[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 40 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th 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, 2017
Mr. Conyers (for himself, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms.
Norton, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Ellison, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Lewis of Georgia,
Mr. Nadler, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Clay, Mr. Gutierrez,
Mr. Cohen, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Jackson Lee,
and Ms. Lee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
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; and
(5) following the abolition of slavery the United States
Government, at the Federal, State, and local level, continued
to perpetuate, condone and often 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; and
(6) 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;
(8) and thus, recommend appropriate remedies in
consideration of the Commission's findings on the matters
described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6); 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 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 but not be limited
to the 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 as chattel
property in interstate and intrastate commerce;
(D) the treatment of African slaves 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) 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 descendents to
repatriate to their homeland.
(3) The Federal and State laws that discriminated against
formerly enslaved Africans and their descendents who were
deemed United States citizens from 1868 to the present.
(4) The other forms of discrimination in the public and
private sectors against freed African slaves and their
descendents who were deemed United States citizens from 1868 to
the present, including redlining, educational funding
discrepancies, and predatory financial practices.
(5) The lingering negative effects of the institution of
slavery and the matters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3),
(4), (5), and (6) 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.
(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 purpetuate 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 African 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
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 one year after the date of the first meeting of
the Commission held pursuant to section 4(c).
SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP.
(a) Number and Appointment.--(1) The Commission shall be composed
of 13 members, who shall be appointed, within 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, as follows:
(A) Three members shall be appointed by the President.
(B) Three members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives.
(C) One member shall be appointed by the President pro
tempore of the Senate.
(D) Six members shall be selected from the major civil
society and reparations organizations that have historically
championed the cause of reparatory justice.
(2) 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.
(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) First Meeting.--The President shall call the first meeting of
the Commission within 120 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act or within 30 days after the date on which legislation is enacted
making appropriations to carry out this Act, whichever date is later.
(d) Quorum.--Seven members of the Commission shall constitute a
quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings.
(e) Chair and Vice Chair.--The Commission shall elect a Chair and
Vice Chair from among its members. The term of office of each shall be
for the life of the Commission.
(f) Compensation.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each
member of the Commission shall receive compensation at the daily
equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay payable for GS-18 of the
General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code, for
each day, including travel time, during which he or she is engaged in
the actual performance of duties vested in the Commission.
(2) A member of the Commission who is a full-time officer or
employee of the United States or a Member of Congress shall receive no
additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of his or her service
to the Commission.
(3) All members of the Commission shall be reimbursed for travel,
subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the
performance of their duties to the extent authorized by chapter 57 of
title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) Hearings and Sessions.--The Commission may, for the purpose of
carrying out the provisions of this Act, hold such hearings and sit and
act at such times and at such places in the United States, and request
the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of
such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents,
as the Commission considers appropriate. The Commission may invoke the
aid of an appropriate United States district court to require, by
subpoena or otherwise, such attendance, testimony, or production.
(b) Powers of Subcommittees and Members.--Any subcommittee or
member of the Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take any
action which the Commission is authorized to take by this section.
(c) Obtaining Official Data.--The Commission may acquire directly
from the head of any department, agency, or instrumentality of the
executive branch of the Government, available information which the
Commission considers useful in the discharge of its duties. All
departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the executive branch of
the Government shall cooperate with the Commission with respect to such
information and shall furnish all information requested by the
Commission to the extent permitted by law.
SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.
(a) Staff.--The Commission may, without regard to section 5311(b)
of title 5, United States Code, appoint and fix the compensation of
such personnel as the Commission considers appropriate.
(b) Applicability of Certain Civil Service Laws.--The staff of the
Commission may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title
5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive
service, and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and
subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification
and General Schedule pay rates, except that the compensation of any
employee of the Commission may not exceed a rate equal to the annual
rate of basic pay payable for GS-18 of the General Schedule under
section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.
(c) Experts and Consultants.--The Commission may procure the
services of experts and consultants in accordance with the provisions
of section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, but at rates for
individuals not to exceed the daily equivalent of the highest rate
payable under section 5332 of such title.
(d) Administrative Support Services.--The Commission may enter into
agreements with the Administrator of General Services for procurement
of financial and administrative services necessary for the discharge of
the duties of the Commission. Payment for such services shall be made
by reimbursement from funds of the Commission in such amounts as may be
agreed upon by the Chairman of the Commission and the Administrator.
(e) Contracts.--The Commission may--
(1) procure supplies, services, and property by contract in
accordance with applicable laws and regulations and to the
extent or in such amounts as are provided in appropriations
Acts; and
(2) enter into contracts with departments, agencies, and
instrumentalities of the Federal Government, State agencies,
and private firms, institutions, and agencies, for the conduct
of research or surveys, the preparation of reports, and other
activities necessary for the discharge of the duties of the
Commission, to the extent or in such amounts as are provided in
appropriations Acts.
SEC. 7. TERMINATION.
The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the
Commission submits its report to the Congress under section 3(c).
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
To carry out the provisions of this Act, there are authorized to be
appropriated $12,000,000.
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