[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 40 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 40
To address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and
inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies
between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to study and
consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the
institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and
economic discrimination against African Americans, and the impact of
these forces on living African Americans, to make recommendations to
the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2025
Ms. Pressley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
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A BILL
To address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and
inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies
between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to study and
consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the
institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and
economic discrimination against African Americans, and the impact of
these forces on living African Americans, to make recommendations to
the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Commission to Study and Develop
Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) approximately 4,000,000 Africans and their descendants
were enslaved in the United States and colonies that became the
United States from 1619 to 1865;
(2) the institution of slavery was constitutionally and
statutorily sanctioned by the Government of the United States
from 1789 through 1865;
(3) the slavery that flourished in the United States
constituted an immoral and inhumane deprivation of Africans'
life, liberty, African citizenship rights, and cultural
heritage, and denied them the fruits of their own labor;
(4) a preponderance of scholarly, legal, community
evidentiary documentation and popular culture markers
constitute the basis for inquiry into the on-going effects of
the institution of slavery and its legacy of persistent
systemic structures of discrimination on living African
Americans and society in the United States;
(5) the brutal overthrow of Reconstruction, which
represented a significant but constrained moment of advances
for Black rights as epitomized by the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments to the Constitution, the Civil Rights Acts of 1866
and 1875 and the Freedman's Bureau, failed African Americans by
failing to ensure their safety and security;
(6) following the abolition of slavery and end of
Reconstruction the United States Government, through laws
enacted at the Federal, State, and local level, continued to
perpetuate, condone and profit from practices that continued to
brutalize and disadvantage African Americans, including share
cropping, convict leasing, Jim Crow, redlining, unequal
education, and disproportionate treatment at the hands of the
criminal justice system, resulting in stolen labor and
ultimately forestalling landmark contributions in science,
arts, commerce and public service;
(7) the civil rights movement, and other efforts to redress
grievances arising from systemic inequities, were sabotaged,
both intentionally and unintentionally, thus rendering the
accomplishments of those efforts transitory and unsustainable,
and further embedding racial inequality in society;
(8) examples of discriminatory Federal Government actions
directed against African Americans include--
(A) the creation of the Federal Housing
Administration, which adopted specific policies
designed to incentivize residential segregation;
(B) the enactment of legislation creating the
Social Security program, for which most African
Americans were purposely rendered ineligible during its
first two decades;
(C) the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944
(commonly known as the GI Bill of Rights; 58 Stat. 284,
chapter 268), which left administration of its programs
to the States, thus enabling discrimination against
African-American veterans; and
(D) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which
allowed labor unions to discriminate based on race; and
(9) as a result of the historic and continued
discrimination, African Americans continue to suffer
debilitating economic, educational, and health hardships
including but not limited to having nearly 1,000,000 Black
people incarcerated; an unemployment rate more than twice the
current White unemployment rate; and an average of less than
\1/16\ of the wealth of White families, a disparity which has
worsened, not improved over time.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish a commission
to study and develop Reparation proposals for African Americans as a
result of--
(1) the institution of slavery, including both the Trans-
Atlantic and the domestic ``trade'' which existed from 1565 in
colonial Florida and from 1619 through 1865 within the other
colonies that became the United States, and which included the
Federal and State governments which constitutionally and
statutorily supported the institution of slavery;
(2) the de jure and de facto discrimination against freed
slaves and their descendants from the end of the Civil War to
the present, including economic, political, educational, and
social discrimination;
(3) the lingering negative effects of the institution of
slavery and the discrimination described in paragraphs (1) and
(2) on living African Americans and on society in the United
States;
(4) the manner in which textual and digital instructional
resources and technologies are being used to deny the
inhumanity of slavery and the crime against humanity of people
of African descent in the United States;
(5) the role of Northern complicity in the Southern based
institution of slavery;
(6) the direct benefits to societal institutions, public
and private, including higher education, corporations,
religious, and associational;
(7) and thus, recommend appropriate ways to educate the
American public of the Commission's findings to advance racial
healing, understanding, and transformation;
(8) and thus, recommend appropriate remedies in
consideration of the Commission's findings on the matters
described in paragraphs (1) through (7); and
(9) submit to the Congress the results of such examination,
together with such recommendations.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND DUTIES.
(a) Establishment.--There is established in the legislative branch
the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African
Americans (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ``Commission'').
(b) Duties.--The Commission shall perform the following duties:
(1) Identify, compile, and synthesize the relevant corpus
of evidentiary documentation of the institution of slavery
which existed within the United States and the colonies that
became the United States from 1619 through 1865. The
Commission's documentation and examination shall include facts
related to--
(A) the capture and procurement of Africans;
(B) the transport of Africans to the United States
and the colonies that became the United States for the
purpose of enslavement, including their treatment
during transport;
(C) the sale and acquisition of Africans and their
descendants as chattel property in interstate and
intrastate commerce;
(D) the treatment of African slaves and their
descendants in the colonies and the United States,
including the deprivation of their freedom,
exploitation of their labor, and destruction of their
culture, language, religion, and families; and
(E) the extensive denial of humanity, sexual abuse,
and the chatellization of persons.
(2) Study and analyze the role which the Federal and State
governments of the United States supported the institution of
slavery in constitutional and statutory provisions, including
the extent to which such governments prevented, opposed, or
restricted efforts of formerly enslaved Africans and their
descendants to repatriate to their homeland.
(3) Study and analyze the effects of laws enacted by the
Federal Government and State governments with discriminatory
intent or discriminatory effect on the formerly enslaved
Africans and their descendants following the overdue
recognition of such persons as United States citizens beginning
in 1868.
(4) Study and analyze the other forms of discrimination in
the public and private sectors against freed African slaves and
their descendants who were belatedly accorded their rightful
status as United States citizens from 1868 to the present,
including redlining, educational funding discrepancies, and
predatory financial practices.
(5) Study and analyze the lingering negative effects of the
institution of slavery and the matters described in paragraphs
(1) through (7) of section 2(b) on living African Americans and
on society in the United States.
(6) Recommend appropriate ways to educate the American
public of the Commission's findings to advance racial healing,
understanding, and transformation.
(7) Recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the
Commission's findings on the matters described in paragraphs
(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6). In making such
recommendations, the Commission shall address, among other
issues, the following questions:
(A) How such recommendations comport with
international standards of remedy for wrongs and
injuries caused by the State, that include full
reparations and special measures, as understood by
various relevant international protocols, laws, and
findings.
(B) How the Government of the United States will
offer a formal apology on behalf of the people of the
United States for the perpetration of gross human
rights violations and crimes against humanity on
African slaves and their descendants.
(C) How Federal laws and policies that continue to
disproportionately and negatively affect African
Americans as a group, and those that perpetuate the
lingering effects, materially and psycho-social, can be
eliminated.
(D) How the injuries resulting from matters
described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and
(6) can be reversed and provide appropriate policies,
programs, projects, and recommendations for the purpose
of reversing the injuries.
(E) How, in consideration of the Commission's
findings, any form of compensation to the descendants
of enslaved Africans is calculated.
(F) What form of compensation should be awarded,
through what instrumentalities, and who should be
eligible for such compensation.
(G) How, in consideration of the Commission's
finding, what forms of satisfaction, in addition to
apology, should be implemented in an effort toward
return of dignity and racial healing, and
reconciliation.
(H) How, in consideration of the Commission's
findings, any other forms of rehabilitation or
restitution to African descendants is warranted and
what the form and scope of those measures should take.
(c) Report to Congress.--The Commission shall submit a written
report of its findings and recommendations to the Congress not later
than the date which is 18 months after the date of the first meeting of
the full Commission held pursuant to section 4(f).
SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP.
(a) Number and Appointment.--
(1) Membership.--The Commission shall be composed of 15
members, who shall be appointed as follows:
(A) Politically appointed members.--Not later than
60 days after the date of enactment of this Act:
(i) Three members shall be appointed by the
President.
(ii) Three members shall be appointed by
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in
consultation with the committee of jurisdiction
of the House.
(iii) Three members shall be appointed by
the President pro tempore of the Senate, in
consultation with the committee of jurisdiction
of the Senate.
(B) Subject matter experts.--Not later than 60 days
after the appointment of the Director under section
6(a), six members, who shall be individuals appointed
by the Director, and approved by a majority of the
members appointed under subparagraph (A). Such
individuals shall be from the major civil society and
reparations organizations that have historically
championed the cause of reparatory justice.
(2) Qualifications.--All members of the Commission shall be
persons who are especially qualified to serve on the Commission
by virtue of their education, training, activism or experience,
particularly in the field of African-American studies and
reparatory justice.
(3) Limitation.--No person who is a member of Congress or
an officer or employee of the Federal Government or any State
or local government may serve as a member of the Commission.
(b) Terms.--The term of office for members shall be for the life of
the Commission. A vacancy in the Commission shall not affect the powers
of the Commission and shall be filled in the same manner in which the
original appointment was made.
(c) Quorum.--Seven members of the Commission shall constitute a
quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings.
(d) Vacancies.--Any vacancy on the Commission shall--
(1) not affect the powers of the Commission; and
(2) be filled in the same manner in which the original
appointment was made.
(e) Chair and Vice-Chair.--There shall be a Chair and a Vice Chair
of the Commission selected jointly by the majority leader of the Senate
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in consultation with
the committees of jurisdiction. The term of office of each shall be for
the life of the Commission.
(f) Initial Meeting of Full Commission.--The Chair shall call an
initial meeting of the full Commission not later than 45 days after the
appointment of all members under subsection (a)(1)(B).
SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) Hearings and Evidence.--The Commission may, for purposes of
carrying out this Act--
(1) hold hearings, sit and act at times and places, take
testimony, receive evidence, and administer oaths; and
(2) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and
testimony of witnesses and the production of books, records,
correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents.
(b) Subpoenas.--
(1) Service.--Subpoenas issued under this section may be
served by any person designated by the Commission.
(2) Enforcement.--
(A) In general.--In the case of contumacy or
failure to obey a subpoena issued under this section,
the United States district court for the judicial
district in which the subpoenaed person resides, is
served, or may be found, or where the subpoena is
returnable, may issue an order requiring such person to
appear at any designated place to testify or to produce
documentary or other evidence. Any failure to obey the
order of the court may be punished by the court as a
contempt of that court.
(B) Additional enforcement.--Sections 102 through
104 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2
U.S.C. 192 through 194) shall apply in the case of any
failure of any witness to comply with any subpoena or
to testify when summoned under the authority of this
section.
(C) Issuance.--A subpoena may be issued under this
section only--
(i) by the agreement of the Chair and the
Vice Chair; or
(ii) by the affirmative vote of a majority
of the Commission, a majority being present.
(c) Contracting.--To the extent or in amounts provided in
Appropriations acts, and subject to the applicable laws and
regulations, the Commission may enter into contracts with government
entities, private entities, or persons for goods or services, including
for conducting research or surveys, the preparation of reports, and
other activities necessary for the discharge of the duties of the
Commission.
(d) Information From Federal Agencies and Other Entities.--The
Commission may secure directly from any department, agency, bureau,
board, commission, office, independent establishment, or
instrumentality of the United States any information related to any
inquiry of the Commission conducted under this Act, including
i