk, where he’s expected to sign it. 

Authored in the House by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), it would designate lynching as a hate crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who helped spearhead the legislation in the Senate, said that its passage “underscores the importance of meeting this moment, of reckoning with the past, and of finally being able to say that we did the right thing.”  

The House previously passed the bill in 2020, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) objected to clearing it by unanimous consent in the Senate. Under the chamber’s rules, any one senator can try to pass a bill but any one senator can object.

But Paul indicated earlier this year that he supports the latest version. 

“I’m pleased to have worked with Senators Cory Booker and Tim Scott to strengthen the final product and ensure the language of this bill defines lynching as the absolutely heinous crime that it is, and I’m glad to cosponsor this bipartisan effort,” Paul said in a statement last month.