MENG ADVANCES MEASURE TO STRENGTHEN CAMPUS HATE CRIME REPORTING

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Grace Meng's (D-NY) bipartisan measure to improve how hate crimes on college campuses are tracked and reported passed the House Appropriations Committee as part of the Fiscal Year 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill.

Meng, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, introduced an amendment that directs the U.S. Department of Education to continue collecting and publishing data on hate crimes at institutions of higher education, as authorized by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (the Clery Act). It calls on the Department to strengthen coordination with the FBI to collect and publish this data. The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program collects data from local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies about crimes motivated by biases against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, and/or gender identity. Meng's provision calls on the Education Department to work with the FBI to collect more detailed, disaggregated hate crime data so that incidents can be more clearly understood by motive, type of bias, and other relevant factors. This will help colleges, universities, and the federal government better identify trends and respond to threats targeting specific groups of students, faculty, and other community members.

"Over the past several years we have seen an alarming rise in hate crimes in New York and across the country," said Rep. Meng. "Yet, these crimes are severely underreported, especially on college campuses. This is unacceptable. Students of all backgrounds must be able to pursue education and walk through their campuses free of intimidation, fear, and violence. My legislation strengthens federal hate crime reporting and takes an important step toward better protecting students on college campuses and communities nationwide."

Passed in 1990, the Clery Act is a federal campus safety law that requires colleges and universities receiving federal financial aid to collect, report, and publicly share information about crime on and around their campuses, and to outline key safety policies. The Act is named after Jeanne Clery, a 19-year-old Lehigh University student who was sexually assaulted and murdered in her residence hall room in 1986.