II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2163 

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, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Ms. HARRIS, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

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, 

and for other purposes. 

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. COMMISSION ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission on the So8 cial Status of Black Men and Boys (hereinafter in this 


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1 Act referred to as ‘‘the Commission’’) is established within 

2 the United States Commission on Civil Rights Office of 

3 the Staff Director. 

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

5 19 members appointed as follows: 

6 (1) The Senate majority leader shall appoint 

7 one member who is not employed by the Federal 

8 Government and is an expert on issues affecting 

9 Black men and boys in America. 

10 (2) The Senate minority leader shall appoint 

11 one member who is not employed by the Federal 

12 Government and is an expert on issues affecting 

13 Black men and boys in America. 

14 (3) The House of Representatives majority 

15 leader shall appoint one member who is not em16 ployed by the Federal Government and is an expert 

17 on issues affecting Black men and boys in America. 

18 (4) The House of Representatives minority 

19 leader shall appoint one member who is not em20 ployed by the Federal Government and is an expert 

21 on issues affecting Black men and boys in America. 

22 (5) The Chair of the Congressional Black Cau23 cus shall be a member of the Commission, as well 

24 as 5 additional Members of the Congressional Black 

25 Caucus who shall be individuals that either sit on 


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1 the following committees of relevant jurisdiction or 

2 are experts on issues affecting Black men and boys 

3 in the United States, including— 

4 (A) education; 

5 (B) justice and Civil Rights; 

6 (C) healthcare; 

7 (D) labor and employment; and 

8 (E) housing. 

9 (6) The Staff Director of the United States 

10 Commission on Civil Rights shall appoint one mem11 ber from within the staff of the United States Com12 mission on Civil Rights who is an expert in issues 

13 relating to Black men and boys. 

14 (7) The Chair of the United States Equal Em15 ployment Opportunity Commission shall appoint one 

16 member from within the staff of the United States 

17 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who is 

18 an expert in equal employment issues impacting 

19 Black men. 

20 (8) The Secretary of Education shall appoint 

21 one member from within the Department of Edu22 cation who is an expert in urban education. 

23 (9) The Attorney General shall appoint one 

24 member from within the Department of Justice who 


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1 is an expert in racial disparities within the criminal 

2 justice system. 

3 (10) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv4 ices shall appoint one member from within the De5 partment of Health and Human Services who is an 

6 expert in health issues facing Black men. 

7 (11) The Secretary of Housing and Urban De8 velopment shall appoint one member from within the 

9 Department of Housing and Urban Development 

10 who is an expert in housing and development in 

11 urban communities. 

12 (12) The Secretary of Labor shall appoint one 

13 member from within the Department of Labor who 

14 is an expert in labor issues impacting Black men. 

15 (13) The President of the United States shall 

16 appoint 2 members who are not employed by the 

17 Federal Government and are experts on issues af18 fecting Black men and boys in America. 

19 SEC. 3. OTHER MATTERS RELATING TO APPOINTMENT; RE20 MOVAL. 

21 (a) TIMING OF INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Each ini22 tial appointment to the Commission shall be made no later 

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

24 appointing authorities fail to appoint a member to the 


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1 Commission, their appointment shall be made by the Staff 

2 Director of the Commission on Civil Rights. 

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

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

5 be 4 years. For the purpose of providing staggered terms, 

6 the first term of those members initially appointed under 

7 paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 2 shall be appointed 

8 to 2-year terms with all other terms lasting 4 years. Mem9 bers are eligible for consecutive reappointment. 

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

11 be removed from the Commission at any time by the ap12 pointing authority should the member fail to meet Com13 mission responsibilities. Once the seat becomes vacant, the 

14 appointing authority is responsible for filling the vacancy 

15 in the Commission before the next meeting. 

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

17 member of the Commission shall either reappoint that 

18 member at the end of that member’s term or appoint an19 other person meeting the qualifications for that appoint20 ment. In the event of a vacancy arising during a term, 

21 the appointing authority shall, before the next meeting of 

22 the Commission, appoint a replacement to finish that 

23 term. 


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1 SEC. 4. LEADERSHIP ELECTION. 

2 At the first meeting of the Commission each year, 

3 the members shall elect a Chair and a Secretary. A va4 cancy in the Chair or Secretary shall be filled by vote of 

5 the remaining members. The Chair and Secretary are eli6 gible for consecutive reappointment. 

7 SEC. 5. COMMISSION DUTIES AND POWERS. 

8 (a) STUDY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con10 duct a systematic study of the conditions affecting 

11 Black men and boys, including homicide rates, ar12 rest and incarceration rates, poverty, violence, fa13 therhood, mentorship, drug abuse, death rates, dis14 parate income and wealth levels, school performance 

15 in all grade levels including postsecondary education 

16 and college, and health issues. 

17 (2) TRENDS.—The Commission shall document 

18 trends regarding the topics described in paragraph 

19 (1) and report on the community impacts of relevant 

20 government programs within the scope of such top21 ics. 

22 (b) PROPOSAL OF MEASURES.—The Commission 

23 shall propose measures to alleviate and remedy the under24 lying causes of the conditions described in subsection (a), 

25 which may include recommendations of changes to the 

26 law, recommendations for how to implement related poliVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2163.IS S2163

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1 cies, and recommendations for how to create, develop, or 

2 improve upon government programs. 

3 (c) SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS.—The Commis4 sion shall accept suggestions or comments pertinent to the 

5 applicable issues from members of Congress, governmental 

6 agencies, public and private organizations, and private 

7 citizens. 

8 (d) STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The 

9 Office of the Staff Director of the United States Commis10 sion on Civil Rights shall provide staff and administrative 

11 support to the Commission. All entities of the United 

12 States Government shall provide information that is other13 wise a public record at the request of the Commission. 

14 SEC. 6. COMMISSION MEETING REQUIREMENTS. 

15 (a) FIRST MEETING.—The first meeting of the Com16 mission shall take place no later than 30 days after the 

17 initial members are all appointed. Meetings shall be fo18 cused on significant issues impacting Black men and boys, 

19 for the purpose of initiating research ideas and delegating 

20 research tasks to Commission members to initiate the first 

21 annual report described in section 7. 

22 (b) QUARTERLY MEETINGS.—The Commission shall 

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

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


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1 Chair or as determined by a majority of Commission mem2 bers. 

3 (c) QUORUM; RULE FOR VOTING ON FINAL AC4 TIONS.—A majority of the members of the Commission 

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

6 of the members present is required for final action. 

7 (d) EXPECTATIONS FOR ATTENDANCE BY MEM8 BERS.—Members are expected to attend all Commission 

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

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

11 may be made for an absent member to participate re12 motely. Members will still be responsible for fulfilling prior 

13 commitments, regardless of attendance status. If a mem14 ber is absent twice in a given year, he or she will be re15 viewed by the Chair and appointing authority and further 

16 action will be considered, including removal and replace17 ment on the Commission. 

18 (e) MINUTES.—Minutes shall be taken at each meet19 ing by the Secretary, or in that individual’s absence, the 

20 Chair shall select another Commission member to take 

21 minutes during that absence. The Commission shall make 

22 its minutes publicly available and accessible not later than 

23 one week after each meeting. 


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1 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT GUIDELINES. 

2 The Commission shall make an annual report, begin3 ning the year of the first Commission meeting. The report 

4 shall address the current conditions affecting Black men 

5 and boys and make recommendations to address these 

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

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

8 chairs of the appropriate committees of jurisdiction. The 

9 Commission shall make the report publicly available online 

10 on a centralized Federal website. 

11 SEC. 8. COMMISSION COMPENSATION. 

12 Members of the Commission shall serve on the Com13 mission without compensation. 

Æ 


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