H.R. 40 (108th): Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act

Introduced:
Jan 07, 2003 (108th Congress, 2003–2004)
Sponsor:
Rep. John Conyers Jr. [D-MI14]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as H.R. 40 (109th) on Jan 04, 2005.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on January 7, 2003, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Jan 07, 2003
Cosponsors
40 cosponsors (40D) (show)
Committees

House Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

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.

Summary

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Text

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Last updated Jan 07, 2003.
11 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

1/7/2003--Introduced.
Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act - Establishes the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans to examine: (1) the institution of slavery which existed within the United States and the colonies that became the United States from 1619 through 1865; (2) the extent to which the Federal and State governments supported the institution of slavery in constitutional and statutory provisions; (3) Federal and State laws that discriminated against freed African slaves and their descendants; and (4) the lingering negative effects of the institution of slavery on living African-Americans and on society in the United States.
Instructs the Commission to address the following issues when making its recommendations to Congress: (1) whether the Federal government should offer a formal apology for the perpetration of gross human rights violations on African slaves and their descendants; (2) whether African-Americans still suffer from the lingering effects of slavery; and (3) whether any form of compensation to the descendants of African slaves is warranted.

House Republican Conference Summary

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House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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