[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1548-E1549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ``FORTY ACRES AND A MULE''

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 1997

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to an ``Editorial 
Notebook'' commentary by Brent Staples in the July 21 issue of the New 
York Times.
  In 1989 I first proposed that a commission be created to study the 
institution of slavery in this country from 1619 to 1865, and 
subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination 
against African-Americans, as well as the impact of these forces on 
living African-Americans, and to make recommendations to the Congress 
on appropriate remedies.
  One of the remedies in this Congress is H.R. 40, with the number of 
the resolution selected for the ``Forty Acres and a Mule'' rallying cry 
of 1865 when Civil War Gen. Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Order 
15, declaring the Georgia Sea Islands and a strip of South Carolina 
rice country as black settlements. Each family of freed slaves was to 
be given 40 acres and the loan of an Army mule to work the land.
  Mr. Staples' article describes that historical fact from the personal 
viewpoint of his own family's experience. I commend him for his 
contribution to the dialog on race in America. The article and the bill 
with its 21 cosponsors follow.

                [From the New York Times, July 21, 1997]

                         Forty Acres and a Mule

                           (By Brent Staples)

       Bill Clinton has earned a boat-load of scorn since 
     suggesting that he might apologize for slavery, as some in 
     Congress have suggested. Critics from both left and right 
     argue that such an apology would be trivializing, empty, 
     arrogant and racially divisive. The dominant view, typified 
     by the columnist Charles Krauthammer, is that there is 
     essentially nothing to discuss, since the Civil War closed 
     the issue and the slavers and the enslaved are long since 
     dead. But all the noise suggests the issue is very much 
     alive. The terms of Emancipation are nearly as explosive 
     today as during the 1860's, when they dominated public 
     consciousness and nearly tore the Government apart.
       The facts of the period have been papered over in myth. 
     These days, every school child thinks that Abraham Lincoln 
     freed the slaves at one fell swoop--and for moral reasons. In 
     fact, the Emancipation Proclamation freed only the slaves in 
     rebellious states. Lincoln himself called it a military 
     tactic, acknowledging that moral issues were in no way 
     involved.
       The slavers and the enslaved are certainly gone from the 
     scene. But African-American families that have shown even a 
     casual interest in history can give chapter and verse on 
     relatives who were born in slavery or just afterward and the 
     costs they paid. In the Staples family, for example, mine is 
     the first generation to come of age without a flesh and blood 
     former slave somewhere at the extended family table. That 
     people in their 40's have this experience makes the issue a 
     current one indeed.
       My maternal great-grandmother, Luella Holmes Patterson, was 
     born of a former slave and her master--and shipped off the 
     plantation when the wife got wind of her. As a grade 
     schooler, I visited Luella often in Hollins, Va. A few towns 
     away lay the farm of my paternal great-grandfather, John 
     Wesley Staples, who was conceived in slavery as well and born 
     July 4, 1865, at the dawn of Emancipation. He died 10 years 
     before my birth but was remembered to me in stories and 
     pictures. As recently as 10 years ago, he and his wife, 
     Eliza, were the subject of a pamphlet, written for a family 
     reunion.
       John Wesley met Emancipation with his whole life still in 
     front of him. But among his neighbors and in-laws were ex-
     slaves who came to freedom landless and old or simply broken 
     by the experience. My uncle Mack, who will be 80 in 
     December, remembers them well. When I asked him about the 
     apology brewing in Congress, Uncle Mack could barely 
     contain himself: ``They can keep the apology. What good is 
     it? They promised us 40 acres and the mule. None of our 
     people ever got that.''
       ``Forty acres and a mule,'' of course, is a rallying cry 
     from 1865. It originated during Sherman's March to the Sea. 
     Overwhelmed by black families that abandoned the plantations 
     to follow him, Sherman issued Special Field Order 15, 
     declaring the Georgia Sea Islands and a strip of South 
     Carolina rice country as black settlements. Each family was 
     to get 40 acres and the loan of an Army mule to work it. 
     Other generals and Federal officials followed Sherman's lead, 
     realizing that land was the only hedge against starvation and 
     renewed bondage.
       The confiscations were in accordance with Federal law. If 
     sustained and accelerated, the land grants would have created 
     black capital and independence almost immediately and 
     precluded much of the corrosive poverty that still grips the 
     black South. President Andrew Johnson was nearly impeached, 
     in part for obstructing Congress on Reconstruction. 
     Meanwhile, he canceled Special Field Order 15, returning land 
     to white owners and condemning blacks to de facto slavery.
       In many places, the eviction process was long and bloody. 
     As the ex-slave Sarah Debro said of the period: ``Slavery was 
     a bad thing, and freedom, of the kind we got with nothing to 
     live on, was bad. Two snakes full of poison. One lying with 
     his head pointed north, the other with his head pointing 
     south. . . . Both bit the nigger and they was both bad.'' My 
     father and uncles grew up steeped in accountings like this 
     one.
       For 250 years African-Americans were deprived of freedom, 
     basic education and the right to accumulate wealth, which 
     they could have passed on to their descendants. This history 
     would have left a wound in any case. But the wound is open 
     and running because the country refused to atone materially 
     when it had the chance. In that sense, at least, my Uncle 
     Mack is right about the apology. No amount of talk can alter 
     the past.


     
                                  ____
                                H.R. 40

       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 
     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 the 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 1769 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; and
       (4) sufficient inquiry has not been made into the effects 
     of the institution of slavery on living African-Americans and 
     society in the United States.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to establish a 
     commission to--
       (1) examine the institution of slavery which existed from 
     1619 through 1865 within the United States and the colonies 
     that became the United States, including the extent to which 
     the Federal and State Governments constitutionally and 
     statutorily supported the institution of slavery;
       (2) examine 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, and social 
     discrimination;
       (3) examine the lingering negative effects of the 
     institution of slavery and the discrimination described in 
     paragraph (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;

[[Page E1549]]

       (5) recommend appropriate remedies in consideration of the 
     Commission's findings on the matters described in paragraphs 
     (1) and (2); and
       (6) 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 Reparation Proposals for African Americans (hereinafter 
     in this Act referred to as the ``Commission'').
       (b) Duties.--The Commission shall perform the following 
     duties:
       (1) Examine 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 examination 
     shall include an examination of--
       (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; and
       (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.
       (2) Examine the extent to 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 freed African slaves to repatriate to 
     their home land.
       (3) Examine Federal and State laws that discriminated 
     against freed African slaves and their descendants during the 
     period between the end of the Civil War and the present.
       (4) Examine other forms of discrimination in the public and 
     private sectors against freed African slaves and their 
     descendants during the period between the end of the Civil 
     War and the present.
       (5) Examine the lingering negative effects of the 
     institution of slavery and the matters described in 
     paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) 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) Recommended appropriate remedies in consideration of 
     the Commission's findings on the matters described in 
     paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4). In making such 
     recommendations, the Commission shall address, among other 
     issues, the following questions:
       (A) Whether the Government of the United States should 
     offer a formal apology on behalf of the people of the United 
     States for the perpetration of gross human rights violations 
     on African slaves and their descendants.
       (B) Whether African-Americans still suffer from the 
     lingering affects of the matters described in paragraphs (1), 
     (2), (3), and (4).
       (C) Whether, in consideration of the Commission's findings, 
     any form of compensation to the descendants of African slaves 
     is warranted.
       (D) If the Commission finds that such compensation is 
     warranted, what should be the amount of compensation, what 
     form of compensation should be awarded, and who should be 
     eligible for such compensation.
       (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 7 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.
       (2) All members of the Commission shall be persons who are 
     especially qualified to serve on the Commission by virtue of 
     their education, training, or experience, particularly in the 
     field of African-American studies.
       (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.--Four members of the Commission shall 
     constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hearings.
       (c) 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 on 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 request 
     the Attorney General to 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.
       (c) 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 
     Act; 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 $8,000,000.

     

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