I 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 40 

To address 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 study and consider 

a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of 

slavery, its subsequent 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 3, 2025 

Ms. PRESSLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To address 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 study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of 

slavery, its subsequent 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. 


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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 to Study 

5 and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— 

9 (1) approximately 4,000,000 Africans and their 

10 descendants were enslaved in the United States and 

11 colonies that became the United States from 1619 to 

12 1865; 

13 (2) the institution of slavery was constitu14 tionally and statutorily sanctioned by the Govern15 ment of the United States from 1789 through 1865; 

16 (3) the slavery that flourished in the United 

17 States constituted an immoral and inhumane depri18 vation of Africans’ life, liberty, African citizenship 

19 rights, and cultural heritage, and denied them the 

20 fruits of their own labor; 

21 (4) a preponderance of scholarly, legal, commu22 nity evidentiary documentation and popular culture 

23 markers constitute the basis for inquiry into the on24 going effects of the institution of slavery and its leg25 acy of persistent systemic structures of discriminaVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H40.IH H40

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1 tion on living African Americans and society in the 

2 United States; 

3 (5) the brutal overthrow of Reconstruction, 

4 which represented a significant but constrained mo5 ment of advances for Black rights as epitomized by 

6 the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Con7 stitution, the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875 

8 and the Freedman’s Bureau, failed African Ameri9 cans by failing to ensure their safety and security; 

10 (6) following the abolition of slavery and end of 

11 Reconstruction the United States Government, 

12 through laws enacted at the Federal, State, and 

13 local level, continued to perpetuate, condone and 

14 profit from practices that continued to brutalize and 

15 disadvantage African Americans, including share 

16 cropping, convict leasing, Jim Crow, redlining, un17 equal education, and disproportionate treatment at 

18 the hands of the criminal justice system, resulting in 

19 stolen labor and ultimately forestalling landmark 

20 contributions in science, arts, commerce and public 

21 service; 

22 (7) the civil rights movement, and other efforts 

23 to redress grievances arising from systemic inequi24 ties, were sabotaged, both intentionally and uninten25 tionally, thus rendering the accomplishments of 


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1 those efforts transitory and unsustainable, and fur2 ther embedding racial inequality in society; 

3 (8) examples of discriminatory Federal Govern4 ment actions directed against African Americans in5 clude— 

6 (A) the creation of the Federal Housing 

7 Administration, which adopted specific policies 

8 designed to incentivize residential segregation; 

9 (B) the enactment of legislation creating 

10 the Social Security program, for which most Af11 rican Americans were purposely rendered ineli12 gible during its first two decades; 

13 (C) the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 

14 1944 (commonly known as the GI Bill of 

15 Rights; 58 Stat. 284, chapter 268), which left 

16 administration of its programs to the States, 

17 thus enabling discrimination against African18 American veterans; and 

19 (D) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

20 1938, which allowed labor unions to discrimi21 nate based on race; and 

22 (9) as a result of the historic and continued dis23 crimination, African Americans continue to suffer 

24 debilitating economic, educational, and health hard25 ships including but not limited to having nearly 


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1 1,000,000 Black people incarcerated; an unemploy2 ment rate more than twice the current White unemployment rate; and an average of less than 1 3 ⁄16 of 

4 the wealth of White families, a disparity which has 

5 worsened, not improved over time. 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab7 lish a commission to study and develop Reparation pro8 posals for African Americans as a result of— 

9 (1) the institution of slavery, including both the 

10 Trans-Atlantic and the domestic ‘‘trade’’ which ex11 isted from 1565 in colonial Florida and from 1619 

12 through 1865 within the other colonies that became 

13 the United States, and which included the Federal 

14 and State governments which constitutionally and 

15 statutorily supported the institution of slavery; 

16 (2) the de jure and de facto discrimination 

17 against freed slaves and their descendants from the 

18 end of the Civil War to the present, including eco19 nomic, political, educational, and social discrimina20 tion; 

21 (3) the lingering negative effects of the institu22 tion of slavery and the discrimination described in 

23 paragraphs (1) and (2) on living African Americans 

24 and on society in the United States; 


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1 (4) the manner in which textual and digital in2 structional resources and technologies are being used 

3 to deny the inhumanity of slavery and the crime 

4 against humanity of people of African descent in the 

5 United States; 

6 (5) the role of Northern complicity in the 

7 Southern based institution of slavery; 

8 (6) the direct benefits to societal institutions, 

9 public and private, including higher education, cor10 porations, religious, and associational; 

11 (7) and thus, recommend appropriate ways to 

12 educate the American public of the Commission’s 

13 findings to advance racial healing, understanding, 

14 and transformation; 

15 (8) and thus, recommend appropriate remedies 

16 in consideration of the Commission’s findings on the 

17 matters described in paragraphs (1) through (7); 

18 and 

19 (9) submit to the Congress the results of such 

20 examination, together with such recommendations. 

21 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND DUTIES. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

23 legislative branch the Commission to Study and Develop 

24 Reparation Proposals for African Americans (hereinafter 

25 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 


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1 (b) DUTIES.—The Commission shall perform the fol2 lowing duties: 

3 (1) Identify, compile, and synthesize the rel4 evant corpus of evidentiary documentation of the in5 stitution of slavery which existed within the United 

6 States and the colonies that became the United 

7 States from 1619 through 1865. The Commission’s 

8 documentation and examination shall include facts 

9 related to— 

10 (A) the capture and procurement of Afri11 cans; 

12 (B) the transport of Africans to the United 

13 States and the colonies that became the United 

14 States for the purpose of enslavement, including 

15 their treatment during transport; 

16 (C) the sale and acquisition of Africans 

17 and their descendants as chattel property in 

18 interstate and intrastate commerce; 

19 (D) the treatment of African slaves and 

20 their descendants in the colonies and the 

21 United States, including the deprivation of their 

22 freedom, exploitation of their labor, and de23 struction of their culture, language, religion, 

24 and families; and 


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1 (E) the extensive denial of humanity, sex2 ual abuse, and the chatellization of persons. 

3 (2) Study and analyze the role which the Fed4 eral and State governments of the United States 

5 supported the institution of slavery in constitutional 

6 and statutory provisions, including the extent to 

7 which such governments prevented, opposed, or re8 stricted efforts of formerly enslaved Africans and 

9 their descendants to repatriate to their homeland. 

10 (3) Study and analyze the effects of laws en11 acted by the Federal Government and State govern12 ments with discriminatory intent or discriminatory 

13 effect on the formerly enslaved Africans and their 

14 descendants following the overdue recognition of 

15 such persons as United States citizens beginning in 

16 1868. 

17 (4) Study and analyze the other forms of dis18 crimination in the public and private sectors against 

19 freed African slaves and their descendants who were 

20 belatedly accorded their rightful status as United 

21 States citizens from 1868 to the present, including 

22 redlining, educational funding discrepancies, and 

23 predatory financial practices. 

24 (5) Study and analyze the lingering negative ef25 fects of the institution of slavery and the matters deVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H40.IH H40

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1 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (7) of section 2(b) 

2 on living African Americans and on society in the 

3 United States. 

4 (6) Recommend appropriate ways to educate 

5 the American public of the Commission’s findings to 

6 advance racial healing, understanding, and trans7 formation. 

8 (7) Recommend appropriate remedies in consid9 eration of the Commission’s findings on the matters 

10 described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and 

11 (6). In making such recommendations, the Commis12 sion shall address, among other issues, the following 

13 questions: 

14 (A) How such recommendations comport 

15 with international standards of remedy for 

16 wrongs and injuries caused by the State, that 

17 include full reparations and special measures, 

18 as understood by various relevant international 

19 protocols, laws, and findings. 

20 (B) How the Government of the United 

21 States will offer a formal apology on behalf of 

22 the people of the United States for the per23 petration of gross human rights violations and 

24 crimes against humanity on African slaves and 

25 their descendants. 


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1 (C) How Federal laws and policies that 

2 continue to disproportionately and negatively 

3 affect African Americans as a group, and those 

4 that perpetuate the lingering effects, materially 

5 and psycho-social, can be eliminated. 

6 (D) How the injuries resulting from mat7 ters described in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), 

8 (5), and (6) can be reversed and provide appro9 priate policies, programs, projects, and rec10 ommendations for the purpose of reversing the 

11 injuries. 

12 (E) How, in consideration of the Commis13 sion’s findings, any form of compensation to the 

14 descendants of enslaved Africans is calculated. 

15 (F) What form of compensation should be 

16 awarded, through what instrumentalities, and 

17 who should be eligible for such compensation. 

18 (G) How, in consideration of the Commis19 sion’s finding, what forms of satisfaction, in ad20 dition to apology, should be implemented in an 

21 effort toward return of dignity and racial heal22 ing, and reconciliation. 

23 (H) How, in consideration of the Commis24 sion’s findings, any other forms of rehabilita25 tion or restitution to African descendants is 


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1 warranted and what the form and scope of 

2 those measures should take. 

3 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Commission shall 

4 submit a written report of its findings and recommenda5 tions to the Congress not later than the date which is 18 

6 months after the date of the first meeting of the full Com7 mission held pursuant to section 4(f). 

8 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

9 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.— 

10 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be 

11 composed of 15 members, who shall be appointed as 

12 follows: 

13 (A) POLITICALLY APPOINTED MEMBERS.— 

14 Not later than 60 days after the date of enact15 ment of this Act: 

16 (i) Three members shall be appointed 

17 by the President. 

18 (ii) Three members shall be appointed 

19 by the Speaker of the House of Represent20 atives, in consultation with the committee 

21 of jurisdiction of the House. 

22 (iii) Three members shall be ap23 pointed by the President pro tempore of 

24 the Senate, in consultation with the com25 mittee of jurisdiction of the Senate. 


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1 (B) SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS.—Not 

2 later than 60 days after the appointment of the 

3 Director under section 6(a), six members, who 

4 shall be individuals appointed by the Director, 

5 and approved by a majority of the members ap6 pointed under subparagraph (A). Such individ7 uals shall be from the major civil society and 

8 reparations organizations that have historically 

9 championed the cause of reparatory justice. 

10 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—All members of the 

11 Commission shall be persons who are especially 

12 qualified to serve on the Commission by virtue of 

13 their education, training, activism or experience, 

14 particularly in the field of African-American studies 

15 and reparatory justice. 

16 (3) LIMITATION.—No person who is a member 

17 of Congress or an officer or employee of the Federal 

18 Government or any State or local government may 

19 serve as a member of the Commission. 

20 (b) TERMS.—The term of office for members shall 

21 be for the life of the Commission. A vacancy in the Com22 mission shall not affect the powers of the Commission and 

23 shall be filled in the same manner in which the original 

24 appointment was made. 


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1 (c) QUORUM.—Seven members of the Commission 

2 shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold 

3 hearings. 

4 (d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy on the Commission 

5 shall— 

6 (1) not affect the powers of the Commission; 

7 and 

8 (2) be filled in the same manner in which the 

9 original appointment was made. 

10 (e) CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR.—There shall be a Chair 

11 and a Vice Chair of the Commission selected jointly by 

12 the majority leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the 

13 House of Representatives, in consultation with the com14 mittees of jurisdiction. The term of office of each shall 

15 be for the life of the Commission. 

16 (f) INITIAL MEETING OF FULL COMMISSION.—The 

17 Chair shall call an initial meeting of the full Commission 

18 not later than 45 days after the appointment of all mem19 bers under subsection (a)(1)(B). 

20 SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

21 (a) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commission 

22 may, for purposes of carrying out this Act— 

23 (1) hold hearings, sit and act at times and 

24 places, take testimony, receive evidence, and admin25 ister oaths; and 


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1 (2) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the at2 tendance and testimony of witnesses and the produc3 tion of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, 

4 papers, and documents. 

5 (b) SUBPOENAS.— 

6 (1) SERVICE.—Subpoenas issued under this 

7 section may be served by any person designated by 

8 the Commission. 

9 (2) ENFORCEMENT.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of contu11 macy or failure to obey a subpoena issued 

12 under this section, the United States district 

13 court for the judicial district in which the sub14 poenaed person resides, is served, or may be 

15 found, or where the subpoena is returnable, 

16 may issue an order requiring such person to ap17 pear at any designated place to testify or to 

18 produce documentary or other evidence. Any 

19 failure to obey the order of the court may be 

20 punished by the court as a contempt of that 

21 court. 

22 (B) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.—Sec23 tions 102 through 104 of the Revised Statutes 

24 of the United States (2 U.S.C. 192 through 

25 194) shall apply in the case of any failure of 


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1 any witness to comply with any subpoena or to 

2 testify when summoned under the authority of 

3 this section. 

4 (C) ISSUANCE.—A subpoena may be issued 

5 under this section only— 

6 (i) by the agreement of the Chair and 

7 the Vice Chair; or 

8 (ii) by the affirmative vote of a major9 ity of the Commission, a majority being 

10 present. 

11 (c) CONTRACTING.—To the extent or in amounts pro12 vided in Appropriations acts, and subject to the applicable 

13 laws and regulations, the Commission may enter into con14 tracts with government entities, private entities, or per15 sons for goods or services, including for conducting re16 search or surveys, the preparation of reports, and other 

17 activities necessary for the discharge of the duties of the 

18 Commission. 

19 (d) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES AND

20 OTHER ENTITIES.—The Commission may secure directly 

21 from any department, agency, bureau, board, commission, 

22 office, independent establishment, or instrumentality of 

23 the United States any information related to any inquiry 

24 of the Commission conducted under this Act, including in25 formation of a confidential nature (which the Commission 


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1 shall maintain in a secure manner). Each such depart2 ment, agency, bureau, board, commission, office, inde3 pendent establishment, or instrumentality shall furnish 

4 such information directly to the Commission upon request. 

5 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 

6 the request of the Commission— 

7 (1) the Administrator of General Services shall 

8 provide to the Commission, on a reimbursable basis, 

9 the administrative support services necessary for the 

10 Commission to carry out its responsibilities under 

11 this Act; and 

12 (2) other Federal departments and agencies 

13 may pro vide to the Commission any administrative 

14 support services as may be determined by the head 

15 of such department or agency to be advisable and 

16 authorized by law. 

17 (f) DONATIONS OF GOODS AND SERVICES.—The 

18 Commission may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or dona19 tions of services or property. 

20 (g) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

21 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

22 the same conditions as departments and agencies of the 

23 United States. 

24 (h) POWERS OF SUBCOMMITTEES, MEMBERS, AND

25 AGENTS.—Any subcommittee, member, or agent of the 


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1 Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take 

2 any action which the Commission is authorized to take by 

3 this section. 

4 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

5 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall have a Direc6 tor who shall be, not later than 60 days after the appoint7 ment of all members appointed under section 4(a)(1)(A), 

8 jointly selected by the Chair and Vice Chair, subject to 

9 approval by a majority vote of such members. 

10 (b) STAFF.—The Chair and the Vice Chair may joint11 ly appoint additional personnel, as may be necessary, to 

12 enable the Commission to carry out its functions. 

13 (c) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

14 LAWS.—The Director and staff of the Commission may 

15 be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, 

16 United States Code, governing appointments in the com17 petitive service, and may be paid with out regard to the 

18 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 

19 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule 

20 pay rates, except that no rate of pay fixed under this para21 graph may exceed the equivalent of that payable for a po22 sition at level V of the Executive Schedule under section 

23 5316 of title 5, United States Code. Any individual ap24 pointed under this section shall be treated as an employee 


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1 for purposes of chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, 89A, 

2 89B, and 90 of that title. 

3 (d) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government employee 

4 may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement 

5 from the Commission, and such detailee shall retain the 

6 rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular employ7 ment without interruption. 

8 (e) CONSULTANT SERVICES.—The Commission is au9 thorized to procure the services of experts and consultants 

10 in accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United States 

11 Code, but at rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a per12 son occupying a position at level IV of the Executive 

13 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States 

14 Code. 

15 (f) COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 

16 (1) COMPENSATION.—Each member of the 

17 Commission may be compensated at a rate not to 

18 exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of 

19 basic pay in effect for a position at level IV of the 

20 Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 

21 United States Code, for each day during which that 

22 member is engaged in the actual performance of the 

23 duties of the Commission. 

24 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from 

25 their homes or regular places of business in the perVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:47 Jan 28, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H40.IH H40

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1 formance of services for the Commission, members 

2 of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, 

3 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the 

4 same manner as persons employed intermittently in 

5 the Government service are allowed expenses under 

6 section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

7 (g) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY

8 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act 

9 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission. 

10 SEC. 7. TERMINATION. 

11 The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the 

12 date on which the Commission submits its report to the 

13 Congress under section 3(c). 

14 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 To carry out the provisions of this Act, there are au16 thorized to be appropriated $20,000,000. 

Æ 


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