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More than 6,600 hate incidents against the AAPI community have been reported in the year since the pandemic began, according to a report this month from Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition addressing anti-Asian racism. Another recent report from the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, on hate crimes against Asian Americans in major U.S. cities found a 164% increase in reported crime in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020, before the pandemic surged.

\"PHOTO:
Dong Xudong/Xinhua via Newscom
PHOTO: People holding a bilingual banner take part in a Stop Asian Hate rally in Oakland, Calif., May 15, 2021.
>

Harris said in her remarks Thursday that the violence is nothing new.

\"In my life, my lived experience, I have seen how hate can pervade our communities,\" Harris said. \"I have seen how hate can impede our progress and I have seen how people uniting against hate can strengthen our country.\"

\"This bill brings us one step closer to stopping hate, not only for Asian Americans, but for all Americans,\" she added.

Democrats have argued the rise in crimes against Asian Americans is linked to former President Donald Trump's branding of COVID-19 as the \"China virus,\" among other names.

\"PHOTO:
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
PHOTO: Rep. Grace Meng is joined by Rep. Mark Takano and Rep. Judy Chu as she speaks on the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act at the U.S. Capitol on May 18, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
>

While some advocates say the bill takes relatively modest steps to equip law enforcement and communities to better deal with the rise in violence against the AAPI community, House Democrats argued Tuesday the legislation will help prevent attacks by facilitating better reporting of the incidents.

The legislation was introduced after the shooting of eight people, including six Asian women, at several spas in the Atlanta area in March. Those women are memorialized in the bill's text. The mass shooting followed a general rise in anti-Asian sentiments across the country.

ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky, Karen Travers and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.

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