The committee, which Monterey Park Assemblyman Mike Eng leads, works to identify the current state trends of hate crime violence and suggest possible solutions, Eng said.
"It was established shortly after Sept. 11 … at that time California was exploding with hate crimes, especially against the Muslim community," Eng said. "The real purpose of this is to have hearings in the state of California to determine what role the California state legislature should play in terms of proactive legislation."
At the end of the legislative session, the committee will make recommendations — which could direct new policy — to the legislature based on what its members learned, Krekorian said.
"I think whenever there are changing demographics in any area, there is the potential for friction and conflict, and certainly our area has had some significant changes over the years in demographics and its population," Krekorian said. "Especially among youth, we always need to be vigilant to educate our youth that violence is never an appropriate response to conflict and that we can resolve differences and find commonality if we make the effort to do that."
Bill would recognize space pioneers
Rep. Adam Schiff and fellow California Reps. Ken Calvert, Kevin McCarthy and Howard "Buck" McKeon introduced legislation Wednesday that would honor aeronautics pioneers Neil Armstrong and Hugh Dryden.
The resolution would rename NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center, and it would rename the Western Aeronautical Test Range, a facility at the center, as the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range.
