[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 37 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          STUDYING REPARATIONS

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, we have done the right thing. We have 
kept the government open, but there is much more to do. It is the wide-
ranging responsibilities of the United States Congress.
  One of those responsibilities is to tell the truth of our history. 
This is a unique day, February 29, a leap year. There are a lot of 
unique aspects of America's history, and certainly, one of them is the 
history of slavery.
  I am very proud to have been given the responsibility of carrying 
forward H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation 
Proposals for African Americans Act. This is a law that was introduced 
38 years ago by the late John Conyers, not for any form of retribution 
or retaliation, but to know the truth, to address the historical 
injustices, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United 
States.
  By the way, slavery still exists around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in signing on to H.R. 40. 
In this month of African-American History Month, let us know the truth, 
and let us know the truth together.

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