Thompson Convenes AAPI Roundtable to Hear from Community About Recent Anti-Asian Sentiment, Violence

Napa, CA – Today Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) convened a roundtable with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) leaders from across the Fifth Congressional District to discuss the rise in anti-Asian rhetoric and violence both in the region and across our nation. He pledged to take their solutions and suggestions to Congress and continue the conversation in order to keep the local AAPI community safe from such hateful racism.

"Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our community and our nation have been subjected to terrible bigotry and violence in recent months. It's unacceptable and we must take steps to end this hate and bigotry. Today I was honored to hear from AAPI community leaders and deeply thankful to those who shared their stories. Our community must do better than this. Know I am committed to taking the solutions and stories we heard today back to Congress, so we can work to end this and keep our community safe."

Thompson is a coauthor of several bills to address the rise in anti-Asian hate and violence, including The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which directs the Attorney General to conduct a Department of Justice review of hate crimes motivated by COVID-19 and issue guidance for law enforcement to address this issue. He also cosponsored the Hate Crimes Commission Act, which would establish a bipartisan commission to study the rise in hate crimes. Finally, he coauthored a resolution condemning anti-Asian sentiment and calling on law enforcement to investigate these hate crimes.