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Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act

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The Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act is a law first introduced in the U.S. Congress in 1989 by Representative John Conyers. Its goal is to create a group that would look into whether the U.S. government should give reparations (compensation) to African-Americans for slavery.

The most recent person to support the bill was Representative Ayanna Pressley, who introduced it again on January 3, 2025, during the 119th Congress.[1] Before that, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee had also proposed the bill in January 2023, before she passed away in 2024.[2]

History

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Representative Conyers first introduced the bill in 1989 and kept bringing it up in every session of Congress until he retired nearly 30 years later.

On Juneteenth 2019, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held a hearing on reparations. This was seen as an important moment because the last time the topic was discussed there was in 2007—just one year before the U.S. elected its first Black president.[3]

Conyers passed away in October 2019. He had supported the bill every time Congress met from 1989 to 2017. The number “40” in the bill’s name refers to a broken promise made to freed slaves after the Civil War—that they would receive forty acres of land and a mule.[4]

Senator Cory Booker introduced a similar version of the bill in the Senate. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi supported the bill,[5] and several Democrats running for president in 2020 Democratic presidential candidates also showed their support.[6]

In April 2021, for the first time ever, the bill passed out of committee and moved forward to the full House for debate and voting.[7][8]

What the Bill Says

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The bill, first introduced in 1989 by Representative John Conyers, asks for a special group (a commission) to be created. This group would study the impact of slavery and report back to Congress and the American people. The report would include what they found out and what should be done about it. The commission would look at:

  • How slavery was supported by both the federal and state governments.
  • How Black people, even after slavery ended, continued to face legal and unfair treatment up to the present day.
  • The lasting harm caused by slavery that still affects African Americans.
  • How school materials and online content sometimes deny how cruel slavery was and the fact that it was a crime against humanity.
  • How the North also played a part in supporting slavery in the South.
  • How institutions like schools, businesses, churches, and organizations gained from slavery.

The commission would then suggest:

  • How to teach the public what was learned.
  • What actions or reparations should be taken to help address these wrongs.[9]

Bill excerpt

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(a) Findings.—What Congress Says It Has Found:

  1. About 4 million Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the U.S. and its earlier colonies from 1619 to 1865.
  2. From 1789 to 1865, slavery was legally allowed and supported by the U.S. government.
  3. Slavery in the U.S. was cruel and unjust. It took away African people’s lives, freedom, rights, culture, and the ability to benefit from their own work.
  4. There is plenty of evidence — from scholars, legal records, community stories, and even pop culture — that shows slavery has lasting effects that still harm Black Americans today through ongoing unfair systems.
  5. Even after slavery officially ended, the U.S. government — at all levels — continued or allowed harmful systems like sharecropping, convict leasing, Jim Crow laws, redlining, unequal education, and unfair treatment by the justice system that kept hurting African-Americans.
  6. Because of this long history of mistreatment, African-Americans still face serious problems today, like:
    • Nearly 1 million Black people in prison
    • An unemployment rate over twice as high as White Americans
    • Average Black family wealth is less than 1/16 of that of White families — and this gap is getting worse, not better.[10]

Purpose.—This law wants to create a group (a commission) to study and suggest ways to give reparations (compensation or repair) to African-Americans because of:

  1. Slavery — including the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the U.S. domestic slave trade, which started in 1565 in Florida and continued in other areas from 1619 to 1865. The U.S. federal and state governments helped support slavery through laws.
  2. The unfair treatment of freed slaves and their descendants from the end of the Civil War until today — including discrimination in jobs, politics, education, and society.
  3. The lasting harm that slavery and continued discrimination still cause to African-Americans and the country today.
  4. The way books, media, and digital tools are sometimes used to deny that slavery was cruel and a crime against humanity.
  5. How people and businesses in the North also played a part in supporting slavery in the South.
  6. How many institutions — like schools, companies, churches, and organizations — benefited from slavery.
  7. Suggesting good ways to teach the public about what the commission finds.
  8. Suggesting fair actions or reparations based on the commission’s findings.
  9. Sharing their full report and recommendations with Congress.[10]

Legislative history

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As of April 17, 2025:

Congress Short title Bill number(s) Date introduced Sponsor(s) # of cosponsors Latest status
101st Congress Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act H.R. 3745 November 20, 1989 John Conyers (D-MI) 24 Died in Committee
113th Congress H.R. 40 January 3, 2013 John Conyers (D-MI) 2 Died in Committee
114th Congress H.R. 40 January 6, 2015 John Conyers (D-MI) 2 Died in Committee
115th Congress Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act H.R. 40 January 3, 2017 John Conyers (D-MI) 35 Died in Committee
116th Congress H.R. 40 January 3, 2019 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) 173 Died in Committee
S. 1083 April 9, 2019 Cory Booker (D-NJ) 20 Died in Committee
117th Congress H.R. 40 January 4, 2021 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) 196 Died in Committee
S. 40 January 25, 2021 Cory Booker (D-NJ) 22 Died in Committee
118th Congress H.R. 40 January 9, 2023 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) 130 Died in Committee
S. 40 January 24, 2023 Cory Booker (D-NJ) 24 Died in Committee
119th Congress H.R. 40 January 3, 2025 Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) 76 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary
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References

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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act
  1. ↑ Moscufo, Michela (February 12, 2025). "Reparations bill returns to Congress as Trump leads charge against racial equity in government". NBC News.
  2. ↑ Branigin, Anne (19 June 2019). "'An Idea Whose Time Has Come': Congress Hears the Case for Reparations on Juneteenth". The Root. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  3. ↑ Lockhart, P.R. (20 June 2019). "America is having an unprecedented debate about reparations. What comes next?". Vox. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  4. ↑ Hulett, Sarah (27 October 2019). "John Conyers, Detroiter and former dean of House of Representatives, dead at 90". Michigan Radio. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  5. ↑ "Reparations and the legacy of Rep. John Conyers". The Final Call. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  6. ↑ Lillis, Mike; Wong, Scott (4 April 2019). "Reparations bill wins new momentum in Congress". The Hill. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18 (2021-04-14). "Actions - H.R.40 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "House Lawmakers Advance Historic Bill To Form Reparations Commission". NPR. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
  9. ↑ H.R.40 - Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act 115th Congress full text, pdf document This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 H.R.40 - Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act 115th Congress full text, pdf document This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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