IB 
House Calendar No. 104 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 995 
[Report No. 115–427, Part I] 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 
to amend regulations for racial appropriateness. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 9, 2017 
Mr. JEFFRIES (for himself and Mr. CHABOT) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
NOVEMBER 28, 2017 
Additional sponsors: Mr. FASO, Mr. ROYCE of California, and Mr. BACON 
NOVEMBER 28, 2017 
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with amendments 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
NOVEMBER 28, 2017 
The Committee on Agriculture discharged; referred to the House Calendar 
and ordered to be printed 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 9, 2017] 
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A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 
of the Interior to amend regulations for racial appro-
priateness. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘21st Century Respect 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO REGULATIONS REQUIRED. 
(a) SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.—The Secretary of 
Agriculture shall amend section 1901.202 of title 7, Code 
of Federal Regulations, for purposes of— 
(1) replacing the reference to the term ‘‘Negro or 
Black’’ with ‘‘Black or African American’’; 
(2) replacing the reference to the term ‘‘Spanish 
Surname’’ with ‘‘Hispanic’’; and 
(3) replacing the reference to the term ‘‘Oriental’’ 
with ‘‘Asian American or Pacific Islander’’. 
(b) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—The Secretary of 
the Interior shall amend section 906.2 of title 36, Code of 
Federal Regulations, for purposes of— 
(1) replacing the references to the term ‘‘Negro’’ 
with ‘‘Black or African American’’; 
(2) replacing the definition of ‘‘Negro’’ with the 
definition of ‘‘Black or African American’’ as ‘‘a per-
son having origins in any of the Black racial groups 
of Africa’’; 
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(3) replacing the references to the term ‘‘Ori-
ental’’ with ‘‘Asian American or Pacific Islander’’; 
and 
(4) replacing the references to the terms ‘‘Es-
kimo’’ and ‘‘Aleut’’ with ‘‘Alaska Native’’. 
SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments required by 
this Act, shall be construed to affect Federal law, except 
with respect to the use of terms by the Secretary of Agri-
culture and the Secretary of the Interior, respectively, to 
the regulations affected by this Act. 
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to direct the 
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 
to modernize terms in certain regulations.’’. 
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House Calendar No. 104 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 995 
[Report No. 115–427, Part I] 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec-
retary of the Interior to amend regulations for 
racial appropriateness. 
NOVEMBER 28, 2017 
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with 
amendments 
NOVEMBER 28, 2017 
The Committee on Agriculture discharged; referred to the 
House Calendar and ordered to be printed 
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