I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1194 

To establish the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys, 

to study and make recommendations to address social problems affecting 

Black men and boys. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 

Ms. WILSON of Florida (for herself, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. RICHMOND, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. 

MOORE, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 

DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. 

CLYBURN, Mr. CLAY, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. MAXINE WATERS

of California, and Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish the Commission on the Social Status of Black 

Men and Boys, to study and make recommendations 

to address social problems affecting Black men and boys. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commission on the 

5 Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Black men and boys face disproportionate 

2 hardships that result in disparities in areas includ3 ing: education, criminal justice, health, employment, 

4 fatherhood, mentorship, and violence. These hard5 ships have negative consequences for national pro6 ductivity, especially for Black families and commu7 nities. 

8 (2) A Commission to study and examine issues 

9 which disproportionately have a negative impact on 

10 Black men and boys in America will signal that the 

11 issues facing the Black male population are a na12 tional priority, will develop solutions to these hard13 ships, and will help eliminate the obstacles facing 

14 Black men and boys. 

15 (3) A Commission will also be able to inves16 tigate potential civil rights violations affecting this 

17 population that attract national attention. 

18 (4) Black babies are three times more likely to 

19 be born in poverty and rapidly fall behind their 

20 White counterparts in cognitive development. 

21 (5) By fourth grade, Black students are ex22 pected to be three years behind White male students. 

23 According to the Educational Testing Service Policy 

24 Informational Center, only 12 percent of Black 

25 eighth-grade male students are proficient in math, 


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1 compared to 44 percent of White eighth-grade male 

2 students. 

3 (6) The Educational Testing Service Policy In4 formational Center also found that nationally, more 

5 than 50 percent of Black male students attending 

6 urban schools will drop out. 

7 (7) The low rate of high school retention among 

8 Black male students directly relates to high rates of 

9 joblessness and incarceration among this population. 

10 This barrier to employment exacerbates cycles of 

11 poverty, which in turn results in health inequalities, 

12 including higher levels of diabetes, obesity, and HIV/ 

13 AIDS. According to a study by the American Acad14 emy of Arts and Sciences, more than 66 percent of 

15 Black male dropouts are expected to serve time in 

16 State or Federal prison. 

17 (8) Black men are subjected to unequal 

18 profiling by the police and disproportionately harsh 

19 sentences in the judicial system. The Black male 

20 population is six times more likely to become incar21 cerated than their White counterparts. Although the 

22 Black male population comprises approximately six 

23 percent of the United States population, of the 

24 2,300,000 people incarcerated nationwide, 1 million 

25 are Black males. Black males receive ten percent 


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1 longer Federal sentences than White males who 

2 commit the same crime. 

3 (9) According to the Bureau of Statistics and 

4 the Pew Research Center, Black male unemployment 

5 is consistently almost double that of White male un6 employment. 

7 (10) Black fathers are more than twice as likely 

8 to live apart from their children as White fathers. 

9 (11) Young boys with male mentors are more 

10 likely to progress further in school and have greater 

11 financial success in life. 

12 SEC. 3. COMMISSION ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission on the So14 cial Status of Black Men and Boys (hereinafter in this 

15 Act referred to as ‘‘the Commission’’) is hereby estab16 lished within the United States Commission on Civil 

17 Rights Office of the Staff Director. 

18 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall consist of 

19 19 members appointed as follows: 

20 (1) The Senate majority leader shall appoint 

21 one member who is not employed by the Federal 

22 Government and is an expert on issues affecting 

23 Black men and boys in America. 

24 (2) The Senate minority leader shall appoint 

25 one member who is not employed by the Federal 


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1 Government and is an expert on issues affecting 

2 Black men and boys in America. 

3 (3) The House of Representatives majority 

4 leader shall appoint one member who is not em5 ployed by the Federal Government and is an expert 

6 on issues affecting Black men and boys in America. 

7 (4) The House of Representatives minority 

8 leader shall appoint one member who is not em9 ployed by the Federal Government and is an expert 

10 on issues affecting Black men and boys in America. 

11 (5) The Chair of the Congressional Black Cau12 cus (CBC) shall be a member of the Commission, as 

13 well as five additional Members of the CBC who ei14 ther sit on the following committees of relevant ju15 risdiction or who is an expert on issues affecting 

16 Black men and boys in America, including— 

17 (A) education; 

18 (B) justice and Civil Rights; 

19 (C) healthcare; 

20 (D) labor and employment; and 

21 (E) housing. 

22 (6) The Staff Director from the United States 

23 Commission on Civil Rights shall appoint one mem24 ber from within the staff of the United States ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Feb 27, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1194.IH H1194

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1 mission on Civil Rights who is an expert in issues 

2 relating to Black men and boys. 

3 (7) The Chair of the United States Equal Em4 ployment Opportunity Commission shall appoint one 

5 member from within the staff of the United States 

6 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who is 

7 an expert in equal employment issues impacting 

8 Black men. 

9 (8) The Secretary of Education shall appoint 

10 one member from within the Department of Edu11 cation who is an expert in urban education. 

12 (9) The Attorney General of the Department of 

13 Justice shall appoint one member from within the 

14 Department of Justice who is an expert in racial dis15 parities with the criminal justice system. 

16 (10) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv17 ices shall appoint one member from within the De18 partment of Health and Human Services who is an 

19 expert in health issues facing Black men. 

20 (11) The Secretary of the Department of Hous21 ing and Urban Development shall appoint one mem22 ber from within the Department of Housing and 

23 Urban Development who is an expert in housing and 

24 development in urban communities. 


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1 (12) The Secretary of the Department of Labor 

2 shall appoint one member from within the Depart3 ment of Labor who is an expert in labor issues im4 pacting Black men. 

5 (13) The President of the United States shall 

6 appoint two members who are not employed by the 

7 Federal Government and are experts on issues af8 fecting Black men and boys in America. 

9 SEC. 4. OTHER MATTERS RELATING TO APPOINTMENT; RE10 MOVAL. 

11 (a) TIMING OF INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Each ini12 tial appointment to the Commission shall be made no later 

13 than 90 days after the Commission is established. If any 

14 appointing authorities fail to appoint a member to the 

15 Commission, their appointment shall be filled by the 

16 United States Commission on Civil Rights. 

17 (b) TERMS.—Except as otherwise provided in this 

18 section, the term of a member of the Commission shall 

19 be four years. For the purpose of providing staggered 

20 terms, the first term of those members initially appointed 

21 under paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 3 shall be 

22 appointed to two-year terms with all other terms lasting 

23 four years. Members are eligible for consecutive reappoint24 ment. 


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1 (c) REMOVAL.—A member of the Commission may 

2 be removed from the Commission at any time by the ap3 pointing authority should the member fail to meet Com4 mission responsibilities. Once the seat becomes vacant, the 

5 appointing authority is responsible for filling the vacancy 

6 in the Commission before the next meeting. 

7 (d) VACANCIES.—The appointing authority of a 

8 member of the Commission shall either reappoint that 

9 member at the end of that member’s term or appoint an10 other person meeting the qualifications for that appoint11 ment. In the event of a vacancy arising during a term, 

12 the appointing authority shall, before the next meeting of 

13 the Commission, appoint a replacement to finish that 

14 term. 

15 SEC. 5. LEADERSHIP ELECTION. 

16 At the first meeting of the Commission each year, 

17 the members shall elect a Chair and a Secretary. A va18 cancy in the Chair or Secretary shall be filled by vote of 

19 the remaining members. The Chair and Secretary are eli20 gible for consecutive reappointment. 

21 SEC. 6. COMMISSION DUTIES AND POWERS. 

22 (a) STUDY.—The Commission shall make a system23 atic study of the conditions affecting Black men and boys, 

24 including, but not limited to, homicide rates, arrest and 

25 incarceration rates, poverty, violence, fatherhood, 


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1 mentorship, drug abuse, death rates, disparate income and 

2 wealth levels, school performance in all grade levels includ3 ing postsecondary levels and college, and health issues. 

4 The Commission shall also document trends under the 

5 above topics and report on the community impacts of rel6 evant government programs within the scope of the above 

7 topics. All reports shall be made public via a Federal agen8 cy website. 

9 (b) PROPOSAL OF MEASURES.—The Commission 

10 shall propose measures to alleviate and remedy the under11 lying causes of the conditions described in the subsection 

12 (a), which may include recommendations of changes to the 

13 law, recommendations for how to implement related poli14 cies, and recommendations for how to create, develop, or 

15 improve upon government programs. 

16 (c) SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS.—The Commis17 sion shall accept suggestions or comments pertinent to the 

18 applicable issues from members of Congress, governmental 

19 agencies, public and private organizations, and private 

20 citizens. 

21 (d) STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The 

22 Office of the Staff Director of the United States Commis23 sion on Civil Rights shall provide staff and administrative 

24 support to the Commission. All entities of the United 

25 States Government shall provide information that is otherVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Feb 27, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1194.IH H1194

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1 wise a public record at the request of the Commission on 

2 Black Men and Boys. 

3 SEC. 7. COMMISSION MEETING REQUIREMENTS. 

4 (a) FIRST MEETING.—The first meeting of the Com5 mission shall take place no later than 30 days after the 

6 initial members are all appointed. Meetings shall be fo7 cused on significant issues impacting Black men and boys, 

8 for the purpose of initiating research ideas and delegating 

9 research tasks to Commission members to initiate the first 

10 semiannual report. 

11 (b) QUARTERLY MEETINGS.—The Commission shall 

12 meet quarterly. In addition to all quarterly meetings, the 

13 Commission shall meet at other times at the call of the 

14 Chair or as determined by a majority of Commission mem15 bers. 

16 (c) QUORUM; RULE FOR VOTING ON FINAL AC17 TIONS.—A majority of the members of the Commission 

18 constitute a quorum, and an affirmative vote of a majority 

19 of the members present is required for final action. 

20 (d) EXPECTATIONS FOR ATTENDANCE BY MEM21 BERS.—Members are expected to attend all Commission 

22 meetings. In the case of an absence, members are expected 

23 to report to the Chair prior to the meeting and allowance 

24 may be made for an absent member to participate re25 motely. Members will still be responsible for fulfilling prior 


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1 commitments, regardless of attendance status. If a mem2 ber is absent twice in a given year, he or she will be re3 viewed by the Chair and appointing authority and further 

4 action will be considered, including removal and replace5 ment on the Commission. 

6 (e) MINUTES.—Minutes shall be taken at each meet7 ing by the Secretary, or in that individual’s absence, the 

8 Chair shall select another Commission member to take 

9 minutes during that absence. The Commission shall make 

10 its minutes publicly available and accessible not later than 

11 one week after each meeting. 

12 SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORT GUIDELINES. 

13 The Commission shall make an annual report, begin14 ning the year of the first Commission meeting. The report 

15 shall address the current conditions affecting Black men 

16 and boys and make recommendations to address these 

17 issues. The report shall be submitted to the President, the 

18 Congress, members of the President’s Cabinet, and the 

19 chairs of the appropriate committees of jurisdiction. The 

20 Commission shall make the report publicly available online 

21 on a centralized Federal website. 

22 SEC. 9. COMMISSION COMPENSATION. 

23 Members of the Commission shall serve on the Com24 mission without compensation. 

Æ 


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