Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the lone senator to vote against an Asian hate crimes bill on Thursday, said he could not approve the measure because the wording of the legislation was too broad and would infringe on the First Amendment. On Thursday, the Senate approved 94-1 the measure that would combat violence against Asian-Americans and Pacific islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure would allow for more police resources to be dedicated to hate crimes against Asian people by creating expanded reporting for the crimes. It would also create a position within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review hate crimes across the country. But according to Hawley in a tweet, the bill “turns the federal government into the speech police” and “gives [the] government sweeping authority to decide what counts as offensive speech and then monitor it.” In an interview with Fox News, the Republican senator said, “It’s too …