Just the News:
The White House said the president supports the legislation to set up a commission to “study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery.”
Nearly 180 Democratic lawmakers have signed on to legislation that would form a 13-member commission to study slavery reparations at a cost of $12 million.
The Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act was reintroduced in the new session of Congress and now has 162 Democratic co-sponsors in the House and 17 Democratic co-sponsors in the Senate. The Senate version was introduced by New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker. The bill was first introduced by former Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers in 1989.
The legislation seeks 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.” The 13 colonies were under the control of Great Britain until the U.S. gained its independence in 1776.
Under the bill, the 13-member commission would be comprised of “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.” According to the legislation, “seven members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings.”
The bill would require the commission to “recommend appropriate remedies in consideration” of its findings after studying reparations and the history of slavery.
