House Panel Advances Bill to Study Slavery Reparations

WASHINGTON—A House panel approved legislation that would create a commission to study the possibility of offering reparations to the descendants of enslaved people in the U.S.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee advanced the legislation Wednesday night over the objections of Republicans, voting 25-17 to bring it to the full chamber.

While the vote marks a milestone for the legislation, first introduced in the House in 1989 by former Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.,), the bill still faces an uphill climb to becoming law.

The legislation calls for the creation of a 13-member commission that would study the history of slavery and discrimination against Black Americans and make recommendations about possible remedies to address their lasting impact. It also tasks the commission with considering a national apology for the treatment of enslaved people and their descendants.

“The goal of this historical commission and its investigation is to bring American society to the new reckoning with how our past affects the current conditions of African-Americans,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas), the lead author of the legislation, dubbed H.R. 40 in reference to the broken Civil War-era promise to give freed slaves 40 acres and a mule.