Today is Friday, April 23rd, and you're listening to the morning announcements presented

by Betcha's media.

I'm Sammy Sage.

The biggest headline of the day is that yesterday, the House of Representatives voted 216-208

along party lines, of course, to make Washington DCV 51st state.

Of course, it lacked 60 votes in the Senate to clear a filibuster, but you'll have to

talk to Joe Manchin about that.

To better set it news, they approved legislation yesterday aimed at strengthening federal

efforts to address hate crimes directed at Asian Americans.

The vote was 94-1, and I'll let you guess who was the lone no vote.

Okay, fine.

You don't have to guess it was Josh Hawley.

The bill was sponsored by Senator Maisie Horono and will establish a position of the

Justice Department to expedite the agency's review of hate crimes and expand channels

to report them.

It will also encourage the creation of state-run hate crime hotlines, provide grant money

to law enforcement agencies to train their officers to identify hate crimes, and introduce

a series of public education campaigns around bias against people of Asian descent.

This bill comes as a tax against Asian Americans, often women or older people, have increased

nearly 150% in the past year.

President Biden is expected to recognize the mass killing of Armenians by the Ottoman

Empire during World War I as a genocide.

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