Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act

[Anti Federalist]

This was introduced a while back, apologies if it was already posted.


HR 40 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 40

To acknowledge 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 examine the institution of slavery, subsequently 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 6, 2009
Mr. CONYERS (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-40

[FrankRep]

No worries, the Federal Reserve will just print up some more money out of thin air and pay them.

[Anti Federalist]

No worries, the Federal Reserve will just print up some more money out of thin air and pay them.

That was my first thought.

Why the hell not, free money for everybody.

[Zippyjuan]

The whole slave reparation thing is rediculous. Should you be owed money from somebody because their ancestor did something to your ancestor? Neither of you were involved. You were not a slave and they were not a slave master. There are no living people who were classified as slaves in the US. If Congress wants to feel good and appoligize for their ancestors having slaves, fine. But they do not need to hand out any money to anybody over it unless it comes out of their own personal pockets- not mine.

[TastyWheat]

Even if I felt those with slave blood deserved a payout, they sure as hell don't deserve my money because I've never enslaved a damn thing. Our reparations should be treating them equally and with the same respect we do to those of our own race.

[Pericles]

I like the concept, with this modification -

Each descendant of a person involuntary brought into the United States may be paid $100,000 in exchange for being repatriated to the ancestor's country of origin, forfeiture of US citizenship, and loss of the privilege of returning to the US as a resident or citizen.

Good deal for all concerned?

[Reason]

Q:

Would a bill in Congress require looking into possible reparations for slavery?
Please check this out. Thanks

Didn't take long, did it? ---THIS IS A REAL BILL

Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act (Introduced in House)

HR 40 IH

111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 40

. . . [Message truncated]
A:

Such a bill exists but President Obama has nothing to do with it, contrary to what a chain email implies.
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We've had several queries about this claim, starting in early February not long after President Barack Obama was inaugurated. Some versions of the email maintain (falsely) that a bill to investigate possible reparations for slavery was part of the new administration's stimulus legislation. All carry the subject line "It didn't take long, did it?" implying none too subtly that Obama, motivated by race, is somehow behind it. He isn't.

The fact is that Rep. John Conyers, a Detroit Democrat, has introduced a version of this bill in every Congress since 1989. Back then, Obama was a law student. As Conyers noted in remarks he inserted into the Congressional Record when he introduced the measure most recently, "This 111th Congress marks the 20th anniversary of this bill’s introduction." That was Jan. 6, two weeks before Obama was sworn in.

The measure would set up a seven-member commission with an $8-million budget to examine the legacy of slavery and make recommendations to Congress regarding "appropriate remedies." These would specifically include "whether the Government of the United States should offer a formal apology" and whether "any form of compensation to the descendants of African slaves is warranted." The bill would also "acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States."

Conyers first introduced the bill not long after Congress in 1988 enacted a law that apologized for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and provided a $20,000 cash payment to each surviving former internee. He has said the commission he seeks is no different from the one that that led to reparations for Japanese Americans, but he says that the "remedies" mentioned in his bill wouldn't necessarily "equate to monetary compensation" for descendants of slaves.

So far Conyers's bill has gone nowhere. It was referred to a House subcommittee on Feb. 9, and there it still sits with no hearings or votes scheduled. Besides Conyers, it has four co-sponsors.

The high point so far for this legislation came in December 2007, when hearings on the bill took place before the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. It was the first time the bill had received a public hearing. Nevertheless, the measure later died in the subcommittee without advancing to the full House Judiciary Committee, of which Conyers is chair.

Obama's Position

Obama hasn't endorsed the reparations idea. During a presidential primary debate on CNN July 24, 2007, he suggested that he favored spending to improve education instead.

CNN's Anderson Cooper: Senator Obama, your position on reparations?

Obama: I think the reparations we need right here in South Carolina is investment, for example, in our schools. I did a . . .I did a town hall meeting in Florence, South Carolina, in an area called the corridor of shame. They've got buildings that students are trying to learn in that were built right after the Civil War. And we've got teachers who are not trained to teach the subjects they're teaching and high dropout rates.

We've got to understand that there are corridors of shame all across the country. And if we make the investments and understand that those are our children, that's the kind of reparations that are really going to make a difference in America right now.

When Cooper asked all eight of the Democratic presidential candidates whether any of them favored reparations, only Rep. Dennis Kucinich said yes: "I am. The Bible says we shall be and must be repairers of the breach. And a breach has occurred."

-Brooks Jackson
Sources
111th Congress, 1st Session. H. R. 40, as introduced in the House.

Congressional Record. "Introduction of H.R. 40, The Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act." 6 Jan. 2009.

Transcript. CNN/YoutTube Presidential Debate. 24 July 2007.


Copyright © 2003 - 2009, Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
FactCheck.org's staff, not the Annenberg Center, is responsible for this material.

[Cowlesy]

I like the concept, with this modification -

Each descendant of a person involuntary brought into the United States may be paid $100,000 in exchange for being repatriated to the ancestor's country of origin, forfeiture of US citizenship, and loss of the privilege of returning to the US as a resident or citizen.

Good deal for all concerned?

Hah - I like it.

Also, since my ancestors helped slaves on the underground railroad get from PA to NY, I'd like some pie too since...I...somehow...because they were my ANCESTORS....helped them to freedom.

[gls]

Reparations have already passed under the guise of the "stimulus" bill.

The money is being appropriated based on racist criteria. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich clearly stated he doesn't want to see it going to "white male construction workers."

Barely anyone cared.

[Original_Intent]

The only reparations I am in favor of is we offer to seize all of their U.S. property and offer them a free ticket back to the country of their ancestor's origin. I am not saying make this mandatory, but just put the offer out there for anyone that wants to take it. Hell, even pay them a year of the average annual salary in said country to help them get on their feet.

[Original_Intent]

I like the concept, with this modification -

Each descendant of a person involuntary brought into the United States may be paid $100,000 in exchange for being repatriated to the ancestor's country of origin, forfeiture of US citizenship, and loss of the privilege of returning to the US as a resident or citizen.

Good deal for all concerned?

Ah I see you beat me too it. I think $100K is a bit generous, but I have thought this type of offer for all the reparation whiners is definitely a good idea.

[The_Orlonater]

My god, my mother is from Poland I don't even have anything to do with this.

[brandon]

Someone black guy stole my great granpops wallet back in 1910. I think we need legislation that forces all black people to contribute to a fund to reimburse me for the wallet.