After more than 30 years, a bill that could lead to a slavery reparations proposal appears set to take an important step forward, The Gateway Pundit reported Saturday. On Friday, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up and vote on the bill next Wednesday. If the legislation is brought to the House floor by the committee, it will take the first House vote since the case was introduced in 1989.
The bill was originally introduced by the late Michigan Representative John Conyers (D), who introduced it in the House each session for nearly 30 years, all to no avail. Since the death of George Floyd last summer, Democrats have stepped up their calls for affirmative action for blacks. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) reintroduced the slavery reparations bill, named H.R. (House Resolution) 40, earlier this year. Ms. Lee explained that the “40” in H.R. 40 refers to 40 acres of land and a mule, a promise made by the Civil War-era U.S. government to newly freed slaves that was not kept.
The bill advocates the creation of a select committee to study the effects of slavery and to determine a form of compensation, but would not authorize direct cash payments to black Americans.
This House bill has 175 sponsors, and Democrats now outnumber Republicans (23 to 18) on the House Judiciary Committee, so it is expected to come before the House this time.
Rep. Lee believes that a reparations bill is necessary and hopes that the House will vote on it before this summer. While the bill may have a difficult process in the Senate, the White House has indicated that President Biden supports studying the issue of reparations.
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