116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2163 

AN ACT 

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, 
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†S 2163 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

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

4 SEC. 2. COMMISSION ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission on the So6 cial Status of Black Men and Boys (hereinafter in this 

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

8 the United States Commission on Civil Rights Office of 

9 the Staff Director. 

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

11 19 members appointed as follows: 

12 (1) The Senate majority leader shall appoint 

13 one member who is not employed by the Federal 

14 Government and is an expert on issues affecting 

15 Black men and boys in America. 

16 (2) The Senate minority leader shall appoint 

17 one member who is not employed by the Federal 

18 Government and is an expert on issues affecting 

19 Black men and boys in America. 

20 (3) The House of Representatives majority 

21 leader shall appoint one member who is not em22 ployed by the Federal Government and is an expert 

23 on issues affecting Black men and boys in America. 

24 (4) The House of Representatives minority 

25 leader shall appoint one member who is not em-
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1 ployed by the Federal Government and is an expert 

2 on issues affecting Black men and boys in America. 

3 (5) The Chair of the Congressional Black Cau4 cus shall be a member of the Commission, as well 

5 as 5 additional Members of the Congressional Black 

6 Caucus who shall be individuals that either sit on 

7 the following committees of relevant jurisdiction or 

8 are experts on issues affecting Black men and boys 

9 in the United States, including— 

10 (A) education; 

11 (B) justice and Civil Rights; 

12 (C) healthcare; 

13 (D) labor and employment; and 

14 (E) housing. 

15 (6) The Staff Director of the United States 

16 Commission on Civil Rights shall appoint one mem17 ber from within the staff of the United States Com18 mission on Civil Rights who is an expert in issues 

19 relating to Black men and boys. 

20 (7) The Chair of the United States Equal Em21 ployment Opportunity Commission shall appoint one 

22 member from within the staff of the United States 

23 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who is 

24 an expert in equal employment issues impacting 

25 Black men. 
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1 (8) The Secretary of Education shall appoint 

2 one member from within the Department of Edu3 cation who is an expert in urban education. 

4 (9) The Attorney General shall appoint one 

5 member from within the Department of Justice who 

6 is an expert in racial disparities within the criminal 

7 justice system. 

8 (10) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv9 ices shall appoint one member from within the De10 partment of Health and Human Services who is an 

11 expert in health issues facing Black men. 

12 (11) The Secretary of Housing and Urban De13 velopment shall appoint one member from within the 

14 Department of Housing and Urban Development 

15 who is an expert in housing and development in 

16 urban communities. 

17 (12) The Secretary of Labor shall appoint one 

18 member from within the Department of Labor who 

19 is an expert in labor issues impacting Black men. 

20 (13) The President of the United States shall 

21 appoint 2 members who are not employed by the 

22 Federal Government and are experts on issues af23 fecting Black men and boys in America. 

24 (c) MEMBERSHIP BY POLITICAL PARTY.—If after the 

25 Commission is appointed there is a partisan imbalance of 
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1 Commission members, the congressional leaders of the po2 litical party with fewer members on the Commission shall 

3 jointly name additional members to create partisan parity 

4 on the Commission. 

5 SEC. 3. OTHER MATTERS RELATING TO APPOINTMENT; RE6 MOVAL. 

7 (a) TIMING OF INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Each ini8 tial appointment to the Commission shall be made no later 

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

10 appointing authorities fail to appoint a member to the 

11 Commission, their appointment shall be made by the Staff 

12 Director of the Commission on Civil Rights. 

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

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

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

16 the first term of those members initially appointed under 

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

18 to 2-year terms with all other terms lasting 4 years. Mem19 bers are eligible for consecutive reappointment. 

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

21 be removed from the Commission at any time by the ap22 pointing authority should the member fail to meet Com23 mission responsibilities. Once the seat becomes vacant, the 

24 appointing authority is responsible for filling the vacancy 

25 in the Commission before the next meeting. 
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1 (d) VACANCIES.—The appointing authority of a 

2 member of the Commission shall either reappoint that 

3 member at the end of that member’s term or appoint an4 other person meeting the qualifications for that appoint5 ment. In the event of a vacancy arising during a term, 

6 the appointing authority shall, before the next meeting of 

7 the Commission, appoint a replacement to finish that 

8 term. 

9 SEC. 4. LEADERSHIP ELECTION. 

10 At the first meeting of the Commission each year, 

11 the members shall elect a Chair and a Secretary. A va12 cancy in the Chair or Secretary shall be filled by vote of 

13 the remaining members. The Chair and Secretary are eli14 gible for consecutive reappointment. 

15 SEC. 5. COMMISSION DUTIES AND POWERS. 

16 (a) STUDY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con18 duct a systematic study of the conditions affecting 

19 Black men and boys, including homicide rates, ar20 rest and incarceration rates, poverty, violence, fa21 therhood, mentorship, drug abuse, death rates, dis22 parate income and wealth levels, school performance 

23 in all grade levels including postsecondary education 

24 and college, and health issues. 
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1 (2) TRENDS.—The Commission shall document 

2 trends regarding the topics described in paragraph 

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

4 government programs within the scope of such top5 ics. 

6 (b) PROPOSAL OF MEASURES.—The Commission 

7 shall propose measures to alleviate and remedy the under8 lying causes of the conditions described in subsection (a), 

9 which may include recommendations of changes to the 

10 law, recommendations for how to implement related poli11 cies, and recommendations for how to create, develop, or 

12 improve upon government programs. 

13 (c) SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS.—The Commis14 sion shall accept suggestions or comments pertinent to the 

15 applicable issues from members of Congress, governmental 

16 agencies, public and private organizations, and private 

17 citizens. 

18 (d) STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The 

19 Office of the Staff Director of the United States Commis20 sion on Civil Rights shall provide staff and administrative 

21 support to the Commission. All entities of the United 

22 States Government shall provide information that is other23 wise a public record at the request of the Commission. 
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1 SEC. 6. COMMISSION MEETING REQUIREMENTS. 

2 (a) FIRST MEETING.—The first meeting of the Com3 mission shall take place no later than 30 days after the 

4 initial members are all appointed. Meetings shall be fo5 cused on significant issues impacting Black men and boys, 

6 for the purpose of initiating research ideas and delegating 

7 research tasks to Commission members to initiate the first 

8 annual report described in section 7. 

9 (b) QUARTERLY MEETINGS.—The Commission shall 

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

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

12 Chair or as determined by a majority of Commission mem13 bers. 

14 (c) QUORUM; RULE FOR VOTING ON FINAL AC15 TIONS.—A majority of the members of the Commission 

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

17 of the members present is required for final action. 

18 (d) EXPECTATIONS FOR ATTENDANCE BY MEM19 BERS.—Members are expected to attend all Commission 

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

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

22 may be made for an absent member to participate re23 motely. Members will still be responsible for fulfilling prior 

24 commitments, regardless of attendance status. If a mem25 ber is absent twice in a given year, he or she will be re26 viewed by the Chair and appointing authority and further 
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1 action will be considered, including removal and replace2 ment on the Commission. 

3 (e) MINUTES.—Minutes shall be taken at each meet4 ing by the Secretary, or in that individual’s absence, the 

5 Chair shall select another Commission member to take 

6 minutes during that absence. The Commission shall make 

7 its minutes publicly available and accessible not later than 

8 one week after each meeting. 

9 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT GUIDELINES. 

10 The Commission shall make an annual report, begin11 ning the year of the first Commission meeting. The report 

12 shall address the current conditions affecting Black men 

13 and boys and make recommendations to address these 

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

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

16 chairs of the appropriate committees of jurisdiction. The 

17 Commission shall make the report publicly available online 

18 on a centralized Federal website. 
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1 SEC. 8. COMMISSION COMPENSATION. 

2 Members of the Commission shall serve on the Com3 mission without compensation. 

Passed the Senate June 25, 2020. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2163 

AN ACT 

To establish the Commission on the Social Status 

ing Black men and boys, and for other purposes. ommendations to address social problems affectof Black Men and Boys, to study and make rec-