[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 40 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 24 (legislative day, January 3), 2023
Mr. Booker (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Markey, Mr. Casey, Mr.
Merkley, Ms. Hirono, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Cardin, Ms.
Duckworth, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr.
Whitehouse, Ms. Warren, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Brown, Ms. Smith, Mr. Coons,
Mr. Blumenthal, and Mrs. Murray) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and 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;
(5) following the abolition of slavery, governments at the
Federal, State, and local levels 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 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--
(1) study and develop reparation proposals for African
Americans as a result of--
(A) the institution of slavery, including both the
Trans-Atlantic and the domestic ``trade'' which existed
from 1565 in colonial Florida, and from 1619 within the
other colonies that became the United States, through
1865, and which included the Federal and State
governments which constitutionally and statutorily
supported the institution of slavery;
(B) 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;
(C) the lingering negative effects of the
institution of slavery and the discrimination described
in subparagraphs (A) and (B) on living African
Americans and on society in the United States;
(D) 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;
(E) the role of Northern complicity in the
Southern-based institution of slavery; and
(F) the direct benefits to societal institutions,
public and private, including higher education,
corporations, and religious and associational entities;
(2) recommend appropriate ways to educate the American
public of the Commission's findings;
(3) recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the
Commission's findings on the matters described in subparagraphs
(A) through (F) of paragraph (1); and
(4) submit to the Congress the findings of the study under
paragraph (1), together with the recommendations under
paragraphs (2) and (3).
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 from 1565 in colonial Florida, and from 1619
within the other colonies that became the United States,
through 1865. The Commission's documentation and examination
under this paragraph shall include 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;
(E) the extensive denial of humanity, sexual abuse,
and the chatellization of persons;
(F) the role the Federal Government and State
governments played in supporting the institution of
slavery including through constitutional and statutory
provisions, including the extent to which the Federal
Government and State governments prevented, opposed, or
restricted efforts of formerly enslaved Africans and
their descendants to repatriate to their homeland;
(G) the Federal and State laws that discriminated
against formerly enslaved Africans and their
descendants who were determined United States citizens
from 1868 to the present.
(2) Identify the other forms of discrimination in the
public and private sectors against freed African slaves and
their descendants who were determined United States citizens
from 1868 to the present, including redlining, educational
funding discrepancies, and predatory financial practices.
(3) Identify the lingering negative effects of the
institution of slavery and the matters described in
subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 2(b)(1) and paragraphs
(1) and (2) on living African Americans and on society in the
United States.
(4) Recommend appropriate ways to educate the American
public of the Commission's findings on the matters described in
subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section 2(b)(1) and paragraphs
(1), (2), and (3).
(5) Recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the
Commission's findings on the matters described in subparagraphs
(A) through (F) of section 2(b)(1) and paragraphs (1), (2), and
(3). 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 governments of foreign
countries, that include full reparations and special
measures, as understood by various relevant
international protocols, laws, and findings.
(B) How the Federal Government 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 the matters
described in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of section
2(b)(1) and paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) 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 should such compensation
be awarded, and who should be eligible for such
compensation.
(G) Whether, in consideration of the Commission's
findings, any other measures 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 that 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 Appointments.--
(1) In general.--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) 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 such education, training, activism, or
experience 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 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) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), each
member of the Commission shall be compensated at a rate not to
exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in
effect for a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule
under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each
day, including travel time, during which that member is engaged
in the actual performance of the duties of the Commission.
(2) Federal employees.--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 the service of the member to the
Commission.
(3) Travel, subsistence, and other expenses.--All members
of the Commission shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence,
and other necessary expenses incurred 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 Federal 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 Federal 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, subject to subsection (b), appoint
and fix the compensation of such personnel as the Commission considers
appropriate.
(b) Applicability of Certain Civil Service Laws.--The personnel 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 rate of compensation of
any personnel of the Commission may not exceed the daily equivalent of
the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at level IV of
the Executive Schedule under section 5315 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 Chair 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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